Exquisite taste originating with traditional production methods

Japan’s unfermented green teas are not allowed to ferment naturally at all. This is the key factor that determines their characteristic tastes. Chinese production accounts for around 90% of the green tea now distributed worldwide. Most of that tea, called “kettle-roasted green tea” is made by roasting tea leaves in a pot to stop the natural fermentation. Its main properties are its smooth taste and savory aroma.

 
Although green tea is produced by kettle roasting in some regions of Japan, the mainstream production method is the traditional one, also world renowned, in which natural fermentation is halted by steaming. Tea made this way is called “steamed green tea.” Japanese green tea’s best properties are determined mostly by this production method. It is used in all teas from Sencha to Tancha, where the fresh leaf’s bright green and the natural blue leaf’s aroma are strong. From the difference of these production methods, it has now become difficult to taste Japan’s traditionally produced green tea anywhere outside of Japan.
 

 
And today, just one single botanical tea variety produced in Japan, Yabukita, accounts for 75% of total production due to its high quality. As for production methods, the deep steaming production method that features longer steaming is now nearly ubiquitous, and the taste of green tea is tending to become completely uniform. It is not easy to taste Japan’s traditional tea flavor, even in Japan itself.

“Umami”, the fifth taste component of green tea

Today, the world’s eyes are fastened on Japanese cuisine. Actually, the special taste of Japanese food is also a main characteristic of traditional Japan produced green tea. The Japanese word “umai” expresses satisfaction with a truly delicious meal. Taste’s main categories are sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. But the world of Japanese cuisine, from ordinary ramen noodles to sophisticated traditional dishes, contains a fifth taste component as well — umami — and this is regarded as an essential element of food.

The sense of taste is where tastes pass through taste receptors, which are cellular structures sensitive to taste, to arrive at the brain, where they are recognized. In 2000, the taste receptor cells sensitive to umami, known as the TR1 family, were first discovered in the United States. Umami’s components were first clearly identified 1908, in Japan, by Professor Kikunae Ikeda of Tokyo University. Professor Ikeda separated compounds extracted from kombu seaweed, finding glutamates (glutamic acid salts). This research proved that most traditional Japanese dishes have elements and cooking methods that use diverse umami components, starting with kombu.

The world of Western cuisine, that had not paid much attention to umami until then, began to notice the discovery of umami taste receptors. Effort was focused on the possibilities of dishes with seasonings adapted to this taste, incorporating it into cooking. Actually, this is the first encounter with the umami sense of taste, heretofore unknown, thanks to the worldwide boom in Japanese food.

Research has clarified that high-quality green tea is characterized by the presence of large amounts of umami components, amino acids such as theanine, and an overall balance that also includes astringent and bitter tastes and a distinctive aroma. During green tea’s history of over one thousand years, it underwent much trial-and-error in production methods, finally emerging as a world-class drink that even without adding any sugar or milk balances bitter and astringent tastes with umami and sweetness.