Cha Means Tea

Ready for a lil' tea education? The tea varieties include Green, White, Black, Oolong, Pu-erh, and Yellow, and they all come from the same plant, Camellia Sinensis. (Herbal "teas" are not really tea but technically called tisanes or herbal infusions) The difference lies in how they are grown, cultivated, and processed. For instance, green tea is a low or non-oxidized variety of the Camellia tea plant. On the other hand, Black tea is the fully oxidized version of the leaves.

The magic of green tea can be attributed to its catechins (EGCG) which are the most abundant polyphenols found in the leaves. These polyphenols have beneficial effects on a wide range of disorders such as cancer, metabolic diseases, and inflammation. Benefuuki green tea has the highest EGCG content of all teas!

The word "Cha" translates to "tea" from Japanese, Chinese, and Korean. "Chai" translates to "tea" from Hindi and Swahili.

There are reportedly over 1,500 different cultivars and varieties of tea, which are grown all over the world even in North Carolina, US! Here are a few varieties of green tea. 

SENCHA- grown in direct sunlight, this is the most popular green tea. Chances are if you've ever had a cup of green tea, it's either sencha or bancha.  Moderate caffeine.

MATCHA- Grown in the shade, matcha is made by powdering tencha green tea. Just add hot water and mix. High caffeine.

TENCHA- Shade grown for 20-30 days, tencha are the dried leaves before they are ground to make matcha. High caffeine.

HOJICHA - Roasted leaves that are usually made from bancha, sencha or kukicha. Moderate caffeine.

GUNPOWDER - A variety of different green teas that are rolled into tight round pellets. High caffeine.

KABUSECHA- A rare, high quality green tea (the quality sits between sencha and gyokuro), kabusecha is shaded for 7-10 days. High caffeine.

GYOKURO- Shaded from sunlight for 20-30 days, Gyokuro is a rare, high-quality, and premium green tea. High caffeine.

FUNMATSUCHA - Any powdered tea leaves that are not matcha. Funmatsucha is made by powdering sencha, houjicha, gyokuro, or others. Caffeine varies.

KONACHA -is made up of small bits of tiny leftover leaves and buds, which are filtered out during the processing of gyokuro and sencha. The word konacha means "powder tea" but it isn't really powdered. Caffeine varies.

GENMAICHA - Also known as popcorn tea, genmaicha is green tea (usually sencha or bancha) mixed with roasted popped rice. A very distinct earthy flavor. Low caffeine.

KUKICHA - My favorite, kukicha is made from the stem, stalks and twigs of the tea plant. Other tea is made from the leaves. Low caffeine.

BANCHA - The second most popular green tea, after sencha, bancha is harvested from sencha but plucked later on. It's considered the lowest grade of Japanese green tea. There are 22 different grades of bancha! Low caffeine.