Glossary of Japanese Green Tea

World of Japanese Green Tea is very wide and wonderful, but it is sometimes confusing with all the terms used.  Here are glossary of commonly used terms when talking about Japanese Green Tea.

Type of Japanese Green Tea

• Aracha (Crude Tea) : Aracha translates to "Wild Tea" in English. Aracha is green tea where the process of green tea keeps the original shape as it is cropped. Most green tea consumed are refined and processed green tea. In Japan, green tea is usually sold from the farmer to wholesaler where the wholesaler process and refine the tea. When green tea is provided to the wholesaler, the form of the green tea is usually Aracha where it has not been processed yet. This type of green tea is usually not distributed to consumers. However, due to being able to enjoy rich and natural taste and flavor, some fans prefer drinking this type.
• Cha: Cha means "tea" in Japanese and does not specify specific kind of tea. Therefore you often see "cha" in names of tea. The word is written in Chinese Character in Japan, and the origin of the word is from China where it is also called "cha" in many dialect including Mandarin.  Word "Chai" also originate to the same word from China.
• Fukamushi-cha (Deep Steam Tea): "Fukamushi" translates to "deeper steam" in Japanese. This approach only works well for thicker tea leaves.  In order to take advantage of richer nutrients contained in thicker tea leaves, they are steamed for three to four times longer than regular Sencha green tea. All of our green tea are of this type.   On contrast, when the tea is lightly steamed, it is refered as Asamushi-cha.
• Ichiban-cha (First Crop Tea): In Japan, green teas are categorized as first, second and third based on when the tea is being harvested. First harvest of the season is called Ichiban-cha. This is also called "New Crop" (or Shin-cha). Since it is the first harvest, this is refereed as "syun" or seasonable. (Japanese culture value the concept of "syun" (seasonable), and example of it is famous haiku where it must use a word of season "syun" in the short poem.)  The characteristic of the first harvest is that the tea leaves are still "young" and brings in richer and clearer aroma.
• Kabuse-cha (Covered Green Tea):  Kabuse-cha translates as "Covered Green Tea" in English. ery few farms are capable of using this methodology. The green tea is covered by special net to block sunlight for few days before new sprout comes out. By purposely blocking sun light for timed few days before new sprout comes out, the tea creates very unique aroma and taste.
• Macha:When green tea leaves are powdered and mixed into hot water, it is called Macha.  Macha is sub-category of Ryokucha which has two types: Macha and Sencha. Macha is the form used for the Japanese traditional tea ceremony though most common type of tea consumed in Japan is Sen-cha.  
• Pu-Erh Tea (Microbial fermentation tea): Pu-Erh tea is made by steaming and fermenting freshly cut tea leaves. Traditionally, Pu-Ert tea was consumed by minority ethnics in China, Tibet, Mogolia and other South East Asian regions. The name of Pu-Erh comes from a town called pu-erh in Yunnan district of China where it was stocked for trading. Our Japanese Pu-Erh tea uses quality fresh green tea and go through careful fermentation process.
• Ryoku-cha (Row Green Tea): Word Ryoku-cha directly translates to "Green Tea" in English, and it is referred as the parent category of all other Japanese Green Tea; row green tea is usually referred as Ryokucha.  Ryokucha has two commonly known sub categories: Sen-Cha and Macha.    
• Sen-cha (Green Tea): This is the most commonly consumed green tea in Japan, and when people call "Green Tea", it is mostly referring to this type of tea. Original form of Sen-cha is Ryoku-cha (row green tea); when the row green tea is made into beverage by infusing in hot water, it is called Sen-cha.  Japanese style green tea is steamed whereas Chinese style is generally pan heated; Sen-cha refers to the type of tea which is steamed in Japanese style.  Above mentioned Kabuse-cha (Covered Tea), Fukamushi-cha (Deep Steam Tea), Ichiban-cha (First Crop Tea) and Aracha (Crude Tea) are all considered sub-type of Sen-cha.
  
  

We have created a diagram to show different categories of tea and how they are related or different from one another.