Konacha

Description

Konacha

Konacha means powder tea in Japanese, but it isn’t powder. It is made from the small bits of leaves, which are filtered out during the processing of sencha and gyokuro green teas. High quality Konacha uses better grades of these teas, but since they are not the whole leaf, it sells for less. Good Konacha is sought out by connoisseurs of fine Japanese teas since you can sip a higher quality tea at a lower price. The flavor tends to be somewhat grassier, but can vary depending on the tea blend used and how much tea is used per cup. Being a finer grade of tea, it steeps faster, and most will use more tea per cup, but that is a personal preference.

Konacha is the tea you will find in better sushi restaurants, and many cups are drank in the course of a meal. It helps clear your palate between sushi pieces. Some restaurants will serve a stronger tea, while others will steep it less for a milder flavor.

You will find many qualities, flavors, strengths and steeped colors of Konacha, depending on the tea used, how much you use and the steeping time. Because of these differences, you will need to make a number of cups until you find the amount of tea you prefer to use and the steeping time to achieve your preferred flavor. As with all quality green teas, you can steep Konacha 2 or 3 times, maybe 4 times. Some will steep each cup a bit longer than the last while others will steep each cup a bit less time. Again, it’s a matter of preference as you will read both ways if you do enough research.

Konacha tea is such a fine grade, you need to steep it either in a very fine mesh tea infuser, or in tea bags, which we sell in both the European paper version as well as the smaller Japanese version. Some will steep it in a teapot with a fine mesh infuser basket, and if the mesh isn’t fine enough, will pour it through a fine strainer into the cups.

We have several Pincer Ball Mesh Tea Infusers which have as fine if a stainless steel mesh as you can find, but some of the fine Konacha will filter through to the bottom of the cup. To look at them, please click HERE.

We also have several infuser baskets which have fine laser cut perforations, which will filter out more of the tea particles. One has a Stars & Moons pattern cut into the rim. Click HERE to take  look. The other has a silicone lid which doubles as a rest and comes in 4 colors.  To look at these, please click HERE.

Our Stainless Steel Mesh Tea Basket Infuser catches even more of the fine tea bits & pieces. Click HERE to take a look.

The Tea Filter Bag option is also worth considering. They filter out pretty much all of the fine tea particles. We have 2 versions. The Japanese Loose Tea style is smaller where you fold the top over like a old school sandwich bag. Click HERE.

The other version is what is used in Europe to make a cup or pot of tea. The Paper Loose Tea Filter Bag is larger is filled at the top and when done steeping, just remove it. Since you can steep Konacha and any green tea multiple times, these bags make it easy to retain the tea between steeps. Take a look and click HERE.

To look at our entire collection of infusers, tea balls and pincers, please click HERE.

Steeping Instructions:
Use 1 to 2 teaspoons of Konacha tea for each 4 to 8 ounces of water, depending on the strength of tea desired. Pour fresh boiling water over tea. Steep anywhere to 30 seconds to 3 to 4 minutes. Milk & Sugar are not recommended. Konacha has an slightly astringent flavor, which can be minimized somewhat by letting the water cool for a minute before pouring over the tea. Traditionally boiling water is used.

The steeping instructions vary as you can see, which accounts for your personal preference in flavor and strength, by adjusting the amount of tea used and time steeped for each infusion. Steeping many cups over time will allow you to find the right combination.