さわやかな香りと旨み、甘みが特徴の「新茶」。新茶とは、その年の最初に生育した新芽を摘み採ってつくったお茶のこと。鹿児島などの温暖な地域から摘み採りが始まり、桜前線と同様に徐々に北上していきます。「新茶」と「一番茶」とは基本的に同じお茶のことで呼び方が異なるだけです。その使い分けとしては、「一番茶」はその後に摘み採られる「二番茶」「三番茶」等と対比して使われることが多く、「新茶」は一年で最初に摘まれる「初物」の意味を込めて、また「旬」のものとして呼ばれる際などに使われます
"Shincha" is charactered by fresh scent, flavor and sweetness. Shincha is a tea that made of the first fresh leaves of the season. Harvest time starts from mild area like Kagoshima, and move northward like cherry blossom's blooming. "Shincha" and "First crop tea" is basically same tea and just has a different name. "First crop tea" is usually called a name as comparison with "Second crop tea" or "Third crop tea" those picked after "First crop tea". Also "Shincha" is called as "now in season" that means the first tea of the season.
茶樹は冬の間に養分を蓄え、春の芽生えとともにその栄養分をたくさん含んだ瑞々しい若葉を成長させます。それが新茶となります。立春（2月4日）から数えて88日目の日を「八十八夜」といい、昔からこの日に摘み採られたお茶を飲むと、一年間無病息災で元気に過ごせると言い伝えられています。新茶の特徴は、何といっても若葉の「爽やかで清々しい香り」にあります。また、新茶は「二番茶」「三番茶」に比べて苦渋いカテキンやカフェインが少なく、旨み、甘みの成分であるアミノ酸（テアニン）が多い傾向にあります
A tea tree stores norishment during the winter, and when the spring comes, fresh leaves that contain a lot of norishment will grow. Those leaves become Shincha(the first tea of the season). The day after 88 days count from the first day of spring(February 4th) is called "88 days". According to a tradition, if you drink tea that be picked in 88 days, you will being healthy for a year. The characteristic of Shincha is "refreshing scent" of new leaves, after all. Shincha has less catechin and caffein than "second crop tea" or "third cop tea" and has more flavor and Amino acid(Theanin) that is a component of sweetness.
