Facts About Green Tea

―Black tea, oolong tea, and green tea are made from the same tea leaves. Black tea is fully fermented, oolong tea is semi-fermented, and green tea is unfermented.

―Catechins, a component of tea, have an antibacterial effect. Catechins also have a disinfectant effect and prevent arteriosclerosis.

―Tea also contains caffeine.

―The “Mawashi Sosogi,” literally meaning “pouring around,” method ensures that the thickness and quantity of tea in each teacup are even. It involves pouring a little in one cup, then in another cup, and then in another, until the last cup, and then pouring a little in the first cup again, and so on.

―There is a Japanese superstition that a tea leaf floating upright in the cup is good luck.

―The game of “tea fighting” was very popular in the old days. The Muromachi Shogunate banned the game because people were too enthusiastic about it.

―There is an art called the “tea ceremony.” The tea ceremony trains not only the attitude and skill to entertain others but also the aesthetic sense to arrange the environment for tea drinking, including tea utensils, furnishings, and flowers. It is a comprehensive art form that forms the basis of Japanese mannerisms.

―The word “tea” means “brown” in Japanese because it used to be brown. It was not until the Edo period (1603-1867) when a unique manufacturing process was developed that it became green.

―The semi-cylinder shape in a tea field makes it easier to pick tea, apply fertilizers and pesticides, and do other work. The round shape allows for a larger area than the flat shape. This is for tea picking work, where all the shoots are picked.

―The reason for the slope is that at night, the heat from the daytime escapes from the ground, and the cool air flows into the flat land and stays there. The slopes cool down in the evening, but eventually, the cool air goes down and is replaced by the warmer air of the plains, which is warmed during the day and rises. The average minimum temperature is warmer on the slopes.

―The fans in the tea fields are called “frost-proof fans.” The role of the frost protection fan is to prevent frost from hitting the crops. If the crops are exposed to frost, they will freeze and die.

Terminology

Genmaicha: A blend of bancha or sencha with brown rice, which combines the aroma of sencha with that of brown rice.

Gyokuro: Gyokuro tea has a full-bodied and sweet flavor because the sunlight is blocked by “yoshizu-dana,” a reed screen, or other means when the new sprouts begin to open, increasing the amount of theanine, a component of umami (flavor).

Sencha: Sencha is the most consumed tea, accounting for 85% of the tea in circulation. It is characterized by its fresh aroma and moderate astringency.

Bancha: Sencha picked late in the summer or fall is called bancha. Because it is exposed to strong summer sunlight, it contains relatively high levels of astringent components.

Hojicha: Bancha or sencha tea roasted over high heat.

Matcha: This tea is made by removing the stems and leaf veins from “tencha,” which is made by drying young leaves grown under shade from the sun, and then grinding them into a powder using a millstone.