Japanese green teas: what are the main ones, characteristics and differences

The origins of Japanese green teas

Among the first countries that fell under the spell of tea and began to consume and then even cultivate its leaves is surely Japan, an archipelago of islands with incredible terroir that today produces fine teas that are loved all over the world. In the 9th century AD, in fact, Buddhist monks who traveled from Japan to China to further their studies learned to greatly appreciate this thirst-quenching beverage that was traditionally consumed by the Chinese people. They loved its taste, but also the fact that it could improve concentration during study and long meditative practices, as well as its medicinal effects that could energize and relieve febrile states, stomachaches and poor digestion.

It was in 1191 A.D. that the monk Eisai, returning from China after long years of study, decided to take camellia seeds with him and plant some in Kyushu, in the far south of Japan, and others near Toganoo Monastery (Kyoto), beginning the first real tea cultivation on Japanese soil.

Thanks to this important figure, who is credited with the founding of Japanese Zen Buddhism, tea culture in Japan developed and spread widely: he became famous for the volume that Eisai wrote, titled Kissa Yojoki, in which he explained how tea was good for health, how to grow it and how to prepare it. As a result of the spread of this knowledge, tea in Japan stopped being the preserve of monks and nobles and became a traditional and affordable drink for everyone.

To date, Japan produces about 80,000 tons of tea annually, of which only a small portion is exported mind most is for local consumption. Japan’s best green tea producing regions include Kyoto (particularly the Uji area, from which the finest and most expensive teas come), Mie, Shizuoka, Miyazaki, and Kagoshima. Certainly the Shizuoka area, in the southern part of the island of Honshu, is the most popular for sencha teas, of which it remains Japan’s largest producer by percentage (about 40 percent of the total).

We have named sencha tea, but there are indeed many Japanese green teas: in the next paragraphs we will tell you what the main ones are and what characteristics they have.

Japanese green teas: the main ones

It is common knowledge that Japan has specialized almost exclusively in one type of tea. Apart from a few rare exceptions (a few rare fermented teas or the recent wakocha black teas designed primarily for export), this country’s flagship product is definitely green tea. Yet we will see how, even with a single type of tea, there is so much range in terms of flavors and aromas.

A common characteristic of Japanese green teas and one that usually helps define their level isumami, also referred to as the “fifth taste.” “Umami” is a term invented in Japan in the early twentieth century and then became part of the scientific lexicon in 1985, going on to define the taste of sodium glutamate. That’s right, because the umami flavor is characterized by a tasty, mouth-watering savoriness, a savoriness similar to that of bouillon cube and soy sauce. The richer a green tea is in umami, the more usually it is considered good and palatable.

Of course, as we said earlier, this is only one of the elements that contribute to defining the flavor of a Japanese green tea-there are in fact many factors that influence the taste of a tea, such as terroir, starting cultivar, and processing.

Unlike Chinese green teas, for example, which immediately after the withering stage undergo pan cooking to stop oxidation, Japanese green teas undergo steaming: the taste will therefore be more vegetal and marine, with more fragile leaves. This is why the liquor of Japanese green teas is dull: it is not a symptom of poor quality, but the simple consequence of cooking that weakens the structure of the leaf, which will tend to crumble more easily and release a very fine powder into the water.

The cultivars of origin are also important: there are some that yield sweeter and more umami tea, others that produce leaves with fresher and more herbaceous scents, and so on. In addition to the varieties that due to soil and climate characteristics are better adapted to certain regions of the archipelago, it must be said that the Japanese have gone to great lengths over the past century to achieve sublime results, experimenting with different hybrids and increasingly perfecting new cultivars born in the laboratory.

Have we intrigued you? Then let’s find out together what the main Japanese green teas are and what characteristics they have.

Sencha

The Sencha, whose name literally means “infused tea,” is the tea that makes up the majority of Japanese production (between 60 percent and 70 percent). It is green tea derived from the first spring harvest (it is called shincha when it is harvested in the very first two weeks). Its leaves are needle-like and thin, with a glossy dark green or forest green surface. There are actually several grades of Sencha, of higher or lower quality: the best, with brighter color and finer processing, have more intense umami, greater sweetness, and longer persistence.

