What I Like About Japanese Green Tea

This is a question that I’m often asked.

People wonder why I stick to Japanese green tea, if there’s such a great variety of tea in other countries as well.

First of all, I have both lived in Japan and traveled there multiple times.

Plus, I also studied the Japanese language, so naturally I am biased towards Japanese culture and that includes tea.

But besides that I want to give you more concrete reasons. They are as follows:

I love the aroma and taste of seaweed

Because Japanese food is my favorite, I like to drink green teas that match it.

Japanese teas have a marine quality to them. I love how they feel fresh, but at the same time there’s this seaweed note that I can’t get enough of.

If you don’t like sushi or miso soup, I doubt that you’ll fall in love with Japanese green teas.

I receive as much pleasure as just smelling the dry and wet leaves, as actually drinking the tea.

Sometimes I can’t resist opening a good matcha and smelling it.

I like the umami flavor in tea

For high quality Japanese teas, the most important flavor is umami.

The liquor feels heavier, almost like a broth. I find it quite addicting.

It’s hard to explain this flavor. It’s something that you have to experience in order to understand.

But when I feel it in my mouth while drinking tea it just makes sense. The experience is wonderful.

The right balance of flavor

A good Japanese tea is high in umami, while having slight sweetness, low astringency, and almost no bitterness.

If prepared correctly, it feels very fresh, and you can taste the difference that the umami makes along with just the right amount of sweetness to find it interesting.

My opinion is that too much sweetness can ruin a good green tea. That’s one of the reasons why I’m not into flavored teas.

I’m by no means a good tea taster, but this is what I personally enjoy.

I imagine that one starts to develop a habit. Just like some people love the aroma and taste of coffee.

I do taste other types of tea besides green, mostly to learn and try different things. But I keep coming back to Japanese greens.

There’s a lot of diversity in Japanese teas too. With so many producing regions, types of tea, and cultivars, you  can spend a very long time exploring them all.

I’m not saying that Japanese teas are better than those from other countries. It’s just that they are my favorite.

You may like to drink black tea instead of green.

Or maybe you hate Japanese green teas and love Chinese ones. It’s perfectly okay.

As with everything in life, it’s a matter of taste.