How to choose a teaJAPANESE HOME COOKINGHow to Japan TV 3

Here we'll introduce how to choose a tea. We'll talk about some of the fine points of choosing the tea depending upon tastes and needs. Before we look at how to choose a tea, we will explain some of the differences among different kinds of teas. Sencha is the most popular tea in Japan. The raw materials for it are tea leaves cultivated in tea garden. Gyokuro (Japanese refined green tea) and Kabusecha (covered tea) are made from the leaves of tea plants grown under covers to shutter out the sunlight. Compared to Sencha, Gyokuro and Kabusecha have more sweetness and less astringency. Bancha (a coarse tea) is made from the buds which come out later after the tea leaves harvested after summer and after thepicking of Ichibancha (the first picked tea leaves). Hojicha (roasted green tea) is made by roasting Bancha (coarse tea) and Kukicha (twig tea) leaves. Genmaicha (tea with roasted rice) is a mixture of Bancha and roasted unpolished rice. Hojicha and Genmaicha are light, pleasant to the taste, and full of a good aroma. Kukicha's main raw materials are stems of new sprouts. It has a fresh taste and a good aroma.