Japan is home to one of the world’s most venerable tea cultures, and is a tea lover’s paradise.
Though best known for green tea, while traveling around Japan you will likely come across a surprising variety of teas, ranging from matcha powder (not to mention Kit Kats!) to tea made from sakura cherry blossoms.

A close-up of matcha (photo by Matthew Hadley / CC BY)
Common Varieties of Japanese Tea
Matcha Tea
When you think of Japanese green tea, you’re likely thinking of matcha, a finely ground powder made from shade-grown green tea plants. It’s vibrant green in color and has a lovely rich taste. It’s matcha that’s prepared during Japanese tea ceremonies, where it’s mixed with hot water, whipped into a froth with a small wooden whisk, and served in a tea bowl. Sencha Tea
Sencha is made by taking whole tea leaves and mixing them with hot water. When you go to a cafe in Japan and ask for green tea, you’re likely to get sencha. It has a grassy taste but without being too bitter, though if left in hot water for longer than two minutes, it will start to become bitter.
Fresh sencha being steeped (photo by Etienne Fat / CC BY)
Genmaicha Tea
Literally “brown rice tea,” genmaicha was historically the least expensive Japanese tea, with the rice acting as a filler for more tea leaves. Today, everyone drinks it. It has a really nice and mild flavor, with grassy notes from the green tea and the pleasant aroma of roasted rice....