Japanese green tea is something I drink every day, with meals or on its own. I love Melbourne coffee, but Japanese tea is just as much a part of my day. I often drink it in the afternoon, and it is one of those drinks that helps me slow down and relax.
At home, I usually keep sencha, genmaicha and hojicha. Each has a different flavour, so I choose between them depending on the meal or my mood.
Sencha, genmaicha and hojicha are easy to find at Japanese grocery stores, and they are also becoming more widely available online in Australia. They taste quite different from one another, which is why I like having more than one at home.
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Sencha is the Japanese green tea many people picture first. It has a fresh, clean flavour with a gentle grassy note. I like it with Japanese meals or whenever I want a simple cup of green tea.
The brewing temperature changes the flavour of sencha. Below 80°C, less catechin is extracted, so the tea tends to taste less astringent and its umami is easier to appreciate. At around 80–90°C, the aroma becomes more noticeable and the tea has a pleasant astringency. I usually use water at around 80°C because I enjoy that balance.
Genmaicha is green tea blended with roasted brown rice. The roasted rice gives it a warm, toasty aroma and makes it feel especially comforting. It is an easy tea to enjoy with food, but I also like drinking it on its own.
This is one I often buy. It is commonly available at Japanese grocery stores, and the large 400 g pack is a good-value option if you drink Japanese tea regularly.
Hojicha is made from roasted Japanese green tea leaves. Its mellow, roasted aroma is especially comforting, and it tastes very different from sencha. I reach for it when I want something gentle with a deeper, toastier flavour.
Each tea has its own place in my day.
- Sencha is my everyday tea.
- Genmaicha is the tea I often drink with meals.
- Hojicha is the one I often reach for after dinner, especially on cold winter days.
I use both tea bags and loose-leaf tea at home. Tea bags are especially convenient when I only want to make one cup. Somehow, tea made with loose leaves always tastes a little better to me. It may simply be because I tend to add too much water when I use a tea bag. Maybe the simple act of brewing and pouring tea from a kyusu, a Japanese teapot, is part of the enjoyment too.
The amount of tea and water temperature make a noticeable difference. These are the measurements I use as a simple guide at home.
- Sencha — 4 g (about 2 teaspoons) with 200 ml of water. Use around 70–80°C for higher-grade sencha or 80–90°C for regular sencha. I prefer around 80°C. Steep for 30–50 seconds.
- Genmaicha — 4 g (about 2 teaspoons) with 200 ml of water at around 95°C. Steep for 30–50 seconds.
- Hojicha — 4 g (about 4 heaped teaspoons) with 200 ml of water at around 95°C. Steep for 30–50 seconds.
I add only as much water as I plan to drink and pour all of the tea into the cups once it has steeped. Leaving water in the pot allows the tea to continue brewing, which can make it bitter. When serving more than one cup, I pour a little into each cup in turn so the flavour is evenly distributed, continuing until the last drop.
Japanese grocery stores usually carry a selection of sencha, genmaicha and hojicha. Some products are also available from Amazon Australia, which can be helpful if you do not live near a Japanese grocer.
Whether I am drinking tea with a meal or taking a quiet break in the afternoon, Japanese tea is a small part of my everyday routine. Sencha, genmaicha and hojicha each have their own character, and these are the three I am happiest to keep at home.
- Tomoka