Japanese tea has many terms and names that are at first confusing – but understanding a little about its history and manufacture will enhance your enjoyment of the Japanese teas we offer.

Tea brought originally as seeds from China has been grown in Japan for over 800 years and a Japanese tea culture soon grew up, based originally on the ancient Chinese methods, utensils and traditions but, particularly during the 16th Century, was refined to reflect a period of flourishing Zen Buddhist based Japanese cultural development. The tea ceremony (Chanoyu), tea masters, tea schools (including Urasenke) and exquisite ceramic tea utensils date back to this time. Chado (The Way of Tea) then reached its purest form under the influence of artist Sen Rikyu (1522-1591) with its highly aesthetic and ritualised tea ceremony recognising the beauty of ordinary life. The basis of Chado is Harmony – expressed in four written characters:

Kei Reverence – respect for all things and beings

wa Harmony and Peace – deeply felt, honest sympathy with everything and everybody

sei Purity – inner and outer purity in thought, deed and word

jaku Quietness

When, by following the tea ceremony ritual, this state of Harmony is reached then the final goal – Tranquillity – is achieved.

Technically the history of Japanese tea has evolved through three main stages – Boiled Tea, Whipped Tea and Steeped Tea. Originally Japanese tea was made into compressed cakes for transport and storage – the tea at this time was manufactured as parched green tea using the technique learned in China. Cake tea was broken into pieces and boiled to reconstitute it. At some time in the 15th Century steaming was introduced and Japanese tea manufacture could then produce a very bright green product; eventually this crude leaf tea was powdered by grinding between stones instead of being pressed into cakes. This powdered tea (Matcha) was used for making Whipped Tea – frothed by whipping the powdered tea and hot water with a bamboo whisk. This is method still central to the tea ceremony. Finally, in the 18th Century a tea seller in Kyoto developed an entirely new method of rolling and rubbing steamed leaves by hand on a hot surface. The method produced needles of rolled leaf (Sencha) that retained a better flavour and colour and made possible the steeping of tea in a tea pot. Steeped tea developed its own much less formal ceremony (Sencha-do) which became particularly popular among literary artists who prized freedom under the hierarchical feudal system of the period.

Japan has many types of green tea the names of which reflect how the tea was grown, the type of leaves used in its manufacture, the method of manufacture, how the tea is sorted and any final processing it received. When you understand the meaning of these tea names it makes choosing a Japanese tea much more interesting than a black tea, whose name tells nothing about its process history. In our next Newsletter we will explain the essential sensory differences between Kukicha and Kokeicha, Kabusecha and Konacha, but for the moment we look at the broad manufacturing methods used that give the major different tea types.

Growing Method – Japanese tea farmers unlike any others shade some of their bushes with bamboo mats (now mainly black nylon shade material) for three weeks to increase chlorophyll and amino acid development in the young leaf. The very best teas – Gyokuro and Tencha are shade grown teas (Matcha is produced by grinding Tencha leaves). Sencha is grown in full sun and has a more bitter, less sweet taste.

Age of Leaf – young leaf makes the best tea. Japanese farmers harvest their bushes four times during the growing season (four flushes) and the first or Spring flush (Ichibancha) is the best quality. Tea made from very mature or coarse Autumn leaf produces Ban-cha.

Initial Heating – for green tea production the leaf enzymes must be destroyed or the green leaf will ferment (oxidise) to produce black tea. Most Japanese tea is steamed, but a small amount is still “pan fried” or roasted in the Chinese manner – Kamairi-cha is an example of Japanese pan fired tea – rolled into round shapes. The very rare Kamanobi-cha is pan fired and then rolled into needles.

Rolling – now, except for very expensive hand made Japanese teas, all are machine rolled. A distinction is made between needle shape (Sencha and Kamanobi-cha) and round shape (Ryoku-cha and Kamairi-cha).

Unlike teas made in countries under former British influence the manufacture of all Japanese tea is made in two stages – first the Crude Tea Process, usually undertaken in small factories operated as cooperatives where the tea is produced and dried but not graded (Aru-cha). The Refining Process which takes place in tea dealers’ central factories produces by repeated sifting, standardised leaf teas called Hon-cha and stalk teas called Ban-cha.