Japanese vs. Chinese Green Tea | Differences
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- čas přidán 25. 05. 2018
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China and Japan are the two largest Green tea producing countries in the world. They produce exemplary yet very different tasting Green tea.
What are the differences between Chinese and Japanese tea?
How do the two cultures express themselves in the teacup?
In this video I give an overview of the key differences in their tea and then taste a Japanese tea with a Chinese tea to describe the difference. Let's explore together!
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Its very hard to talk about cultural differences and you did it extremely respectfully, and in my opinion correctly. Great job, thanks.
Chinese tea- playing in a blossoming meadow as a child. Natural and free.
Japanese tea- warm and safely snuggled up at home on a rainy afternoon.
It's so nice to live in a world where we can have both.
Lovely. Agreed.
Ah what a world in which i can enjoy such poetic words about tea! Thank you!
British/Irish tea - waking up @ 6AM to go to work
@@unclerico4461 british tea is shit
@@mysteriev7071 ur shite and that's just facts innit
Thank you for the excellent video! As a Chinese who is studying Japanese tea in Japan right now, I totally agreed with you on the opinion that the different way the two countries grow,process and brew the tea reveal the difference between two cultures.I don't think many Chinese ever tried sencha before, perhaps the same to Japanese,if both can drink each other's tea more, perhaps there will be less hostile and misunderstanding.
enron lu
I agree with you.
That's a nice thought. But there's just so much blood between them, it's hard to believe.
Virtual Advertising Columbia the french and the germans had a long and bloody past. But after hundreds of years of wars they‘re like the best friends in europe.
@enron lu It´s strange that chinese people don´t know more about japanese green tea, since steaming the tea used to be the way the chinese processed the tea up until the invention of pan frying. There still a traditional chinese green tea that is being fixed with hot steam. It´s called En Shi Lu Yu and is somwhat elusive and seems to be very hard to get. There are lots of imitations of it, but reputable tea vendors tell me that the leaves are not actually being steamed with these teas. But most of japanese tea culture and processing is based on chinese tea culture and processing. There are more similarities that one might think.
What an treasure it is to find this channel. I recently got interested in the world of teas. Its like learning about new art, exploring whole new world. And is there better way to enjoy this video than with few brews of organic gyokuro! I like this one so much. I've started my tea journey with these japanese teas gyokuro, sencha and guricha. I like that brothy feel and taste (umami) and that theanine kick. I swear its bit like being "high" type of feeling, yet clear mind. So relaxed, calm and focused. Im gonna dive deep into this world of teas. Thanks for this great channel!
Thank you! I adore your channel. Please, keep them coming. ♥️
I didn’t really like hot brewed sencha so I used it for cold brew. The result was amazing! It’s very fresh both in taste and aroma. Perfect for summer days. I felt in live with it’s slightly bitter aftertaste that makes you want to drink this tea more and more. I did it in two infusions. Firsts one was about an hour in the fridge and the second one approximately 3-4 hours. They were very different in color and taste and I can’t even tell which one I like more. I definitely recommend everyone trying cold brew sencha)
I’m going to try this!
Excellent, detailed and informative comparison. Thank you.
Thanks Don. Always wondered about this question. You gave more info than I had hoped for.
GREAT review, spot on, totally agree on every point in my experience - love both teas equally. Being used drinking Sencha, first time brewing / drinking PROPER Chinese tea I was so surpised by it's subtle more golden (instead of greenish) color and natural flavors. Thank you for this video. You got an extra customer when I come to London.
Marvelous video as usual, thank you!
perfect timing. this morning my wife asked me what is the difference between chinese and japanese green teas. I had a hard time explaining. much appreciated, Don.
I just love the way he brings forward the vision of the character of flavors.
Such a helpful overview of the differences. Some great stuff here!
Wow, Don estimated the brewing time of the Japanese tea correctly to the second (16:10 - 17:10)!
I had to rewind and check several times, because I just couldn't believe he estimated that to the second. He definitely has had some years of practice. XD
Great review! You've earned yourself a subscriber.
Great teaching. Thank you, Don.
Hey! Nice video! I saw you on the Alex video, and I loved your passion about tea! It made me get into this nice world of tea. Thanks man c:
Loved it, as someone who just started the journey of quality tea-drinking, and started with Japanese sencha one I am now interested to try Chinese too!
