- Tea variety
- 茎茶
Kukicha
The quiet sweetness of the stems.
Flavor profile
Sweetnesssmooth sweetness 65%
Grassfresh hay 55%
Texturecreamy greenness 50%
Bitternesslow bitterness 15%
The strengths are editorial judgments on a scale within the family, not measurements. They can be compared across the green tea varieties, not directly against another family.
Caffeine generally lower than leaf tea
Kukicha is tea made from stems and leaf veins, what remains when sencha or gyokuro is sorted. The stems carry less bitterness and more light sweetness than the leaves, so the cup turns out soft, creamy green and a little hay-like. An undervalued everyday tea, and the raw material behind much roasted hojicha.
Sensory analysis
Pyramid and character
Aroma
dry leaf and freshly brewed
- fresh hay
- greenery
Cup
mid-sip
- smooth sweetness
- soft greenness
Finish
what lingers
- mild
- short
- clean
Character 0-100 per axis, set relative to the other entries in the same family. An editorial judgment of a typical serving, not measurements.
Background
Facts
- Processing
- stems and veins are sorted out of sencha or gyokuro production
- Variants
- kukicha made from gyokuro stems is called karigane
- Caffeine
- generally lower than leaf tea, since stems contain less caffeine than leaves
In the cup
Brewing
- Temperature
- 70-80°C
- Time
- about 1 minute
- Note
- handles several infusions; the second is often the finest