For the Japanese, “tea” is the bitter green tea (ryoku-cha). Tea (cha or o-cha) in the form of the tea ceremony (cha-no-yu or chado) is the essence of Japanese aesthetics and it has influenced many other art forms, from architecture to ceramics, from ikebana to Japanese cuisine (in cha-kaiseki), from painting to landscape gardening.
[Camellia sinensis]
Tea plants (Camellia sinensis) are native to East Asia and probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north Burma. Although tea may in fact be much older, the earliest record of tea drinking in China concern a Han dynasty emperor in the 2nd century BCE. Tea became a popular drink in the Tang (618–907) and Song (960–1279) Dynasties. The first tea was drunk in Japan as early as the 9th century, but it only became popular when it was reintroduced by Japanese Zen monks who had studied in China in the 12th century. For meditating monks, strong tea was an effective means of staying awake - tea has a stimulating effect in humans primarily due to its caffeine content. It was also initially also drunk for medicinal reasons.
These monks drank matcha, powdered green tea, the tea that is still used in the tea ceremony. Some powdered tea is put in the bowl, hot water is added and it is then whipped into a frothy whole with a bamboo whisk. Matcha is strong and bitter. Matcha powder is also used in the Japanese cuisine: for matcha ice creams, matcha–latte, matcha-shio (salt with matcha) and cha-soba (green soba noodles containing matcha). Matcha is enjoyed with the most refined traditional confectionery (higashi), often inspired by the season. These are eaten first before drinking the tea.
It took until the 16th century for tea made from leaves to become popular. Easier to prepare than matcha, this type of tea caught on quickly. As with matcha, it is always green tea: tea whose young leaves are first steam sterilized to prevent fermentation (oxidation) (this also preserves the original green color), then rolled to release the juices and enzymes and finally dried with warm air. Green tea is rich in vitamin C and contains antioxidants. Shizuoka Prefecture has the largest production of green tea (40% of total Japanese sencha production), but the oldest tea-producing region in Japan is Uji, near the former capital of Kyoto. It is thought that seeds sent by the Zen priest Eisai were planted in Uji, becoming the basis of the tea industry there. Today, Japan's most expensive premium teas are still grown in Uji.
[Sencha]
There are four different grades of green tea.
• Matcha (“powdered green tea”). Like gyokuro, matcha leaves are shaded before plucking. The plucked and processed leaf is called tencha. These are then ground into a fine powder, matcha. Because tea powder is very perishable, matcha is usually sold in small quantities and is rather expensive. Matcha is the type of tea used in the tea ceremony. It is prepared by whisking the tea with hot water in a bowl, until the surface is frothy.
• Gyokuro (“dewdrop”). The highest and most expensive quality green tea, for which tender, young leaves are used. These are grown in the shade for three weeks prior to plucking, protected by bamboo screens. The shading technique imparts a sweeter flavor, and produces a
particularly rich color thanks to the higher amounts of chlorophyll in
the shaded leaf. The leaves are carefully picked by hand. Gyokuro is light green in color. It may only be brewed with warm (50˚ C) water, preferably soft water with a low mineral content. Savored in small amounts – for guests and on special occasions rather than just personal use. Like sencha often served with wagashi, traditional confectionery to neutralize the bitterness of the tea.
Gyokuro is one of the most exclusive varieties of tea produced in Japan and is associated with the Uji region, the oldest tea-growing region in the country. It is often made using smaller-leaf cultivars of the tea plant.
• Sencha (“pulled tea”). Also quality tea intended for guests or for special occasions. From young soft leaves brewed with water of 80˚ C. A sencha ceremony also developed in the Edo period, but it is little known compared to the tea ceremony using matcha, especially outside of Japan. Both gyokuro and sencha use a small teapot called kyusu. This is made of earthenware or porcelain and has a handle on the side. Sencha makes up 80% of all tea grown in Japan.
• Bancha. Ordinary green tea, used at home with meals and sometimes drunk throughout the day. Also the tea that is served for free in restaurants. It is a coarse tea of somewhat older leaves that still have twigs in them and which must be brewed with hot boiling water. It also has to be brewed longer than sencha. But there is nothing wrong with the flavor, which is somewhat bolder than sencha. Bancha leaves are plucked each season after sencha production is finished.
[Hojicha]
Besides these four basic grades, there are also different types of Japanese green tea:
• Shincha ("new tea"). The first harvest of tea, made from the youngest new growth leaves, plucked from early April to early May. Because of the limited quantities in which it is produced, shincha is highly prized.
• Kukicha ("twig tea") has a mildly nutty flavor, unique due to its being composed of parts of the tea plant that are excluded from most other teas: it is made of the stems, stalks, and twigs of the plants with which sencha and gyokuro are made. When exclusively coming from gyokuro's production, it takes the name karigane. Kukicha is steeped in water between 70 and 80 °C.
• Hojicha ("roasted tea"). Roasted coarse green tea. Sencha leaves are combined with kukicha twigs. Has a wonderful smell, a
smoky taste and less caffeine than usual, so it is suitable for drinking late in the evening. A
20th century invention from Kyoto.
• Genmaicha ("brown rice tea"). Coarse green tea to which with toasted puffs of rice (rice popcorn) have been added. Has a somewhat nutty taste.
With these last three types of coarse tea, a somewhat larger pot is used because more leaves are needed. Hot boiling water is always used.
By the way, English tea is called kocha (“black tea”) in Japan and is drunk with a Western breakfast or in coffee restaurants by people who don't like coffee.
Recently, oolong tea from China is also very popular because it neutralizes fatty foods. This is mainly drunk in cold form.
Cold tea in PET bottles and cans has really taken off in Japan. All kinds of flavors of green tea, of course without additives, oolong tea, pu-erh tea and also English tea are sold from vending machines as well as in the ubiquitous convenience stores. Both sell cold and warm cans and PET bottles. Tea in all forms is the largest category among all bottled and canned beverages sold in Japan. The consumption of green tea has grown enormously as a result of this modern way of selling. As green tea is trendy, a number of tea cafes have sprung up, and Starbucks Japan also sells lattes made with matcha instead of coffee.
Finally, it should be mentioned that "tea" (in a wider sense of the word) is also made from roasted barley, the popular mugicha that is drunk cold in the hot summer; from soba (sobacha) – especially served in soba restaurants; from konbu (kobu-cha), from shiitake and from yuzu... and so on.
Images from Wikimedia Commons
Japanese Food Dictionary