You are awesome! Love your videos!
Keep up the good spirit.
Dear Don, It was very interesting and useful to watch your video. I have been drinking green tea for a long time, but now I am aware of the difference between teas. Thank you.
I had the pleasure of tasting Hoshino TAY gyokuro which has won the all Japan tea competition in 2016, it is beyond words, the perfume and clarity is amazing. I also like Anhui green tea, Lu An gua pian is a good starter for a japanese tea lover, and Bi luo chun is also along my favourite chinese green teas, they are so different that it is like comparing apples to oranges. I think westerners who are raised on sugar are shocked by sencha.
I find it funny that you put out this video today as i just received your scorched black kyusu yesterday, wonderful kyusu btw, so i was just making some anji bai cha and some gyokuro when i saw the new video
Ahaha same! Was enjoying some homemade Anji white tea while watching this
I know what I'm binging today! Thank you for these magnificent videos. I consider myself quite a tea junkie, but I tend to favor teas blended with floral elements. I've been eager to grow more appreciative and familiar of straight teas and I already enjoy oolongs and greens -it's my hope that I'll grow to appreciate more black teas as a result of your educating! Cheers from Austin, Texas and I hope you get to try some of our local tea houses in the future...we have some lovely ones!
Great video, thanks very much 👌🏽👌🏽👌🏽
Great expertise and objectivity! Thank you for this!
I prefer Japanese green tea, personally. I love the vibrant green color and the buttery seaweed notes.
It's healthier
'Vibrant green color' radiation from the nuclear meltdown? 0.o
@@EroticOnion23 No, lol. It's from the chlorophyll if you didn't know.
Goldtoise Gaming it was probably a joke
Damn I have to start getting my hands on some Japanese green tea again. Maybe when the weather gets cooler.
Just love this Guy! thanks Don for further insight and opinion!
Great video!
Great intro to green tea. Well done!
In relation to the leaf/water ratio. Sometimes with japanese green tea an even higher amount of leaf is used with respect to chinese green teas. For example, with Gyokuro I usually do 8-10g of leaf per 60-80ml of water (1st infusion). By the way, another difference that I just came up with: usually the best infusion with japanese greens is the first one, while with chinese greens you usually get the best infusion on the 2nd? Why do you think this is the case?
I think the difference in regards to the best infusion is simply that Japanese tea tends to be a bit more broken because of the steaming process. Because of that the water penetrates the leaf quicker, while Chinese tea tends to be more whole so the water needs longer to extract all the flavour.
**ceylon tea has left the chat**
They're trash. They dilute the value of tea.
SCP-001 thanks for your expert opinion on trash. At one point in time Oscar the grouch was the leading authority on garbage. But no longer, so if you want to understand garbage or just want an expert opinion on rubbish, trash, crap, junk, stink or shit...then ask this asshole. He’s also an expert on economic dilution values of teas worldwide.
When I was little, I remember being shocked about how green and almost fluorescent Japanese green tea looks compared to Chinese tea. I haven’t seen tea like that before and it looks like someone dipped their green highlighter in water. 🍵
Yeah, that is largely the case in fukamushi sencha which is deep steamed, preserving the chlorophyll which gives it that green color. Chinese greens are mostly pan-fired with a few like enshi yulu being steamed. I love both Japanese and Chinese green teas. There is a lot to explore in the tea world.
I like tea with some fragrance , the Only tea in my life i like the Taste is from china, given by my Chinese Brother i have no words to express how much Soothing, aromatic , very calm Feeling i enjoy After tea . that is natural grown on mountain in that small village, they dont sale it, its naturally grown, aroma is superb, i have tried numerous tea in china, only one Japanese tea, that was like a Medicine may be i dont know much About Japanese tea, Chinese natural wild tea is not popular but Excellent, Japanese. Cant be compared in tea with china if you lucky Enough to find such tea or even Better, china is very big Country with rich culture many things stilll undiscovered.
Chinese tea is the best in my opinion too.
My favourite Chinese green tea is your Jade Sword. Not too brothy and a little sweet.
I am bit surprised you would brew good quality sencha with 80°C water. But I can see it work in that water to tea amount ratio.
