HomeKuiccha is a little known secret in the world of tea.
This unique tea provides an entirely different flavor profile and is much lower in caffeine than a regular green tea. These teas are also an innovative way to prevent farmers from wasting resources in the Tea production process. In this blog, we’re going to talk a little bit about what Kukicha is, what it can be used for, and how to prepare it before we get started. It would really mean a lot to us if if you could subscribe to our youtube channel and stay tuned for future T videos, we have 100 of Tea blog on all sorts of topics related to Japanese green tea. But for this episode, we’re going focus on Kukicha specifically without further ado. Let’s dive right into the world of Kukicha tea.
What is kukicha.
A stem tea is made by combining the stems and leaves of the tea plant into a single tea blend. This tea is also called Kukicha, meaning stem tea or twig tea. When more stems and less leaves are used, the tea takes on less of this vegetable flavor and more of a nutty or summer grass flavor. These teas can be a bit milder and well suited for someone who is new to tea. The color of this tea becomes lighter and clearer as well. The stems of the tea plant used to make kukicha are much different than the leaves. Stems contain about one-third the caffeine content of the leaves and this is the main reason why kukicha tends to be a low caffeine tea. The stems are also the mineral delivery system for the leaf so they can be high in minerals themselves. Although the stems in Kogkicha do have a mild flavor, they have this distinct mineral that you can feel tingling on the palate.
This makes Kukicha not only a healthy tea but a delicious one as well. Another name for Kukicha is Twig T. If you see the name Twig T or Japanese Twigs, this is essentially the same thing as Kukicha, just under a different name when you’re translating the Japanese word back into English. Sometimes it can have multiple possibilities. Kukicha can either be translated into Stem T or Twig T, so either is acceptable.
We just like to use the Japanese word Kukicha wherever possible. To avoid the confusion, what’s the history of Kukicha? The top leaves of the tea plant were made to premium Setia tea and the stems were mostly discarded.
Often farmers couldn’t afford to drink the teas they produced because they could only grow so much on limited land. Some farmers began to brew the stems of the tea plants so they could at least enjoy some of their harvest. They found that these teas actually tasted quite good and some people began to take notice of these stemte. The stemte were eventually sold on their own as Kukicha. What are the different types of Kukicha tea? The two main types of stem tea are Kukicha and kaaggani. Kukicha is far more common, made from the stems and leaves of almost any tea plant. Karagani is made from the stems and leaves of shaded tea plants like those used for Gilcoro and match. As a result. Katagani takes on a sweeter flavor and has a slightly higher caffeine content. When we visited Mr. Saomoto and Shibushi, we were first introduced to the concept of cold brewing Kaaggani. The cold water extracts the sweeter components from the leaves and stems, so the tea takes on a smooth.
Even fruity flavor with notes of cucumber and melon. Because this tea is low in caffeine, it’s a great relaxing drink to enjoy in the late afternoon. How is Kukicha produced? To make a stem tea? You have to separate the tea leaves from the stems. This used to be a very labor intensive process, but now it’s done by machine. When we visited the farmers at Maraffuku in Chizuoa, we got to witness this first hand.
The tea leaves are pushed through this machine and then the stems are filtered out based on their weight in size. These bins will be separated into a few different stem tea based on their leaf to stem ratios. How do you prepare Kokicha tea? Preparing Kokicha tea is very easy and similar to other types of Japanese green tea like Senica. The only difference is that the stems in kukicha are much less sensitive to hot water, so Kukicha can be prepared at a higher temperature. Just follow these steps and you should be able to prepare great tasting kukicha tea in no time. Step one.
Measure measure out five grams of Kookkicha tea and place it into your qu teapot. The QU teapot is the best tool for preparing all types of Japanese green tea, and Kukicha is no exception. Step two, pour water. Next, you can pour 100 and 50 milleters of water at a temperature between 100 and 60 to 100 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Normally, for a tea like sancha or gourd, we would recommend a temperature between 100 and 40 to 100 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit. But because Kukiche is a stem tea, it can be brewed slightly hotter. Step Three. Letting the tea brew. Let the kokicha tea remain in the teapot undisturbed for one minute. You can either keep the lid on the teapot to keep it warmer, or you can remove the lid and watch the leaves expand. Step four, tea time.
