Japan is known for its bright green, vegetal teas with remarkable umami flavor. Japanese tea refers to teas grown and processed in Japan, most of which are green teas. All Japanese teas come from the Camellia sinensis plant.
Japan's cultural tea tradition dates back more than 1,000 years when tea seeds were brought back from China by monks in the early 9th century. At first, green tea was considered an imperial beverage and consumed as a medicine by the elite. Today, Japanese tea is widely consumed across Japan as a daily beverage, ceremonial ritual, and also in foods.
Japanese teas are thin with needle-like leaves and a rich green color. Tea infusions are typically bright green and yield an exquisite vegetal, seaweed and umami flavor due to steaming the leaves during production. In contrast, Chinese green teas are pan-fried in production which lends to a lighter, sweeter, and grassier final product.
Japan produces over a hundred different varieties of tea including toasted rice tea called genmaicha. The variations come from the age of the tea plant, the altitude and growing conditions, and the different processes the leaves go through before and after harvest.
At Dobrá Tea, we have formed a direct trade partnership with tea master Masahiro Takada, our Japanese supplier.
