Production Steps For Well-Known Teas
Last time we looked at the various stages of tea production.
In this installment of our 'Tea Story' series, looking at the tea from planting to arriving in your cup, we go through some of the most popular teas and indicate what steps each goes through in the production process.
In the next installment, we go through some less common teas, including some black and oolong teas that are making a comeback amongst Japanese tea producers.
After each tea is a table showing the various processes.
- Green indicates that the type of tea goes through this step.
- Yellow means it may go through that process depending on the desired result of the producer.
- Red indicates that this tea does not go through the processing step.
There are other teas that are produced in Japan; we have covered the main ones here.
We hope you enjoyed our journey through tea production - happy sipping!
Sencha
Sencha is the most common type of tea in Japan. As we have seen, the cultivar, the quality of the leaves used, the harvest time and many other factors affect the taste of Sencha tea. There are many teas in the Sencha family of Japanese green teas, and farmers and producers are continuously refining and perfecting their production.
Sencha tea goes through most of the production steps.
There are many variations in the duration of the steps; the temperatures used, the sorting processes and all manner of other differences from one Sencha to the next, from one producer to the next.
It may go through the cutting and blending processes.
| Picking | Steaming | Cooling | Rolling | Drying |
| Sorting | Cutting | Roasting | Blending | Grinding |
Bancha
Bancha is a very popular tea and is usually made from the second flush of the season; the leaves are older and have less caffeine, and the leaves are lower down on the plant than the top young leaves. The young top leaves are picked first – the first flush tea and made typically into Sencha; on the next harvest, the lower older leaves are picked, and some are made into Bancha. It roughly translates into ‘poor man’s tea’ but, like many, a humble ingredient – Lobster, for example, used to be referred to as poor man’s chicken and fed only to prisoners or used as fertilizer only. Bancha is a fine brew with a subtle roasted flavor, considered a good family tea.
Bancha tea can be used as the basis of Hojicha and Genmaicha as the tea leaves and process for those teas is the same as for Bancha – the secondary process is different.
| Picking | Steaming | Cooling | Rolling | Drying |
| Sorting | Cutting | Roasting | Blending | Grinding |
Hojicha
This is a tea that is full of contradictions. It is a steamed tea that is also roasted for a small amount of time. Somehow it all works, and Hojicha is a very popular tea with our clients and ourselves.
The Hojicha is usually made from the same leaves as Bancha and has the added step of pan-firing. Some Hojicha is produced from the Bancha that has already been produced and is simply pan-fired to produce the final Hojicha. Hojicha is lower in Tannins than most green teas and is thus less astringent. It is also lower in caffeine. Many people enjoy Hojicha cold.
If you have some sencha and want to try Hojicha, you can do the roasting process at home. Put some tea leaves into a container and lightly roast over a heat source for 30-60 seconds to get that Hojicha roasted taste.
| Picking | Steaming | Cooling | Rolling | Drying |
| Sorting | Cutting | Roasting | Blending | Grinding |
Genmaicha
Genmaicha is believed to have originated in Japan during the Edo period (1603-1868) as a way for people to stretch their tea supplies during times of economic hardship. By adding roasted brown rice to their green tea, people could make their tea supply last longer and still enjoy the flavor and benefits of tea.
Genmaicha is similar to Bancha and Hojicha in typically being made from older, tougher leaves often picked in the summer. It gets its nutty/roasted flavor from the addition of roasted rice to the tea. Some Genmaicha is itself roasted before the addition of the roasted rice - this process adds to the complexity of the taste.
At the end of processing, the Genmaicha is mixed with roasted rice to give its characteristic flavor. Popped corn is sometimes added to Genmaicha to add to the complexity of the taste.
| Picking | Steaming | Cooling | Rolling | Drying |
| Sorting | Cutting | Roasting | Blending | Grinding |
Gyokuro
Gyokuro is sometimes called the emperor of Japanese teas, and as you may expect for such a thing of importance, it is well-treated and pampered from the moment it is planted until the moment it is ready for drinking.
All the processes with Gyokuro are less 'intense' than with, for example, Sencha. If one looks at the dry leaves of Gyokuro, they do not look like the common description of Sencha which is pine-needed shaped. Gyokuro is indeed rolled but the rolling process is 'softer' than with Sencha Tea.