Bancha

Bancha is a fairly generic term for “plain” tea in Japan. It is harvested after sencha and can therefore be the result of a summer or fall harvest. Its leaves are more coarsely processed than sencha: they are more irregularly sized and are larger and thicker, folded and flattened in shape, with colors remaining between olive and army green and a duller surface. It is a perfect everyday tea and in Japan is often consumed with meals: its flavor is slightly herbaceous and vegetal, less refined than a Sencha but enveloping and refreshing.

Kabusecha

The Kabusecha is a shaded tea (kabuse = shade): the process of shading, which involves covering the plants before harvesting by means of cloths, causes the plant to develop a great deal of chlorophyll in an attempt to capture the few rays of sunlight it is able to receive. Kabusecha leaves are indeed very green and brightly colored. Another effect that comes with shading is an exponential increase in sweetness and umami: the lack of sunlight causes the plant to convert fewer amino acids (sweet) into catechins (bitter) than it would have under normal light conditions. Kabusecha is shaded for a period of 7-10 days before harvest.

Gyokuro

The Gyokuro, whose name means “jade dew,” is the finest green tea produced in Japan: it undergoes 21 to 40 days of shading, condensing umami, sweetness and amino acids in its leaves in such quantities that its flavor is highly aromatic and almost buttery. Its leaves are finely rolled, resulting in thin, deep green needles with almost blue highlights.

Hojicha

It is always surprising that even theHojicha falls into the green tea category: the color of its leaves (and twigs, if it contains any) is in fact a far cry from the forest green we would expect to find. Hojicha comes in warm colors in shades of brown and beige, with flattened and rather fragmented leaves and an enveloping roasted note. “Hoji” in fact means “roasted, roasted,” and this is exactly how Hojicha, starting with a common bancha, is made: the leaves, pan-roasted, yield a smooth, intense dark amber-colored liquor with a taste reminiscent of hazelnuts and latte. Hojicha is a tea low in caffeine, which evaporates almost completely with roasting: it can therefore also be drunk by children or those who are particularly sensitive to this substance.

Genmaicha

The Genmaicha is one of Japan’s best-loved green teas, even for those who are generally not crazy about green tea per se: its name in fact means “tea with brown rice” because to the basic green tea (a bancha or sencha of not high quality), roasted and puffed brown rice is added. The taste turns out to be very sweet and starchy, almost an eater that aids digestion and restores good spirits. Legend has it that Gemaicha was created during World War II: to make up for the tea shortage at a time of severe economic and food crisis, bancha was “cut” with brown rice, making it less expensive. Originating as a “poor tea,” Genmaicha has since remained among the most widely consumed Japanese green teas even to this day.

Kukicha

Can tea be composed only of leaves? No, and the Kukicha is a prime example: a tea made up of stems(kuki = twigs) that not only tastes great but is also almost caffeine-free. This exciting substance is actually a defense mechanism of the plant toward insects to prevent them from biting its leaves (where it is present in high concentrations). In the stems, however, caffeine is virtually absent-another ideal tea for those who cannot tolerate this substance. The taste of Kukicha is smooth and not very astringent, suitable for any time of day. There is also a very fine version (which you can also find in our online shop): it is the Karigane, a special kind of Kukicha derived from the waste twigs of the highly prized Gyokuro tea, with a more intense umami and sweetness.

Matcha

Perhaps we can consider the Matcha tea as the most popular of all Japanese green teas: in recent years in the Western world it is becoming especially popular as an ingredient in many recipes. But what is Matcha? It is a pulverized Japanese green tea that is made from a base of Tencha (shaded green tea destined to become Matcha): the leaves are stripped of stems and veins and then ground very finely, like flour. Given the very high amount of leaves required to produce this tea, one can understand the high cost of matcha tea, especially if we are talking about ceremonial grade tea. The high-grade Matcha tea is in fact used in the Japanese tea ceremony, while what is used in cooking is the Culinary Matcha, a lower grade with a duller color, which, however, is perfectly fine as an ingredient both for making drinks such as smoothies and matcha lattes, as well as for coloring and flavoring desserts, cakes , and cookies. I benefits of matcha tea are even higher than those of other Japanese green teas: consider that, in this case, you are ingesting the entire tea leaf and not simply the result of infusing it in water. The Matcha teais in fact prepared by diluting it in hot water inside a large cup (chawan) with a whisk (chasen), so that the powdered tea remains in suspension and is swallowed along with the water. The amount of catechins, amino acids and caffeine taken in will therefore be very high-a really powerful energy and antioxidant boost! Great for breakfast if you want to start your day with a nice sprint.

