Daily Sencha

[Kyle Hyde]

I've read that sencha is the most popular tea consumed in Japan. What are the most popular brands of sencha brewed and consumed in Japan? By that, I mean the ones that are made more for mass consumption and daily use than for connoisseurs. Is loose-leaf the most popular form there? I would love to hear from someone living in Japan.

[rdl]

i am not living in japan but i can mention just a few things in reply to your question. it is so hard to speak about a drink that is consumed by so many people in so many different ways. and produced and marketed in so many different ways. you will find tea in bottles in vending machines and stores all over the country. you will also find machines that make green tea instantly with the push of a button. public buildings and temples and those kind of places offer this free to the public.
If you want to know the company or brand names, I suggest looking in japanese markets or websites. http://shop.mitsuwa.com/eng/egoods/eindex.php?c=9
is one I know of.
concerning loose teas, apart from the fact that tea drinking in japan is loosing popularity to coffee and other drinks, my experience has been that the supermarket (or local tea shop) will sell bigger tea-company teas that are blended to offer a consistent taste. these are loose leaf teas that don't cost very much but are nice to drink casually. it may be a sencha or bancha green, genmaicha, hojicha or a better grade sencha that is served to guests.
tea bags seem to be all the hotels offer in their rooms, but the traditional inns will have loose leaf sencha and tea set.

[JD]

Yame and Uji seem to be the most popular brands. Sold in all sorts of stores. Yame is also known as a "high quality" sencha.

[rdl]

yame and uji are cities and the name of tea producing districts. shizuoka as well is a city and tea producing district. they are brands in that tea companies using tea leaves grown in those districts will put that generic designation on the label of packages that are usually blended teas from different tea farms. very fine tea is also made in these 3 districts.

[edkrueger]

When I was in Japan for a month last year, the loose leaf tea companies I most commonly saw in grocery stores were Ippodo and Denshiro. That said, I usually went to pretty upscale grocers

[rdl]

When I was in Japan for a month last year, the loose leaf tea companies I most commonly saw in grocery stores were Ippodo and Denshiro. That said, I usually went to pretty upscale grocers

would you mind elaborating... i am curious where you were and what kind of upscale supermarket. i ask because the original question concerned mass consumption and popular teas. in general, the supermarkets i stoped in i found the prices were so affordable even though i knew the quality was reflected in the price. i am curious how these better tea producers are doing, competing with the bigger brands. thanks for your insights.

[chingwa]

check out the "food floors" in most major department stores... if you can't get to the tea shops themselves. Daimaru in kyoto is certain to have great tea selection.

though I seem to recall even shinjuku station having an amazing food floor....

[skilfautdire]

I've looked at the Mitsuwa store web site cited above. What is the Yamamotoyama (otherwise known for cultivating tea in Brazil...) shincha like ? I've seen this brand locally at Chinese supermarkets.

[rdl]

I've read that sencha is the most popular tea consumed in Japan. What are the most popular brands of sencha brewed and consumed in Japan? By that, I mean the ones that are made more for mass consumption and daily use than for connoisseurs. Is loose-leaf the most popular form there? I would love to hear from someone living in Japan.

kyle hyde, if you are still inquiring, there is a store called yaoko marketplace
http://www.yaoko-net.com/index.php
i drink a genmaicha bought there. i don't know where the tea leaves come from, but the packaging is labeled as yaoko marketplace brand. it is a very nice daily use tea. this is what i was referring to in my above post.

I've looked at the Mitsuwa store web site cited above. What is the Yamamotoyama (otherwise known for cultivating tea in Brazil...) shincha like ? I've seen this brand locally at Chinese supermarkets.

i have only tried the yamamotoyama green tea in tea bags. it was fine to drink as i wasn't expecting anything more than it was. i also am curious how their loose tea taste. on their yamamotoyama japan web site they seem to have some very nice senchas produced in japan. but i think what is mostly on sale here is the brazilian grown tea.

[edkrueger]

When I was in Japan for a month last year, the loose leaf tea companies I most commonly saw in grocery stores were Ippodo and Denshiro. That said, I usually went to pretty upscale grocers

would you mind elaborating... i am curious where you were and what kind of upscale supermarket. i ask because the original question concerned mass consumption and popular teas. in general, the supermarkets i stoped in i found the prices were so affordable even though i knew the quality was reflected in the price. i am curious how these better tea producers are doing, competing with the bigger brands. thanks for your insights.

The only one I remember the name of was Meidi-ya. Sorry I can't be more helpful.

[britt]

A lot of Japanese tea vendors claim that the most popular sencha comes from Shizouka. Of course, that's what they're selling. I've found Uji, Yame, and Shizouka to all be good. I think the level of steaming is as/more important than where the tea comes from.

Yamayoto-yama does have some tea bags available in Asian markets in the US that are imported from Japan. They're good for a mass-market tea bag but a box of 20 is more than $8. At this price I'd rather order fresh, loose sencha directly from Japan.