JAPN Japanese Tea Guide: Sencha, Hojicha, Genmaicha and More
Japanese Tea Guide: Sencha, Hojicha, Genmaicha and More
Tea Varieties
Sencha, Japan’s most consumed tea at over 60 percent of production, is steamed immediately after picking to halt oxidation, then rolled and dried, producing a bright green liquor with grassy, slightly sweet flavor. Steep at 70 to 80 degrees for 60 to 90 seconds. Gyokuro, shade-grown for 20 days like matcha but processed as leaf tea, produces an intensely umami, sweet, almost brothy flavor and costs 3,000 to 10,000 yen per 100 grams. Steep at 50 to 60 degrees for two minutes.
Hojicha is roasted green tea with a brown color and toasty, caramel-like flavor, naturally low in caffeine and gentle on the stomach. Genmaicha blends sencha or bancha with roasted brown rice, adding a nutty, popcorn-like aroma. Mugicha barley tea, served cold in summer, is a caffeine-free staple in Japanese households. Kukicha (twig tea) uses stems and stalks for a mild, slightly sweet flavor. All these teas appear in convenience store bottles at 100 to 160 yen for everyday drinking.
Tea Shopping
Ippodo in Kyoto, operating since 1717, sells the full range from affordable bancha to premium gyokuro with a tea counter where you can taste before buying. Lupicia, a national chain, stocks flavored and unflavored Japanese and international teas with free sampling. Shizuoka Prefecture produces the most tea by volume, and the Nihondaira area offers tea farm visits. Tea purchased directly from growers at Uji, Shizuoka, or Kagoshima (Japan’s second-largest producing region) provides the freshest quality at wholesale prices.
Tea Types and Preparation
Sencha, the most common green tea, is steeped at 70 to 80 degrees Celsius for 60 to 90 seconds, producing a balanced flavor with mild astringency. Gyokuro, shaded for three weeks before harvest, steeps at a lower 50 to 60 degrees for a sweet, umami-rich liquor that commands prices 5 to 10 times higher than sencha. Hojicha, roasted green tea with a brown color and nutty flavor, contains less caffeine and is popular as an evening tea. Genmaicha blends green tea with toasted brown rice for a warm, popcorn-like aroma. Mugicha barley tea, served cold in summer, is caffeine-free and available from every vending machine from June through September. Japanese tea ceremony (chado) uses matcha whisked in a bowl, but daily tea drinking revolves around sencha brewed in a small kyusu teapot. Tea shops like Ippodo in Kyoto and Tokyo and Lupicia nationwide offer tastings and beautifully packaged teas as gifts.
Buying Tea
Ippodo Tea, with its flagship store on Teramachi-dori in Kyoto and a branch in Tokyo’s Marunouchi, has sold Japanese tea since 1717 and offers in-store tastings where staff guide you through sencha, gyokuro, and matcha preparations. Lupicia, a chain with over 100 locations nationwide, stocks hundreds of Japanese and international tea varieties in colorful tins that make excellent gifts. Department store food floors include curated tea sections with knowledgeable staff. For budget-friendly quality, supermarket brands like Ito En and Yamamoto Yama provide excellent sencha at 500 to 1,000 yen per 100 grams. Vending machine green tea from brands like Oi Ocha and Ayataka at 150 yen provides a cold, unsweetened refresh available every few hundred meters in any Japanese city.
Green tea’s health benefits, including high antioxidant content and L-theanine for calm alertness, drive significant domestic consumption. Japanese adults drink an average of three to five cups of green tea daily. The practice of serving green tea to guests is so fundamental that the phrase ocha wo dasu (to serve tea) is synonymous with basic hospitality.
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