I'll try to answer with some extra detail here, but if you really want to go down the rabbit hole (Information wise) then it's quite a bit of reading aside from this comment. Show 1: Someone else mentioned that super cheap Bancha is the most common, but I'd argue that's only partially correct. While Bancha is widely drank, partly for the cost, I'd wager that "most drank" tea is pretty spread out nowadays. A substantial amount of tea made is Sencha, but teas like Hojicha and Uroncha (Japanese oolong) have gained a massive amount of popularity in recent years. Another popularly done tea is konacha, made loose in restaurants (Not all, but it is common) and found in teabags, which is fannings from production of sencha, gyokuro, etc. As for brand, there's a few. For bottled, there's not necessarily one brand that eclipses all others. Popular ones being Kirin, Ayataka, Ito En, Suntory, etc. Bottled tea being overwhelmingly popular, it's probably tied about equal or close to it with brewing in popularity. Unlike in the West where the majority of tea is bagged, loose leaf in Japan is extremely common and equal to or more popular than bagged teas, though companies like Ito En make and sell bagged teas. Teapots with large infuser baskets or even vacuum insulated mugs/bottles with filters for tea leaves are a common sight in Japan. 2: Like others said, slightly weird question. Most authentic can be answered a couple of different ways but in the simplest way to answer: Basically all of them, although Uroncha is only recently trending up in popularity and didn't originate in Japan, though Japanese Uroncha definitely is it's own style of oolong. If you want a deep dive into Japanese types of tea, you can look at an old comment of mine here and scroll down until you see the bullet points. 3: I don't live in the UK so I'm largely unfamiliar with UK Asian tea importers, but Mei Leaf is popular even here in the states and they're based in London, though they're pretty pricey. As for me, I buy 99% of Japanese my tea directly from Japan through Yunomi.life, Hibiki-An, Sazen Tea, and Yuuki-Cha. The other 1% I either order from a deal on some random website I might find or have it imported using a Japanese shipping company. If you go the straight from Japan route using one of the sellers I listed, you'll need to check shipping rates to the UK. Most of my orders are $100-$200 per batch to bring shipping cost per-item down. Though, Yunomi has shipping promos very regularly if you spend X amount. My favorite Japanese Green tea to this point is hachijuu hachiya shincha. I decided last year for the first time to give shincha a chance and was very glad about it. Shincha tastes very very similar to sencha since it is a subcategory of sencha being the first pick of the year. The grassy and astringent notes that sencha are known for are a touch stronger in this shincha. However, at the same time, if you brew it correctly, it is significantly sweeter in my experience. There are no extra fruity notes or things like that when compared to sencha. The one piece of advice I would give for it would be that you should drink all of what you buy of this within 6 months of the harvest time, maybe 8 months at the latest. I had forgotten about a small amount of shincha (another kind than this) until december. I had it tightly sealed and all the works. Since only a few grams remained, I decided to finish it off, and unfortunately the time in the can had not done it well, and it came out very bitter. I couldn't drink it. That might just be bad luck on me, but I could taste the difference in flavor from early on to later on. I wouldn't be surprised if it could be stored for up to a year maybe, but at that point it would probably be very stale and not a happy tea. My favorite Chinese Green tea is probably Longjin I had a while back but can't remember the details on. I would give you a link to it, but it skips my head. I like how the astringent and beany notes common in Chinese green tea is there, but a little baby touch milder so that the nutty elements are clearly tasted. For my favorite tea overall, I jump into Rock tea from Wuyi. I really like Rou Gui, and it is probably my present favorite. It has those great mineral tastes like other Wuyi teas, but not quite like the Si da ming cong teas in my opinion. It really has a twist all its own! Yunomi.life has worked hard over the years to set up relationships with individual producers across Japan. They appear to have the largest and widest array of these non-mass-produced teas. It is a good place to start to build a relationship with a vendor, since their variety is unmatched. You can learn more about various tea producers across Japan by watching the YouTube videos on the Global Japanese Tea Association channel. They interview various producers from over a dozen prefectures, learn how they grow and craft their tea, and also how they brew their own tea - which might surprise you because some brew with boiling water (generally not recommended). What is the best green tea brand in Japan?Itoen is Japanese No. 1 green tea brand. This multinational drinks company specializing in tea production not only is it preferred by most Japanese, but it's also the largest distributor of green tea in Japan.
What is Japan's #1 green tea?Sencha is the most popular and widely-consumed Japanese green tea.
What is known as the highest grade Japanese green tea?Gyokuro – is regarded as the highest grade of Japanese green tea. It is made only with the first flush leaf (see 'first flush') and its special processing results in a tea with a mild, sweet flavor and with fresh, flowery-green aroma. Gyokuro tea bushes are shaded from direct sunlight for 20 days prior to harvesting.
Is gyokuro better than sencha?Taste – Sencha has a grassy sweetness, with notes of fresh green veggies creating that all-important umami and bringing a nice balance to the infusion. The Gyokuro was more intense, with even sweeter floral notes and a more savoury, buttery flavour. Both had plenty of characterful umami, but Gyokuro is much richer.
|
