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Japanese Tea Types
A Brief Guide to Japanese Tea Terminology
Sencha - Translation: Steeped Tea
 Asamushi Sencha - Translation: Shallow Steaming Steeped Tea
This is the traditional, lightly steamed Sencha, generally using a 30-60 second steaming time. Asamushi tea leaves are almost always more intact than their deep steamed counterparts, and they tend to produce an aromatic, crystal-clear, light yellow/green cup. Light steaming allows for the sweet & subtle flavor characteristics of the tea cultivar to come through and balance any bitterness in the leaves.
 Fukamushi Sencha - Translation: Deep Steaming Steeped Tea
A longer steaming method introduced in the 1960's using a 60-120 second steaming time. Fukamushi leaves tend to be much more powdery and broken because the leaves break down during their longer "cooking" in the steaming process. Fukamushi Sencha produces a much darker, usually opaque green cup with a full mouthfeel and lower bitterness than their asamushi counterparts. Caveat Emptor: Fukamushi sencha is very popular because of its full, rich flavor, but it is easy for producers pass off lower quality tea leaves as higher quality, more expensive tea leaves because the delicate flavors inherent in the tea can easily be muddied by over-steaming and roasting during the final drying phase.
Kabusecha - Translation: Covered Tea
Kabusecha is Sencha that has been partially grown in the shade. It is grown in full sun like a regular Sencha until 2-3 weeks before harvest. At that point, a black cover/net is rolled out directly on top of the tea plants to block about half of the sunlight. The reduced exposure to sunlight increases amino acid & chlorophyll levels in the leaves while decreasing bitter compounds, resulting in a sweeter flavor which falls somewhere between Sencha and Gyokuro. Like Sencha, Kabusecha is processed with different levels of steaming from light to deep and in between depending on the producer's preferences.
 Gyokuro - Translation: Jade Dew
Gyokuro is the most prized of Japanese green teas. Like Kabusecha, Gyokuro is a shade grown Sencha that has evolved into its own separate & quite distinct tea type. Gyokuro is grown in full sun until 20-30 days before harvest, when a framework is built around the plants to support the sunlight-blocking covers placed over the tea. Traditionally, a framework of reeds covered with straw was used to shade the plants, but more recently, specialized black sheets are used to cover the plants since the sheets are so much easier to handle and maintain than the traditional straw covers. The extended period of time the plants spend deprived of sunlight causes the plants to undergo physical changes that increase the chlorophyll and amino acid levels while decreasing the formation of bitter compounds in the leaves. The tea is processed basically in the same way as Sencha after harvesting, but special care is used when handling Gyokuro to preserve the integrity of the long, needle shaped finished leaves. The flavor of Gyokuro varies widely depending on the region of cultivation, processing, etc, but it is generally quite full bodied, mild and sweet, sometimes with a briny/seaweedy character. This is a labor intensive and expensive tea to produce, but if properly steeped, it can provide one of the most sublime and rewarding experiences in the entire world of green tea.
 Tencha - Translation: Mortar/Grinding Tea
Tencha is the source material used for grinding into Matcha (see below). Tencha is grown in the same covered manner as Gyokuro, but is processed, dried and refined differently. Basic processing is the same as sencha and gyokuro, but the tea is not rolled into needle shaped leaves. Instead, it is dried in wind tunnel type machines so that it remains relatively flat after processing. For the finest grades of Tencha intended for grinding into Matcha, the stems, ribs and veins are sorted and removed from the leaf material prior to grinding.
 Matcha - Translation: Rubbed Tea
Matcha is made by grinding Tencha into fine powder. Traditionally, the grinding is done with stone grinding wheels, and it can take as long as an hour for a single stone mill to grind between 30 and 40 grams. To prepare Matcha for drinking, a small quantity of the tea powder is whipped with water using a bamboo whisk to create a thick slurry (Koicha, "Thick Tea") or thin, frothy suspension of the powder (Usucha, "Thin Tea"). Aside from the many health benefits attributed to the consumption of Matcha, it is most well known for its use in Chanoyu, or the Japanese Tea Ceremony.
 Konacha - Translation: Powder Tea
Technically, Konacha is a term that can be used to refer to powdered tea made of any tea but tencha. Konacha is commonly composed of the dust and siftings from the Sencha refining process, but can refer to purposefully ground Sencha or other types of tea. This tea is most commonly served in Sushi restaurants because it can be ready to drink almost instantly and the astringency is thought to be a refreshing counterpoint to the oily fish.
 Tamaryokucha - Translation: Ball Green Tea
Tamaryokucha,
sometimes referred to as Guricha, is a green tea processed much like
other Japanese green teas, but it does not undergo a final
rolling/straightening step, resulting in its distinctive coiled/curly
shape. Unlike Sencha, which is always steamed during processing,
Tamaryokucha is sometimes processed using pan-firing during the
"kill-green" step of processing that de-activates the enzymes that would
otherwise oxidize and turn the leaves brown. The final flavor of
Tamaryokucha varies dramatically depending on which "kill-green" method
is used in processing.
 Bancha - Translation: Ordinary(番)/Late Harvest(晩)
Tea
The term Bancha has a very wide usage in the Japanese tea industry. "Bancha" can refer to a tea made from leaves that are large, coarse, etc. and/or come from a late or end of season harvest. Because of its mild flavor and relatively low caffeine level, Bancha is the everyday tea consumed regularly by many people in Japan, and it is often used in the production of Hojicha (roasted tea).
 Hojicha - Translation: Roasted Tea
Hojicha is a term used to describe a tea that has been roasted to give it a toasty, roasted flavor. Hojicha is extremely popular in Japan, despite the fact that it could be considered a "new" tea since it has only been in production since it was "invented" in the 1920s. Most Hojicha is made from late harvest Bancha, but any roasted tea leaves, stems, stalks etc. can be called Hojicha. Traditionally, this tea is roasted in a ceramic roasting pot (houroku) over glowing charcoal, but most modern roasters use specialized ovens to achieve the same effect.
 Kukicha/Boucha/Karigane/Shiraore
-Kukicha - Translation: Stem/Stalk tea-Boucha - Translation: Twig tea-Karigane - Translation: Wild Goose Song - Karigane is a poetic name used by tea marketers in the Uji Region for stem & twig teas.-Shiraore - Translation: White Time - Shiraore is another poetic name used by tea marketers in Kyushu for regional stem & twig teas.
 Genmaicha - Translation: Brown Rice Tea
Genmaicha is simply green tea of any type mixed with toasted & puffed brown rice to impart a nutty, malty-sweet rice flavor to the steeped tea. In addition to the toasted/puffed brown rice, popped millet or other grains resembling very small kernels of popcorn is sometimes added to the mix primarily to add a dramatic look to the tea.
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