Green tea is synonymous with Japanese tea. It is the most consumed beverage in Japan, valued for its health and restorative properties. Drinking green tea (緑茶) is a custom that has been interwoven into Japanese culture, with almost every meal in Japan accompanied by a freshly brewed pot of green tea.
Sencha happens to be the most popular type of tea in Japan. It is a loose-leaf green tea that grows under full sunlight.
Green tea accounts for the majority of tea consumed in Japan, while other popular products include black tea and oolong tea.
The most popular ready-to-drink (RTD) tea brand in Japan was Gogo No Kocha manufactured by Kirin Beverage Company as revealed in a survey conducted in March 2021.
Tea is the most popular beverage in Japan and an important part of Japanese food culture. Various types of tea are widely available and consumed at any point of the day.
Matcha is the tea used traditionally in the Japanese tea ceremony. To make it, approximately 2g of matcha powder is added to a special bowl, along with hot water with a temperature between 70°C and 85°C.
Sobacha is a caffeine-free Japanese herbal tea. It's also known as buckwheat tea as it's produced from roasted buckwheat kernels which are found in soba noodles. Sobacha gives a nutty, earthy taste which can be enjoyed hot or cold. Sobacha is often enjoyed in the evenings due to its calming and relaxing natures.
1- Belief in the Power of Tea: Because it is valued for its curative properties more than for the pleasure of drinking it. Japanese people usually take a cup of tea when they are not feeling well and also gargle with salted tea when they catch a cold.
Black Tea: The Most Consumed Tea Globally
The most popular black tea in the world is Assam tea, which is grown in the Assam region of India and is known for its strong, malty flavor.
Agari is a green tea (Camellia sinensis) that is served hot in almost every Japanese sushi restaurant in the world, although it's usually not on the menu. It is traditionally served automatically and free of charge at the end of meals in Japan.
Overall, the most popular beverage among Japanese consumers was tea: green tea, matcha, barley tea, and oolong tea are just some of the varieties of tea that make up a special part of Japanese culture.
Health Benefits: Japanese Green Tea Has More Antioxidants
One of the primary health benefits attributed to green tea is its high concentration of immune-enhancing antioxidants. Japanese green tea contains more antioxidants than Chinese green tea, with 60% antioxidants compared with Chinese green tea's 12-16 percent.
The most natural and the most common of all Chinese teas is Chinese green tea. It is popular not just in China but also all over the world. Green tea comes with a myriad of health benefits including combating diabetes, heart issues, and obesity.
Another and more genuine reason is that drinking tea at meal times is a Japanese custom. Therefore in Japan, people also drink tea at home for every meal. The only difference between restaurants and homes is that at home people usually do not drink tea before meal but just after the meal.
Beer is the most popular alcoholic drink in Japan. Due to taxation issues, several types of beer-like beverages have emerged in recent years, including happoshu and new-genre beer.
A popular drink in Japan, Royal Milk Tea is made with Assam or Darjeeling tea leaves and milk. You can add sugar or honey to suit your taste.
While it is considered normal to add sugar with tea in places like the U.S and U.K, it is virtually unheard of in Japan. Even the tea intended for the broader market is unsweetened. You have more green tea less sugar even with bottled teas.
Other than water, green tea is the most commonly drunk beverage in China. Chinese produce more green tea than any other kind of tea (black, red, green, white). About 80% of the world's green tea is grown in China. Green tea is generally the least processed form of tea.
Best for overall health: green tea
When it comes to tea, green tea gets the gold. “Green tea is the champ when it comes to offering health benefits,” says Czerwony. “It's the Swiss Army knife of teas. It covers a lot of territory.”
Green tea is often touted as the healthiest tea. It is chock full of polyphenols and antioxidants that help to boost brain and heart health. Green tea is considered one of the least processed true teas as it does not undergo oxidation. Leaves are harvested and immediately dried and rolled.
Japan is known for its tea and often Japanese people drink green tea with their breakfast in the morning.
Most people in Japan think of the bathtub as washing away not only their sweat and dirt from the day but their fatigue, too. so it is typically custom to take baths every night. Everyone can experience this part of Japanese culture by dipping into onsen (hot springs) and public baths.
The biggest differentiator in the traditional way the Japanese sleep is that they sleep on the floor, on top of a precisely arranged combination of cushions and mats. At the bottom is a tatami mat, followed by a Shikifuton (or mattress) and a kakebuton (the duvet), and topped off with a buckwheat hull pillow.