Kamairicha

Kamairicha is a Japanese green tea with a very unusual processing: in contrast to other Japanese green teas, in fact, the oxidation blocking is not done by steaming, but rather by pan-frying, as is the case with Chinese green teas. This “deviation from the rule” obviously affects the taste, giving amore roasted and less marine and vegetal feel to Kamairicha.

Infusion tips for Japanese green tea

How then are Japanese green teas infused? In order for these teas to perform at their best in the cup, small steps must be followed, in addition to the good rules in general for infusing a leaf tea (attention to the type of water used and the quality of the tea).

As mentioned earlier, steaming the leaves weakens their structure: this causes the leaves to tend to crumble easily and disperse small fragments in water, which results in a faster brewing speed and the need for lower temperatures so as not to spoil the leaves.

That’s why Japanese green teas are usually infused with short timings ranging from 30 seconds to 2 minutes, except for a few teas such as Hojicha and Genmaicha that hold longer infusions (even 3 minutes) without problems.

Temperature is also critical: 50-65°C for the prized Gyokuro and Kabusecha, around 70°C for Sencha, and 75-80°C for Bancha, which has larger and thicker leaves. The general rule of thumb is: the more valuable the tea, the more tender and finely processed the leaves are and fear high temperatures.

It therefore proves perfect for Japanese green teas the koridashi, viz. the cold infusion and specifically with ice, which greatly enhances the umami and sweetness of the infused leaves. In fact, we know that it is with heat that caffeine and catechins-the bitter compounds in tea-are extracted: by letting tea and ice cubes melt in a teapot, instead, a very pleasant result is obtained, which resets astringency and bitterness to zero.

As a proportion, you can keep the same as other Western-infused teas (2.5 to 3 grams per 200ml water) or increase the weight by reducing the infusion time as you would for a gong fu cha.

Because of the small size of the leaves, however, it is not possible to use the gaiwan, as all the contents would be lost in straining the tea: so what are the correct utensils to use?

The utensils for infusing Japanese green teas

Japanese teas are usually infused using the kyusu or the shiboridashi. The word “kyusu” literally means “teapot” in Japanese. Rather small, rounded, and with a somewhat flattened body, the kyusu is distinguished by its side handle placed at a 90° angle to the spout, which makes it easier to hold, and by the fact that it has a built-in internal filter made of metal (very fine mesh) or ceramic, which retains smaller leaves. The kyusu is usually made of ceramic or clay, but other materials such as cast iron or glass are also used.

The shiboridashi (literally: “squeeze”), on the other hand, is a much flattened and wider version of the Chinese gaiwan and works in exactly the same way. Traditionally made of clay, it has the features of a small, flat, wide bowl, with a capacity of 100-200ml, a barely noticeable spout from which tea is poured, and a lid. It has neither filter nor handle, but the movement to pour the tea once it is ready is nevertheless easy and smooth since, by tilting it and simply holding the lid in place, the liquid passes through the space left between it and the spout while the leaves are retained inside.

Japanese green tea buying guide: how to choose?

As you may have realized by the end of this article, Japanese green teas are not all the same. Each one has a different flavor profile, with nuances that can be stronger in umami, sweeter, or more herbaceous and refreshing. How then to choose the one that best suits your personal taste?

If you love simple teas, enjoy drinking them with meals as well, and are looking for a refreshing taste that is not too sweet, go for our organic bancha, an excellent quality tea that is suitable for sipping at any time of the day.

On the other hand, if you want to test the silkiness of our sencha teas, you are spoiled for choice: from soft Ayame organic sencha green tea from cultivar Asatsuya to the Shizuoka Sencha Kura green tea with almost floral notes, through many other sencha teas from different cultivars and regions.

If you prefer even sweeter and more intense scents instead, you will be bewitched by the flavors of our Kabusecha Miyazaki and the smoothness of the precious Gyokuro.

Those who cannot tolerate caffeine can instead enjoy a very good Shizuoka Kukicha green tea, the twig tea naturally almost free of this substance.

And for those who are already anticipating the fall rain, the early cold and the “comfort teas” of the coming season, there is nothing better than an organic green tea Hojicha, with its roasted and nutty notes, or a sweet Genmaicha with puffed rice and matcha to pamper yourself a bit.

All our Japanese green teas you can find them available at the online shop: enjoy your exploration!