Leaf soup
I was told the other day that there is a matcha trend, and this is creating shortages in matcha. That is sad, because matcha is both very good and quite finicky, so there are probably a lot of people out there burning or clumping their matcha. Still, I can also choose to not think about any of that and focus on the fact that more people drinking matcha is hopefully giving me more opportunities to buy gyokuro & sencha.
I have drank sencha basically every day at work for the past 15 years. I drink gyokuro on the weekends and matcha some mornings. I drink shincha & kabusecha when I can find it. I am drinking sencha stems (also called kukicha) as I write this text. I am not really an authority on Japanese green tea, but I like it a lot, and I am just expert enough to write some basic text. Maybe it’s helpful!
Fun facts
Japanese tea is almost entirely green, although there are exceptions. It is usually high in L-theanine, a chemical that helps you focus and acts as a light stimulant. And most of it is brewed at low water temperatures, usually a maximum of 190º, sometimes even down to 160º. Some things to keep in mind that I learned late:
- In order from less to more rich: shincha (available only in May-ish in the states), sencha, kabusecha, gyokuro.
- The richer the tea, the lower the temperature of water you need to brew it. (This goes for matcha, too.)
- The richer the tea, the more you’re going to get umami mowed-lawn flavors. The less rich, the more likely you’ll get bright & fresh flavors.
- Richer teas are more expensive, but you really are going to get the same quality out of cheaper teas if you go with a well-known brand.
- Most Japanese green teas can be resteeped a few times. The richer the tea, the more times you can steep it.
- Cha is the Japanese word for tea, so you can figure out what each tea literally translates to by figuring out the compound word. For example, shin is “new”, so shincha is literally “new tea”, made from the buds of the very beginning of the year’s harvest.
- Separate from the classical spectrum of Japanese greens is a class of teas that work with lower-quality product, called bancha. A famous one of these is called hojicha, which is bancha roasted over charcoal. Note that while the resulting tea is brown, this is a different process from black tea, which is oxidized, not roasted. Another is called genmaicha, mixed with popped brown rice.
Where to start
- Get some sencha from a good purveyor. I like Ippodo for the classical stuff, the Tea Crane for the cool punk stuff, and Sugimoto for a good simple introduction – or when I need to buy a lot.
- Pour 190º water over it. Wait a minute. Strain. Drink.
- Resteep twice.
- Do you like it? Great. Stick with it forever.
- Wish it was heftier or lighter? If so, finish up your supply and repeat with a different tea.
- Reply to this email and let me know what you think.