Ryokucha vs. Sencha: Japanese Green Tea
Ryokucha (緑茶), or Japanese green tea, comes in many varieties and various forms, and in Japan, vending machines selling green tea PET bottles can be seen in every corner of the city.
Representative types of Japanese green tea include Sencha (煎茶), Matcha (抹茶), Hojicha (ほうじ茶), Bancha (番茶), and Gyokuro (玉露), and among these, Sencha is the most common.
Ryokucha vs. Sencha Green Tea
Many people confuse Ryokucha with Sencha green tea, as seen in the fact that several customer service centers of Japanese beverage companies have answered the question of how the two differ.
I researched that today, spending some time reading online sources like this and this. And I found out what the definitions of Ryokucha and Sencha exactly are. According to those,
Ryokucha (緑茶)
Ryokucha, meaning Green Tea in Japanese, is the word for Japanese green tea in general, including Sencha, Matcha, Hojicha, Bancha, and Gyokuro.
Ryokucha is unfermented tea processed from raw green tea leaves.
Sencha (煎茶)
Sencha is a type of Ryokucha.
The tea leaves are grown without blocking the sunlight through the cultivation process. After being picked, they are first steamed, then rolled, shaped, and dried.
The resultant Sencha tea has a moderately astringent taste and refreshing aroma. It is the most loved tea in Japan, accounting for about 80 percent of the green tea produced in the country.
Suggest you add Konacha 粉茶 to the list. Although it sounds like it would be a very cheap tea, and it is less expensive, it is a byproduct of Gyokuro and Sencha manufaturing, so it is actually good quality and has a special character all its own. It is often served in sushi restaurants.
Hi, Eric, Thank you for commenting.
Every time I go to a sushi restaurant, I make green tea using the powder bottle
placed on the table but didn’t know about Konacha.
Thank you for the info.