Bottle, bottle and bottle.....

As you may know, Japan is a “bottled” superpower. Bottled drink is available anywhere and anytime due to countless vending machines and ubiquitous 24-7 convenience stores. Unfortunately, for many Japanese now, “tea” might mean bottled tea instead of tea made with a teapot.

Anyway… another new tea will be put on the market next on August 15. It is called “Nihon no Kocha”, or Japanese black tea, by Ito En Ltd. This product seems to be slightly sweet because of molasses. I’m not a big fan of bottles, but I am curious how its sales will be.

If you have a chance to come to Japan, why don't you try to count how many kinds of bottled tea you will be able to find? I would give up because it's too many to count....

Memory of the UK !?

I came across those below when I visited the UK this past Spring. Nothing to do with Japanese tea, but I found them funny in terms of English!

"Traffic Jam" jam! I wonder how it tastes like.......:-)

I didn't know "Junk" can be high class!

It has "more than" a lot to do with Japanese tea....
What does GMC stand for??? It's "Genmaicha"

English Breakfast Udon Noodle!?

What’s “English full breakfast”??

I would say that the meal including eggs, bacon, sausages, mushroom, tomatoes, baked beans and some toasts…with a pot of tea with milk, of course!.

I heard that a restaurant in London named “KOYA bar” offers their signature menu, “English breakfast Udon noodle”.

What is that!!?

That's the one! Bacon, mushroom, eggs or so are on Udon^^)

by KOYA bar website

I visited London this past May, but I didn’t know this and missed it. I’m not sure whether I had tried even if I had known it. But I believe green tea would be better for this breakfast.

The real McCoy –Sencha-

I am not sure what's the definition of Sencha in the strict sense of the word. I just believed... or I "wanted to" believe that Sencha is the one produced in Japan. However, non-Japanese Sencha have been seen here and there throughout the world, which puzzled me more...

 

Anyway, this is about Japanese Sencha. Actually, Sencha is not only one. As far as I know, there are several types.

<Sencha (standard)> 

It is most popular and common green tea in Japan.

The shape of high-quality Sencha is beautifully rolled into needle shape, and the color keeps beautiful dark green. They are more seen grown at mountain side in Kyoto or so.

<Fukamushi-Sencha> also called "Fukamushicha"

"Fukamushi" refers to “longer steam”. When the tea is produced, the heat is applied to stop oxidization. For Fukamushi one, the time to steam is longer than standard sencha, which makes the leaves a bit more crumble and the tea steep quicker. They are more seen grown at flatland in Shizuoka and Kagoshima.

<Kabuse-sencha>also called "Kabusecha"

Kabuse means “covered”. Sencha is usually grown under the blue sky. But for Kabuse-cha, they are covered for about a week or so, which is shorter than Gyokuro and Matcha. This method will give the tea more umami.

 (When the leaves are covered, they will keep L-Theanine, a kind of amino acid, which will give the tea more umami.)

<Kamairi-sencha>also called Kamairicha

Most of tea in Japan, the leaves are steamed after being plucked. But in this case, the leaves are pan-fired. It’s mainly produced in Kyushu, the south part of Japan. As you can see, they are curled unlike the standard one. (”Kama” means pan, and ”iri” means fired.)

 

 

Moreover, there are various varieties of tea. The taste of Sencha differs depending on which type of Sencha you will choose and which variety is used for the tea. Every time you sample tea, you may find different taste. When you come to Japan, enjoy an authentic Sencha. And  you can tell this is, what I believe, the McCoy:-) 

Cheese and Green

To begin with, let me explain this;

Tencha is the name for tea leaves used for Matcha. In other word, Tencha is ground into powder. Once tencha become powdered tea, it is called Matcha.

Also, when green tea，especially high quality tea including Tencha, is brewed with water, not hot water, it will be richer in "Umami", a kind of amino acid. It is called “mizu-dashi” method. (“mizu” is water, and “dashi” means brew)

OK,now......at a Japanese tea room in Osaka.

They served me this: Cheese and iced Tencha tea brewed in “mizu-dashi” method.

Actually, I knew cheese and black or Oolong tea can go well. But I just thought green tea won’t. I don’t know why, I just had such a fixed idea. But….interestingly, it was good combination. Both cheese and Tencha tea have amino acid and they didn’t clash.

Then, they served this too: Cheese with black pepper and Sencha tea brewed with hot water, not high temperature.

It was more interesting. When I drank the tea after having cheese, the cheese became much milkier. Then, aroma of pepper remained a bit, which was good.

Many of you may know the marriage of cheese and green tea already. I should’ve known that much earlier. My today's lesson was.... “Think outside of the box!” :-) 

BTW, the variety of the green tea is very very special. An annual production of the tea is....just 10kgs! Lucky me!

"Water brewed" and "Ice-cube brewed"

While I was in London this May, I joined a seminar conducted by a well-known tea maker. Some, from Australia or South Africa or so, were talking about if tea can be brewed with water or not. I told them, “Yes, that is what I often do especially in summer in Japan!.” They were so surprised that tea can be brewed with water, even iced-cubes. No wonder, even some (or many) Japanese don’t know.

Even those who didn’t know about “water-brewed ( known as “mizudashi” ) green tea ” or “ ice-cubed brewed (known as ”koridashi”) green tea”, they start talking about it…..thanks to “bottled tea”.

A tea company, ITO EN. LTD, released “water-brewed green tea with Matcha” and “ ice-cubed Gyokuro”.

Anyway…….the season for “mizudashi” and “koridashi” has come in Japan!

*You may be interested in this;  about Japanese green tea by ITO EN LTD

http://www.itoen.co.jp/eng/allabout_greentea/index.html

photo by ITO EN, LTD

Gyokuro + Tencha = !???

G7 summit was held in Ise-Shima in Japan last month. At its working lunch, Japanese tea called “Gyokuten” was served. What is “Gyokuten”?? I’ve never heard of it.

According to my reserch, “Gyoku” is for Gyokuro. "Ten” is for “Tencha”, which is the name for tea leaves used for Matcha. Once the leaves called Tencha are ground into fine powder, the powder tea is called Matcha. In other word, ground Tencha is  Matcha. Anyway, "Gyokuten" is a blend green tea from Gyokuro and Tencha. 

I know I see many tea  blended with Matcha like “Sencha with Matcha” and “Matcha Genmaicha”. So I guess people are not surprised anymore by tea blended with Matcha. 

Instead of Matcha, which is everywhere now,  it may be the time for “unground Matcha” =Tencha now.

Photo by　Kyoto Shinbun