TEA's BIBLE | Japanese Green Tea
Japanese green tea,
brewed properly.
Matcha, sencha, gyokuro, hojicha. The same leaf becomes a different drink when the water is ten degrees off. A place to learn the regions and cultivars, change how you brew, and taste your way to what you actually like.
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I want to know where the differences come from
The same cultivar becomes another tea elsewhere
RegionsSeven Japanese teas to know
They all come from the same plant. What separates them is how the leaf is grown and processed — shading, steaming, rolling, roasting. Learn these six and most of a Japanese tea shelf becomes readable.
Matcha抹茶
Shade-grown like gyokuro, but dried without rolling to make tencha, then stone-milled to powder. You drink the leaf itself rather than an infusion of it, which is why the color and flavor are so much denser.
- Water
- 70–80°C / 158–176°F
- Steep
- whisked
Sencha煎茶
The everyday Japanese tea, and the one Japan produces most of. Leaves are steamed right after picking to stop oxidation, then rolled and dried. Balanced between brisk and savory — and highly sensitive to water temperature.
- Water
- 70–80°C / 158–176°F
- Steep
- 60 sec
Kabusechaかぶせ茶
Leaf from a field shaded for about a week before picking, then processed the same way as sencha. The shading is far shorter than gyokuro's, so it tends to sit between the two — more savory than sencha, less concentrated than gyokuro.
- Water
- 60–70°C / 140–158°F
- Steep
- 90 sec
Gyokuro玉露
Shaded from sunlight for roughly 20 days before harvest. Growing in shade keeps the leaf from building astringency and lets it hold on to savory compounds instead. Brewed cool and slow for a thick, sweet cup.
- Water
- 50–60°C / 122–140°F
- Steep
- 2 min
Hojichaほうじ茶
Sencha or bancha roasted over high heat. Roasting transforms the astringent compounds and brings the toasted aroma forward. Often lower in caffeine than many first-flush green teas, though levels vary, which makes it easy to drink after a meal or in the evening.
- Water
- 95–100°C / 203–212°F
- Steep
- 30 sec
Genmaicha玄米茶
Sencha or bancha blended with roasted rice. Less leaf per cup makes it lighter, and the rice adds a warm, popcorn-like aroma. Brew hot and fast, and drink it while the aroma is still up.
- Water
- 95–100°C / 203–212°F
- Steep
- 30 sec
Bancha番茶
Made from later-season leaves, larger leaves, and stems. Mild in both astringency and savor, with a clean finish. Production varies so much by region that two teas under this one name can taste nothing alike.
- Water
- 95–100°C / 203–212°F
- Steep
- 30 sec
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Brew
Temperature decides the cup
The compounds that carry flavor dissolve at different rates depending on how hot the water is. That is why the same leaf can taste like two different drinks.
Cool
50–60°C / 122–140°F
Theanine, the amino acid behind the savory sweetness, dissolves even in cool water. Catechins, which carry astringency, mostly stay put. This is why gyokuro is brewed so cool.
Medium
70–80°C / 158–176°F
Keeps the savory notes while drawing out just enough astringency. This is where sencha is at its most balanced, and where matcha is whisked.
Hot
95–100°C / 203–212°F
Catechins dissolve quickly and aroma lifts hard. Right for teas you drink for their roasted character — hojicha, genmaicha, bancha.
No cooling vessel? Water drops roughly 5–10°C (9–18°F) each time you pour it into another cup. Pot to cup and back again will bring a fresh boil down to gyokuro range.