When we think of tea, the first thing that comes to mind is green tea, oolong tea or red tea. Various types of these teas are available, but all of them are produced from leaves of tea plants. In accordance with differences in the production process, teas are classified into three types: unfermented green tea, semi-fermented oolong tea, and fermented red tea. Nihon-cha (Japanese tea) is a unfermented tea, in which fermentation is prevented through steaming.

Japanese tea has a comfortable flavor and taste plus green color, and there are an abundance of types. The flavor and taste varies depending on the cultivation method, production process and harvest season and production areas. The following are representative types of Japanese tea.

Sencha (natural leaf tea) This is a representative tea that accounts for around 80 percent of total production in Japan. Young leaves fully exposed to sunlight are plucked, steamed and rubbed to soften them and then dried. Sencha features a brisk taste with a balance between sweetness and bitterness inherent in Japan tea. Leaves plucked on the eighty-eighth day from the setting-in of spring is called the first tea of the season. Steamed teas include Asamushi-cha (soft steamed tea leaves) and Fukamushi-cha (hard steamed tea leaves); Kabuse-cha tea leaves are subjected to additional processing before harvest.   Bancha (coarse tea) Bancha is produced using a production method similar to that used for Sencha tea. In general, many Bancha packs are sold at low prices, however, there are many variations including tea leaves with slight hardening instead of early sprouts, part of low-grade Sencha leaves picked after the second plucked tea leaves, hard tea leaves or major leaves selected when producing Sencha and other tea leaves made from large and hard leaves or stems plucked in fall and summer seasons in some regions. Old tea leaves are said to have an abundance of fluorine and recently were highlighted for their cavity fighting effects. Gyokuro (refined green tea) Gyokuro is a prime green tea. The production process is similar to Sencha, but additional processing makes them a prime grade tea. Before harvest, the tea garden is enclosed in a reed screen to shelter it from direct sunlight, thus producing soft new sprouts. The resulting new sprouts are rich in amino acids, yielding a sweet, tasty top shelf tea with a minimum of bitterness.   Houjicha (roasted green tea) This is a green tea though the tea leaves themselves are brown. Roasting coarse tea leaves or Sencha leaves with high heat yields a special flavor with reduced bitterness and acerbity.The smaller amount of caffeine makes this an ideal choice for kids and the aged. In the home, you can lightly roast wilted Sencha or Bancha to make roasted green tea. Matcha (powdered tea) (Tencha) Similar to Gyokuro, the tea leaves are sheltered from direct sunlight, steamed and dried by means of a special machine without rubbing to soften the leaves with the tea grounds removed (called Tencha). To produce Macha, Tencha tea leaves are cut into fine pieces and ground to minute particles using a special millstone. This type of tea is mainly used for tea ceremonies.   Genmaicha (popcorn tea) This tea is a product of reproduced Bancha (particularly in low grade) mixed with roasted raw rice. Roasted green tea and rice mixed with a small amount of powdered tea is also available. Tamaryokucha made from boiling in an iron kettle (Tamaryokucha produced by steaming) Instead of steaming with water vapor, it is produced by roasting the tea leaves in a kettle, thus producing a flavor and brisk feel quite different from steamed tea. The production method used for steamed tea is similar to regular natural leaf tea. Tamaryokucha refers to tea leaves that are finished into comma-shaped gems instead of making individual tea leaves stand upright like regular natural leaf leaves. Tamaryokucha is becoming increasingly popular of late.