Yes we do have different brewing parameters on the packs although I do think that a good quality Sencha can handle these temperatures.
Great video
Thank you
hi! which camera are you using? thanks!
Hi, can someone tell what this white „cups“ are called in that Don is presenting the dry leaf tee? I can‘t find them enywhere since I dont know what they are called.
Excellent video. I am so glad to see you focusing on green teas. I think you would bring balance to your channel increasing your emphasis on yellow (黄)，green (绿)，& white (白) teas as you seem to spend the majority of your time covering Pu'ers (黑lit.black)，Oolongs (青 lit. blue-green) & blacks (红lit. red). [translation is for some viewers]. Just a thought.
Wow that was a good video. Too bad I got here about 2 years later... But better now than never. Thanks for the videos! I subbed!
great video,give me knowledge about tea
At your page when I look at Kanaya Midori Sencha you recommend gong fu brewing with 4g per 100ml. Should I try 7g for 300 like you used here? I always do gong fu with Japanese tea
Very interesting, can you do a comparison of oolong tea? Taiwan vs Chinese Oolongs
I believe Don has compared that in another video - the more modern Qing Xiang oolong steals started in Taiwan (vs the Chuan Tong style in Mainland China). But the reality is, China is influenced by Taiwanese oolong teas and are now making a lot of good quality Qing Xiang style oolongs.
Great video, thank you. I did laugh when you said it tastes like rocks though XD
Once again, an excellent video. I could almost taste the teas by your description ;-) When it comes to food pairing, these two teas are matched very differently as well, savoury/vegetal compared to more flowery/vegetal. It will be interesting to experiment on this. Any suggestions?
The savoury notes of the Sencha and the concentration of flavour means it is easier to find pairings compared with Chinese tea. More experiments!
Thank you a whole lot.😃
Go with the Japanese green tea. They tend to be more ethical in their approach to health, and their tea is cleaner.
What about this tea from this particular area?
Look like two teas sitting in my cupboard. I’ll have to do my own taste comparison. 😁
Hi, may I ask your opinion on Thai teas? I live near a tea plantation in northern Thailand and they claim to have won a global prize for their matcha last year. thanks.
So with the gaiwan and gong fu style there's multiple infusions; with the Japanese kettle is that tea done now or can it be infused again?
Exciting new background! Would Celine ever decoupage it with all the tea-cation pictures of you guys?
Not quite sure how to use it but suggestions are more than welcome.
Was enjoying this with a Sencha.
For the Sencha, I would have kept it 30 seconds to a minute but used 13g for that pot. It could easily serve 3 people and make 3 solid infusions.
🍵 Cheers!
龙井（dragon well）is the best green tea in China, but the problem is the quality varied largely. For example, if u get the dragon well picked before the 清明（qingming）festive，it will taste awesome. the dragon well i drink is over 4000 USD per 斤 （500 grams）.
hy what do you mean with BRIGHT notes? Thank you
I mean the more high aromas like green aromas (cut grass, flowers, mountain air) vs deeper notes like nuttiness, saltiness, creaminess and earthiness.
Feel like chinese green tea in the tea world is like the Ethiopian coffee beans the coffee world. bright, floral and the flavor just goes to your nose from your mouth while you are drinking it.
Is it safe to drink green tea like around 7pm
I enjoy both. Chinese Dragon well and Sencha from Japan are some of my faves.
thank you
My favorite Chinese green tea is the Dragon Well.
I love tea but have a hard time with brewing time. It all comes out too acidic/tannic giving me a heartburn. I’m not sure if it’s the brewing/steeping time or just bad quality tea leaf. Found your channel recently btw! Binge watching all ur vids
You have a very good French accent! Bravo!
when do you expect the new selection will be out?
www.ebay.com/itm/223279981698
Hello Don, I have just discovered your channel in my research on teas and your knowledge is extremely great, thank you for putting out such good information. However, I am looking to go into the teas sales business in my country Nigeria and I'd like to get some advice from you on this, I hope to hear from you soon. Thanks again.
