But what does it all mean??

Sencha, matcha, oolong...you may have heard these words being thrown around at tea shops and juice bars, but what do they mean? Sencha green tea is the most common everyday drink in Japan, but there are dozens of ways to prepare it. Here is a list of the most popular methods/terms:

~Cha or Ocha = Tea
~Sencha = Green Tea Leaves
~Matcha = Powdered Green Tea; used in Japanese tea ceremonies
~Genmai-cha = Green Tea boiled with roasted brown rice
~Oolong = Semi-fermented Green Tea
~Hojicha = Green Tea roasted over charcoal
~Ryoku-cha = Green Tea

For the full list, please visit the O-Cha Website

As a side note, bai-cha refers to white tea, while kocha refers to Black/British tea. Nevertheless, all white, green, and black teas come from the same plant, a warm-weather evergreen called Camellia sinensis. Their distinctive color & taste depends upon how fresh tea leaves are processed & how much oxygen they come in contact with. As a quick summary:

~Black: Leaves are exposed to oxygen for 2-4 hours.
~Green: Leaves are immediately steamed, rolled, and dried to prevent oxidation/fermentation.
~Oolong: Falls between green and black teas in terms of amount of oxidation.
~White: The least processed of all teas, it is made from young buds of the plant. Possibly the highest in antioxidants, it is often the most expensive & least studied of the four teas.

Our SEN CHA Green Tea Mints & Bars contain Organic powdered Matcha and liquid Sencha extracts, sourced from Fair Trade Certified tea plantations. Our green tea goes through a natural water extraction process that decaffeinates the end product, making our mints & bars the ideal snack for anyone looking to get a healthy metabolism boost, without the jittery side-effects of caffeine!

“Make tea, not war.” ~Monty Python