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ARIEL Japanese Kokeicha

Ingredients: Whole leaf Japanese green tea
Formats: 125 g loose leaf tin, 1 kg loose leaf bulk bag
Certifications: Kosher
Foundation: Humaniterra Foundation
Type: Green tea, loose leaf

Green Tea

A distinctive Japanese green tea, recognisable by its dark pine-needle shape. Kokeicha is made from stems and leaves not graded for sencha, finely milled and reformed by extrusion – a clever traditional use of high-quality material that would otherwise go unused. Available in 125 g loose leaf tins for shelf programs and in 1 kg loose leaf bulk for foodservice operations running by the cup. The cup pours a clear pale green-gold with a soft, mellow character; serves equally well hot or chilled over ice.

Tasting Notes

The cup pours a clear pale green-gold with a soft vegetal aroma. The character is mellow and slightly sweet, with a gentle grassy note that's characteristic of steamed Japanese green tea. A touch of bitterness sits at the finish – clean rather than astringent – which is part of the kokeicha signature. Long, soft aftertaste, no harshness even at the upper end of the steep window.

Origin

Japanese green tea is produced primarily by steaming – not pan-firing, the Chinese method – which preserves a brighter green colour and a more vegetal character in the cup. Kokeicha is a uniquely Japanese form within that tradition: stems and lower-grade leaves from sencha and matcha production are steamed, finely milled, mixed with a small amount of starch binder, and extruded through a mould to produce the dark, pine-needle-like leaves. The format is both visually distinctive on the shelf and a credible quality position for a Japanese tea program. Green tea is naturally rich in antioxidants.

Brewing

Steep 2.5 g per 250 ml at 75–85 °C for 2–3 minutes. The lower temperature window matters: kokeicha pulls bitterness past 85 °C, and the natural slight bitterness in the leaf is enough to stand on its own without over-extraction. At commercial scale, a 1 kg bag yields approximately 400 portions at 2.5 g per cup. Each 250 ml serving contains zero calories.