Not gonna lie, I once brewed a gyokuro sample Gong Fu style, with the exception of the rinse. I skipped the rinse by accident, but I'm glad I did because apparently it's a bad idea to rinse those since they extract quickly. Also, one kyusu guide I found gives Western brewing instructions, which is 1-2 teaspoons. Also, I had a Western-brewed Sencha blend from a cafe today and and was reminded of the weak, watery flavoring of Western brewing, not to mention the long heat retention of a 16oz mug.
hey don
Can you tell me where its the best place to store tea. i have so many delicious tea from mei leaf but some which i bought a few months ago taste a lot weaker now. i have stored them right now in the kitchen cupboard but i am considering buying an extra refridgerator for tea.
cheers Long
Storage for tea is mostly about keeping the leaves cool, relatively airtight and away from light, moisture and smells. Tea tins are a good option.
I drink matcha 2 times per day and general brewed gt 3 times per day but I heard that it can contain heavy metals what’s your thoughts on this ps I drink ceremonial grade matcha.
thomas crawley matcha should not contain any heavy metals. Assure yourself that it is from an organic plantation like this you avoid. You know what kind of cultivar the matcha is? Maybe I can help you.
Ippodo from Kyoto, Japan is my favorite.
wow, you rock!
Is it common to find bugs in green tea?
Thank you, you have answered some of the questions I had about the key differences between these two tea cultures. A very helpful video, indeed. Great job explaining, and highlighting the variables on culture vs. cultivation, and the flavor notes.. It seems that Chinese tea brings a bit of its environment into its leaves, whereas Japanese tea feeds the leaves to maximize thier true potential. I so want to try the savory notes of the Japanese sencha tea. I may enjoy it with more appreciation, especially considering the benefits are as important as taste.
Sanday Sunday also within Japanese tea there is so much difference - so many different notes. Yesterday I had a goku gyokuro and it was so amazingly sweet.
"feeds the leaves to maximize thier true potential"
That was.......disturbing.
I seriously recommend you try the Chinese Tea（dan cong ） “单丛” it is a fantastic tea, I honestly hope you try it. It smells really refreshing, the fragrant is fantastic, it leaves a nice after taste, no bitterness and most importantly if you feel guilty about bingeing or have just over-stuffed yourself at the All You Can Eat Buffet, it works wonders for your digestive system, you can almost feel the fat and stuffiness being flushed out of your body. The down side though, is if you’re hungry you don’t want to drink this tea unless you’re about the eat, coz it will make you more hungry. But honestly, it is THE Chinese tea I recommend to all my overseas friends. Really must try.
Does anyone know what kettle that is? I'm looking for a new one. Thanks. :)
It is the Bonavita kettle and we did a review of it if you search 'Bonavita Mei Leaf'
It is the Bonavita 1 Liter Digital Variable Temperature Gooseneck Kettle. I have it, and I highly recommend it.
Mei Leaf Thank you very much!
Keith Jacobson Thank you to you as well Mr. Jacobson. I will check it out.
Watching this while drinking 2019 shincha, from Ippodo, which amazingly was growing only about a month ago.
I love shincha green tea you should try Jasmine green tea I tend to make Jasmine green tea into milk tea lol
Explained thoroughly and articulated this topic so well!
QUICK QUESTION: What questions should I ask potential tea vendors to ensure they are the ones I’d want to purchase from? (I’m starting a business)
Heidi Therrien I guess it is essential that they know the farmers personally - this is often not the case as distributors are big especially in Japan. They should tell you which tea is from which farmer.
how long have you been in the tea business for? you're incredibly knowledgeable!
-much love from china
Hi Don,
first let me thank you for your many insightful videos and for your transparency and passion as a tea seller. I ordered your Matcha, Superior Iron Goddess and many tasters and so far I'm absolutely in love with what you have to offer :)
However, I have one question regarding the comparison of Chinese and Japanese Green Teas. I noticed (that also with your teas) the leafs of Chinese Green Teas always seem to be less damaged. No matter if Bi Luo Chun, Anji Bai Cha or Longjing, with good quality teas you'll have many whole and undamaged leafs in your Gaiwan after brewing. With Japanese Green Teas (also with your Sencha and Gyokuro for instance) I noticed that the leafs are more damaged. But when I look at the processing of the leafs the Japanese way of processing appears more gentle and less harmful to the leaf (at least with Asamushi steaming) to me compared to the Chinese techniques. I was wondering whether you could elaborate a bit on this question and why Chinese Green Teas tend to have less damaged leafs. Thank you :)
Kai Neuber handmade in china vs machine & computers in Japan would be my guess
It depends on what kind of tea you are buying. Higher quality sometimes even hand rolled tea has a very nice and beautiful form which should show no damage. When you buy a fukamushi (deep steamed) tea there the leafs are more broken as the tea breaks easier coming from the longer steaming time. Hope this helps you.
