GREEN TEA FROM JAPAN

Although the process of making green tea originated in China, it spread throughout Asia as a delicious beverage with healing properties. It was introduced to Japan by a Japanese Buddhist priest. Within the green tea category in Japan, there is a wide assortment of teas graded by quality, processing method, where it was grown and the parts of the tea plant used. There is also a great difference in price and quality within this wide assortment of green teas found in Japan.

Let’s explore some of these green teas:

1) Gyokuro is grown in the shade for about twenty days. Its name means “jade dew” because of the pale green color of the infusion. Growing in the shade increases the caffeine and amino acids in the tea leaves. The catechin in the leaves decreases which gives the tea a sweet taste. Gyokuro is one of the more expensive teas.
2) Sencha is the most common green tea in Japan. It is made from tea leaves exposed to direct sunlight. It is named after the method used to process it, sencha, meaning “decocted” which is defined by Webster: “to extract by boiling”. It is made without grinding the leaves. The flavor of the tea results from the place it was grown and the season it was processed. The temperature of the water used to process also affects the flavor of the tea.
3) Kamairicha is not processed with the usual steam treatments of Japanese tea. It is a pan-fried green tea and this process eliminates the bitter taste found in most Japanese teas.

The steaming process is one of the reasons for the taste difference between Japanese and Chinese green teas.