Now it’s time to pour out the tea and enjoy it. If you’re using Acer teapot, the built-in filter will automatically filter out the leaves and prevent them from going into your cup. This will also stop the leaves from brewing until they are ready to be used again. Step Five, reinfuse. Once you’re done with your first cup of kkicha, you can then reinfuse the leaves two to three more times or until they lose flavor. It is important not to throw your tea leaves out after one brewing, but rather use them for multiple infusions. Each infusion will be slightly different so you can observe the flavor as the kkicha evolves over time. What are the benefits of Kukicha.
One benefit of stemta is that can be quite high in minerals. When we visited Mr. Hentai and Kirishima, he explained this concept to us when assessing the quality of a tea plant. He likes to look at the thickness of the stems because the stems are how the tea plant delivers minerals from the soil to the leaves, thicker stems are able to transport more minerals. Because these stems are moving minerals around the plant, they tend to carry a higher concentration themselves. That’s why stemasse can contain higher in minerals than many leaftes. Another benefit to stems is that are actually low in caffeine.
Containing about a quarter of the caffeine in a small cup of coffee. Caffeine is produced by the tea plant to protect its leaves from insects. As a result, the caffeine of a plant is concentrated around the outside of the leaf and not the stems. Teas made from mostly stems and only a small amount of leaves will be quite low in caffeine. Depending on the type of stem tea, you can have different ratios of stems to leaves. While kkicha does have a much lower caffeine content compared to other loose teas, it still does contain some level of caffeine.
So you shouldn’t drink it right before bed. The caffeine content in the serving of kiccha is somewhere in between 20 to 40 millgms. This means that it is about half the amount of a cup of senica. While you can drink this tea well into the afternoon, it is not advisable to drink kkijja within four to five hours of going to sleep. If you’re not very sensitive to caffeine, you can probably get away with drinking this tea throughout all hours of the day. What of the best types of Kukicha.
After traveling around Japan for years we have met with dozens of tea farmers and sampled 100 of different green tea. We have found four different kinds of kukicha teas that we like the most and we are sharing them with people all around the world. Let’s take a brief look at the four best kukicha teas we found. Number One, the Kukicha Sakamoto. This kukicha is made by Mr. Sakamoto in southern Japan because it is made by the same plants used to make gilurdo. The tea is incredibly sweet, but you’ll also get some floral notes from it. Many people consider this tea to be a katagani, but what separates this from the katakana Sakamoto is that the stem to leaf ratio is much higher. This means that the tea will have a much milder flavor and a lower caffeine content.
Next we have the Cookie Hoicha.
Just like leaf tea, stem tea can also be roasted. The end result is called cookie hoiccha or roasted stem tea. During the roasting process, the caffeine content is actually brought down even further, so this is one of the lowest caffeine teas. You will find the flavors converted into these rich notes of black coffee and dark chocolate. If you’re a coffee lover trying to give up the caffeine, a tea like the Kki Hojicha may be a good option for you. Number Three Kkicha Oda. This is a low caffeine stem tea from the organic village of Isaggawa and Shizuoka. When we met with the Osaka family, they took us up in the mountains to see some of their tea fields. Even though they’re a slightly larger company, they still maintain relationships with a lot of smaller farmers that grow tea without pesticides. Up in the mountains of Shizuoka.
They have made an agreement not to use pesticides or chemicals on their tea fields, which is why they refer to this area as the Organic Village. Number Four. The Kukicha Chanoka. Number Four, the Kkicha Chanoka. This is the newest addition to our selection of Kukicha. The Kukicha Chaka is produced by Mr. Takada and Uji. This tea takes on a much drier taste profile with pleasant floral and hay notes. Just like other types of Kkicha, this Kookkija tea has more mineral to it and less caffeine, making it suitable for the late afternoon or evening. Where can you buy Kukicha? If you’d like to buy Kukicha, you can browser selection of Kukicha tea at neots. Dot com. As we mentioned before, we have four different kinds all with their own unique tasting notes. You can also try out our Mega sampler and sample 30 different types of Teas from all over Japan. This not only lets you try the different kinds of Kukicha teas but also compare them to other types of Japanese green teas to see which ones you like the most. Although Kukicha tea was first discovered out of desperation, it has become a very delicious tea in its own right. It still maintains a lower price tag and it gets far less attention compared to its leafy counterparts. But it’s a fantastic tee all the same. We really hope you enjoyed this video and learned a thing or two about Kukicha along the way. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments below. Until then, we’ll see you next blog