Thank you for the video. Why have you washed the Chinese tea first before brewing?
Thanks. Check out the video 'should you rinse tea' for more information.
@@MeiLeaf OK I will check that one. Thank you
So the question is, where does one purchase quality loose teas? Online, obviously, but what are some good sites?
I buy most of my tea from a place called Simpson and Vail; you can order by the ounce through their website, and if you spend more than $50 shipping is free. I tend to go there on my way home from work though because they're rich around the corner from me.
I m impressed
we also use the teapot，it is hard to make the differences cause we Chinese have different kind of tea
Don you’re a treasure! My pandemic favourite!
I always manipulate the Chinese tea flavor by stepping it longer time than is required, and breaking up the leafs in to smaller pieces, that way releases more flavor and becomes stronger ....
Your always awesome.. Loves from Nepal.. 💚
What is your favourite tea sir?
Hi Don I take advantage of this video to point out two suggestions for forthcoming videos.
1) it will be extremely interesting if you can make a detailed video in which explain (maybe with some graphs/images...) where a suitable type of tea principally grown. For example yunnan (that is a wide general indication) is mainly devoted to puh'ers and Taiwanese to oolongs. A geographical "study" can allow us to make links and maybe if someone is going to travel to China even help with some purchase. I hope that at least the general idea is clear.
2) I don't have many experience on that, but I'll really appreciated if you can make a focus on NON Chinese tea (especially Indian). I'm not a fan, but I know too few to judge.
Thanks a lot Don, I love you teas (and video as well). Bye from Italy, Andrea.
Thanks Andrea, I will try to work through some ideas.
ANDREA SIGNORI o
Happily, the Sencha looks like karate and the Bi Luo Chun looks like kung fu.
中国茶は香り、日本茶は味、
好きな方を選んだら良いね。
・The good aroma for Chinese tea
・The taste for Japanese tea
Depends on these ,You can choose which you want to enjoy tea..
Powder matcha organics my fav
One thing you didn’t talk about is Japanese teas tend to be more finicky with brew times and temps since they steep quite quickly. Chinese teas steep slower from my experience and can be more foregiving.
No, actually Brew time is measured carefully in tea house
Chinese tea uses more tea to water because we brew the same bit of tea 6-8 times per sitting. If you go to a good tea shop they'll come around to brew the tea over and over again and if you're new they might tell you about the way the flavor evolves and the different notes to look for as you go.
Tea should only be brewed no more than 3 times.
@@PassionPno gong fu style?
@@PassionPno Get out of here psuedo-expert.
I only drink Japanese Green Tea. The exception is Chinese White tea Bai Hao Yin Zhen
Pros brew green tea in different ways trust me. First put green tea in the fridge before using. After putting leaves in the cup, pour in about 1/5 of the cup cold/lukewarm water FIRST, after that you pour in boiling water, which prevents overheating green tea to release too much caffeine matter in the first brewing and that strong bitter smell. For next brewings you can just add boiling water, still preferably with leftover soup from last brewing...
beer is a savory drink pretty often
Wow the wall looks like a puer tea cake haha love the marblings
信阳毛尖 is the best green tea in China
my favorite also. 2nd is Gua Pian or Gan Lu, havent decided.
I would imagine the gong fu style of rinsing the leaves with hot water significantly reduces the amount of caffeine consumed. Is that true? Is it a deliberate purpose of rinsing it that way? I never rinse my Chinese green teas and rather like the mild caffeine kick.
What can you do with tea left over that is too old to sell?
Catherine Smyth once when I was in Japan I had noodles with tencha which is the stage before the matcha is made into powder. And yesterday after brewing I ate sone gyokuro line salad with sone Japanese Vinegar.
煎茶 vs 碧螺春
Matcha organics I will order nxt getting seeds later