The tea is shaded for approximately four weeks prior to being harvested, and almost all Gyokuro is from the spring, premium harvest leaves.
| Picking | Steaming | Cooling | Rolling | Drying |
| Sorting | Cutting | Roasting | Blending | Grinding |
Matcha
Matcha is a powdered tea. There are several powdered teas in Japan, Hojicha and genmaicha are both readily available in powder form, but Matcha is by far the most well-known and most prized. Matcha is a premium tea and is similar to Gyokuro in its cultivation. It is a shaded tea; the shading process is expensive and labor intensive, as is the processing of the tea to its ground form.
After going through the primary process steps, excluding rolling, the Matcha is referred to as Tencha. Tencha can be drunk and is occasionally for sale; however, it is mostly used as the input to the process of Matcha production.
Matcha is the ground, refined Tencha tea. During the sorting stage, the youngest leaves are separated and will become the ceremonial grade Matcha that is intended to be enjoyed as part of the tea ceremony or as a high-quality drink. The larger leaves that produce a less vibrant green Matcha are intended for everyday drinking or for culinary use.
Matcha Latte, which is made with the addition of milk, is very popular at the moment, if you have the opportunity, it should be tried made with ceremonial grade and everyday matcha; the difference is noticeable even with the presence of the milk.
| Picking | Steaming | Cooling | Rolling | Drying |
| Sorting | Cutting | Roasting | Blending | Grinding |
Benifuuki
This is an unusual Japanese green tea in that it is grown using an Assamica cultivar rather than the more usual Camellia Sinensis Sinensis cultivar.
When this tea was developed, it was intended to be a black tea, but by processing this tea in a green-tea fashion, it produces a great tasting tea that has a high level of the beneficial methylated catechins EGCG3 that is shown by some research to have anti-allergy benefits.
The steaming temperature for Benifuuki is often higher temperature than normal and happens under pressure.
After drying, the tea can be stored for several months to increase the catechin content.
| Picking | Steaming | Cooling | Rolling | Drying |
| Sorting | Cutting | Roasting | Blending | Grinding |
Kabusecha
Kabusecha is an interesting tea that takes the classic sencha ideas and tweaks them somewhat to produce a slightly sweeter and usually less astringent flavor and mouthfeel.
The tea is grown as sencha would be in the full sun but about two weeks prior to harvest, it is shaded – in a similar way to Matcha/Gyokuro shaded teas.
The brewing time for Kabusecha tea is typically shorter than for Sencha but longer than Gyokuro.
The production steps are the same as for Sencha:
The subtly in this tea comes from the shading process prior to harvest.
| Picking | Steaming | Cooling | Rolling | Drying |
| Sorting | Cutting | Roasting | Blending | Grinding |
Kamairicha
The appearance of this tea is characterized by its curled leaves.
The main difference with Kamaircha processing is that it is roasted like chinese tea rather than steamed.
The tea is processed in the normal way in subsequent steps, but the rolling process is different from the techniques involved in sencha rolling, where the desired result is needle-like leaves.
Kamairicha tends to be characteristic of the region where it is produced more than most teas. We always make a point of trying local Kamairicha when we visit tea-producing areas, and the results can be very unique.
A secondary process of pan-firing is then used on this tea to impart a roasted flavor.
| Picking | Steaming | Cooling | Rolling | Drying |
| Sorting | Cutting | Roasting | Blending | Grinding |
Tamaryokucha (Guricha)
This is another curled Japanese tea; Tamaryokucha literally translates into ‘coiled green tea.’ The tea goes through the primary processing steps, but like Kamairicha, it is not typically steamed but roasted, the rolling process does not involve straightening the tea.
Tamaryokucha tends to have a mild flavor with distinctive roasted undertones.
Tamaryokucha, or Guricha, as it is also known, is a high-quality tea that has a distinct yellowish color when brewed.
Give Tamaryokucha green tea a try, it is worth the time.
| Picking | Steaming | Cooling | Rolling | Drying |
| Sorting | Cutting | Roasting | Blending | Grinding |