Organic Tea Blog

enmaicha is the Japanese name for green tea combined with roasted brown rice. While sometimes referred to colloquially as “popcorn tea,” because of a certain amount of popped rice, Japanese varieties do not contain any actual corn

Genmaicha is a blend of bancha green tea and Genmai (roasted rice grain). The proportioning of tea to rice is important, the more aromatic Genmaicha teas have a higher amount of rice. Other blends are known including Matcha and Genmaicha. The tea should be infused with high temperature (not quite boiling) water, but let it only infuse for 30 seconds. Use approximately 5 grams of tea for each deciliter of water.

A very common beverage in Japan, Genmaicha can be drunk late into the evening without disturbing sleep. The tea is said to help digestion and is often served after a meal in Japan. Genmaicha is a modest source of vitamin B1 and, like bancha and hojicha, is low in caffeine.

The flavor of Genmaicha is a melange of green tea and roasted rice. The roasted aroma of genmai in tea has the effect of lightening the bitterness of the lower-grade sencha. The brown rice gives the tea a nutty flavor. Like green tea, genmaicha should be prepared using hot, but not boiling, water.

Over three quarters of all tea produced in Japanese tea gardens is Sencha, a tea selected for its pleasant sharpness and fresh qualities complementing a leaf of high uniformity and rich emerald color. Historically prepared by roasting, today Sencha is steam treated before further processing with hot-air drying and finally pan-frying.

Most regions make a number of kinds of Sencha, which are named according to the kind of processing used. Needle leaf Sencha is processed in Shizuoka and in the Yame region of Fukuoka. In other areas, including Kyushu, the comma-shaped leaf form is processed.

Sencha is the tea most likely to be offered in a Japanese household or restaurant. The higher grades of Sencha are available outside Japan

However, the flavor, color and quality of Sencha varies, depending not only on origin but also season and leaf processing practices employed. Later harvests of Sencha have more astringent qualities, a more robust flavor and generally less aroma.

The earliest season Shincha (first month’s sencha harvest) is available in April in the south of Japan, and prized for its high vitamin content, sweetness and superior flavor.

Chinese gunpowder tea is a green tea from the Zhejiang Province in China. It takes its English name from the fact that each grey-green leaf is tightly rolled into a tiny pellet, “exploding” into a long leaf upon being steeped in hot water.

Gunpowder tea production dates back to the Tang Dynasty (618–907) but it was first introduced to Taiwan in the 1800s. Although the individual leaves were formerly rolled by hand, today most gunpowder tea is rolled by machines (though the highest grades are still rolled by hand). When buying gunpowder tea it is important to look for shiny pellets, which indicate that the tea is relatively fresh.

Gunpowder tea is exported to the Maghreb where it is used in the preparation of traditional North African mint tea. The Moroccan tea ritual is at the heart of any social gathering, from an informal visit to a neighbour to lavish soirees with dignitaries. A minimum of two cups need to be drunk as not to offend the host.

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