Green Tea

Houjica: a lightly roasted bancha tea with a nutty flavor. A good nighttime choice as it is very light and low in caffeine.

Sen-cha: about 75% of the green tea harvested in Japan is Sencha, making it the most commonly consumed green tea in Japan. Sencha is especially rich in vitamin C and provides a clear rich yellow-green liquor that is grassy sweet and cleanly astringent. Made from a higher quality leaf than bancha or houjica, sencha is often called "guest tea." The most delightful sencha is Sencha Sakuro, a spring green tea scented with cherry blossoms. Another cherry-scented sencha to try is Spiderleg Sakuro whose longer, more "spidery" leaves produce a rich flavorful bouquet.

Gyokuro: the highest quality Japanese green tea, gyokuro has been called "history, philosophy and art in a single cup." For three weeks before the spring harvest, gyokuro leaves are shaded from direct sunlight, leading to a slower maturation that enhances the leaves' content of flavenols, amino acids, sugars and other substances that provide green tea's health benefits, aroma and taste. Intensely green and sweeter than sencha, gyokuro leaves can serve as the base for matcha-the silky chartreuse tea powder used to make chanoyu, the tea of the Japanese tea ceremony.

Mat-cha: Matcha differs from gyokuro in that the leaves are not rolled. After steaming, they are immediately and thoroughly dried, after which they are called tencha. Tencha is then ground into the superfine powder known as matcha. Use about two level teaspoons of matcha to ½ cup water and whip into a thick, invigorating brew, wonderful as an energizing morning tea or before exercise.

Shin-cha: In Japanese, "shin" means new and "cha" means tea. Shincha is literally "new tea" as it consists of leaves very lightly steamed immediately after harvesting. Shincha, which is only sold from May through July, is a highly aromatic tea with the aroma of freshly picked leaves. Because it is quite perishable, only a very small percentage of the tea harvest is processed as shincha; most of the leaves are used for sencha.

Genmai cha: Made from sencha mixed with genmai (puffed brown rice), this tea may be made from lower quality second harvest sencha but can also be found made from premium first-leaf sencha. The rice supplies a slightly nutty taste. Some tea retailers also add a pinch of matcha to the blend, giving it a vibrant green color.