Tea & drinks ── Nihoncha (Japanese tea)
Tencha
Tencha — unrolled shaded leaf, the raw material for matcha
Shaded new leaves that are steamed and dried without rolling — the raw material for matcha. Skipping the rolling step leaves the leaf shape intact, and it's said to carry little astringency but a strong, sea-like umami.
- Matcha and powdered tea
Lineage
What it's made of
Like gyokuro, tencha uses shaded new buds, but unlike sencha or gyokuro it skips rolling entirely after steaming and is dried as-is. Without rolling, the leaf stays flat and sheet-like; crushed and stripped of veins and stems, this becomes tencha. It's said to carry a distinctive aroma close to that of seaweed, along with little astringency and a deep umami. Dried flat and unrolled, the leaf keeps a glossy deep green, and even before crushing it's said to carry a distinct seaweed-like aroma.
How it's made
Shaded new buds are steamed to stop oxidation, then dried as-is in a dedicated kiln called a tencharo, with no rolling step. After drying, veins and stems are removed, and grinding the result in a stone mill produces matcha. Skipping the rolling looks simple, but managing the shading and drying is said to demand considerable skill. Drying in the tencha kiln is said to use hot air around 100°C as a guide, and because there's no rolling step, it's said to finish in less time than sencha.
Why it took this shape
Sencha's rolling step is said to also serve to draw out moisture and improve storage, but matcha, drunk as a powder, has no need to preserve the leaf's shape — and tencha, dried without rolling, is said to have developed as its own distinct process. In recent years production is said to have expanded beyond Uji to Nishio in Aichi Prefecture and to Kagoshima, supporting rising demand for matcha. The mild climate of basins and plains like Uji's and Nishio's is said to have made it easier to keep up the delicate management shading and drying demand.
Before You Go
- Osechi and zoni for the New YearA guide to the meaning behind osechi's tiered boxes, the regional differences in zoni (square vs. round mochi, clear vs. miso broth), and the nanakusa-gayu custom.
- Setsubun: ehomaki and lucky beansA guide to ehomaki, the uncut sushi roll said to be eaten facing a lucky direction on Setsubun, and to mamemaki, the bean-throwing custom with roasted lucky beans.
- Food for Hinamatsuri and Tango no SekkuA guide to the chirashi sushi and hina-arare eaten at Hinamatsuri, and the kashiwa mochi and chimaki eaten at Tango no Sekku — festivals wishing for children's healthy growth.
Dishes in the same style
- KonachaTea made from the fine, powder-like fragments sifted out while finishing sencha or gyokuro. Because it dissolves quickly in hot water and releases flavor and aroma fast, it's often used as the agari served at sushi counters.
- MatchaTea made by stone-grinding tencha — shaded leaves that are steamed and dried without rolling — into a fine powder. Because the whole leaf is consumed rather than steeped and discarded, it's said to carry its full nutrients and umami, and it's also the tea used in the formal tea ceremony.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Contrast
- GyokuroA premium tea made from buds shaded from sunlight for around 20 days before picking. Blocking the light is said to suppress astringent compounds while letting amino acids build up in the leaf, giving a seaweed-like aroma and concentrated umami.
- Kagoshima no TenchaKagoshima's tencha — the raw material for matcha — is said to have recently overtaken every other prefecture in production. Output has expanded rapidly amid rising global demand for matcha, putting Kagoshima alongside the long-established producing areas of Uji and Aichi.