Tea

White tea kept for years on purpose. Fresh white tea is grassy, floral and delicate; with storage it turns woody and sweet, the liquor deepens to amber, and the bitterness and astringency fall away as the catechins break down ^{6Reference 6Liu et al. · 2026The chemistry of time: flavor evolution and functional health benefits in aged teaView study →}. Much of it is pressed into cakes.

Fujian white tea is the classic choice, but Yunnan large-leaf white tea is aged too ^{3Reference 3Zhou et al. · 2025Flavor changes of Yunnan large-leaf cultivar white tea during different aging periodsView study →}.

A bud and the one or two leaves below it, withered and dried. The leaf gives a fuller flavour than Silver Needle, with a light floral bouquet and a delicate, slightly fruity cup.

Sri Lanka’s white tea, from a country known for black tea. White tea is still a very small part of its exports ^{1Reference 1Export Development BoardWhite teaView study →}. Sri Lanka also makes Golden Tips, buds of a white-gold colour, in very small amounts ^{1Reference 1Export Development BoardWhite teaView study →}.

Darjeeling is made as black, green, oolong and white tea. Most of it comes from the small-leaved Chinese variety, Camellia sinensis var. sinensis, rather than the large-leaved var. assamica used for most other Indian tea, on gardens that climb to about 2,000 m.

The white tea has a delicate aroma and brews to a pale gold, mellow and a little sweet.

The third of the four Fujian white-tea grades, after Silver Needle and Bai Mudan and before Shou Mei. In Fuding the picking can be the same as Bai Mudan’s, a bud with one or two leaves; what sets Gong Mei apart is the bush, a local seed-grown population rather than the big-budded Da Bai and Da Hao cultivars ^{2Reference 2Fuding Tea Industry Association · 2024T/FDSCX 002-2024, 福鼎白茶 (Fuding white tea), group standard, clauses 4.1.3 and 5.1.3 (table 3). https://www.ttbz.org.cn/upload/file/20240919/6386233645701014204466858.pdfView study →}.

It brews fuller and woodier than Bai Mudan but finer than the later-picked Shou Mei.

A small speciality crop from the tea estates of southern Malawi. Satemwa, a family estate in the Shire Highlands, makes a whole range of white teas, each named for its style and field: peony-style leaf, silver tips, hand-rolled pearls, twisted needles and stem “antlers” ^{2,3Reference 2Satemwa Tea et al.White teaView study →Reference 3Rare Tea Company (n.d.)Malawi White Silver Tip loose leaf white teaView study →}.

A white tea from Jinggu County in Pu’er, southern Yunnan. Yunnan white tea is a recent product with fewer grades than Fujian’s: buds alone are sold as Jinggu Da Bai, and a bud with one or two leaves as Moonlight White ^{1Reference 1Duan et al. · 2016Duan, H., & Sun, W. (2016). 福鼎白茶与景谷白茶内含成分与感官品质研究 (Research on the components and sensory quality of Fuding and Jinggu white tea). Journal of Yunnan Agricultural University (Natural Science), 31(6), 1091-1096. https://xb.ynau.edu.cn/jwk_zk/cn/article/pdf/preview/10.16211/j.issn.1004-390X%28n%29.2016.06.019.pdfView study →}.

The large-leaf bushes give a fuller, stronger cup than Fujian white tea: Jinggu white teas carry more soluble solids, polyphenols and caffeine, and fewer amino acids ^{1Reference 1Duan et al. · 2016Duan, H., & Sun, W. (2016). 福鼎白茶与景谷白茶内含成分与感官品质研究 (Research on the components and sensory quality of Fuding and Jinggu white tea). Journal of Yunnan Agricultural University (Natural Science), 31(6), 1091-1096. https://xb.ynau.edu.cn/jwk_zk/cn/article/pdf/preview/10.16211/j.issn.1004-390X%28n%29.2016.06.019.pdfView study →}.

Nepal makes two very different teas. The plains of the Terai grow most of the crop as CTC black tea; the eastern hills, across the border from Darjeeling, grow a smaller crop of orthodox leaf tea ^{1Reference 1Bhattarai · 2020Bhattarai, B. (2020, 23 September). Nepal’s orthodox tea gets its own trademark. The Kathmandu Post. https://kathmandupost.com/money/2020/09/23/nepal-s-orthodox-tea-gets-its-own-trademarkView study →}. The white tea is made in the hills, in small lots, from the spring buds.

By one survey’s account its bushes are younger than Darjeeling’s ^{5Reference 5Singh · 2004Singh, R. (2004, 13 March). Ilam tea being exported as Darjeeling tea. The Himalayan Times. https://thehimalayantimes.com/business/ilam-tea-being-exported-as-darjeeling-tea/View study →}.

Plucked later than Bai Mudan, from larger leaves with few buds. It brews darker and fuller than the bud grades, with a fruity, woody depth, and is often pressed into cakes and aged like pu’er.

The top grade of white tea, made from buds alone. The unopened bud is picked in early spring and handled carefully to keep its fine white down intact, then withered and dried.

The buds are bulky, so they take more leaf by volume than most teas; for a stronger cup, more leaf works better than more time.

Yunnan’s answer to Fujian’s Silver Needle: unopened buds, withered and dried, from the large-leaf bushes of Jinggu County rather than Fujian’s Da Bai. White tea is a recent product in Yunnan, made mainly in Jinggu ^{2Reference 2Duan et al. · 2016Duan, H., & Sun, W. (2016). 福鼎白茶与景谷白茶内含成分与感官品质研究 (Research on the components and sensory quality of Fuding and Jinggu white tea). Journal of Yunnan Agricultural University (Natural Science), 31(6), 1091-1096. https://xb.ynau.edu.cn/jwk_zk/cn/article/pdf/preview/10.16211/j.issn.1004-390X%28n%29.2016.06.019.pdfView study →}.

Jinggu white tea of the same picking also smells different from Fujian’s, sweeter and fruitier where Fujian’s is fresh and floral ^{1Reference 1Huang et al. · 2024Sensory-directed flavor analysis of Jinggu white tea: exploring the formation mechanisms of sweet and fruity aromasView study →}.

With Anhui’s Huoshan Huang Da Cha, one of the two classic “yellow big teas”, the large-leaf grade of yellow tea ^{3Reference 3Pan et al. · 2022Tea and tea drinking: China’s outstanding contributions to the mankindView study →}. It is the large-leaf member of Guangdong’s three yellow teas, alongside a bud tea and a small-leaf tea ^{1Reference 1Guangdong Quality Inspection Association · 2024T/GDAQI XXXXX—2024, 广东黄茶加工技术规程 (Technical specifications for processing of Guangdong yellow tea), group standard, draft for comment (征求意见稿), proposed by the Tea Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences; clauses 4.1.2, 5.3 and 6.3. https://www.ttbz.org.cn/upload/file/20241031/6386598513837134385668075.pdfView study →}.

Its drying is gentler than the Anhui tea’s long roast: in the draft standard the rolled leaf is fired at about 100–110 °C and finished at about 90 °C ^{1Reference 1Guangdong Quality Inspection Association · 2024T/GDAQI XXXXX—2024, 广东黄茶加工技术规程 (Technical specifications for processing of Guangdong yellow tea), group standard, draft for comment (征求意见稿), proposed by the Tea Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences; clauses 4.1.2, 5.3 and 6.3. https://www.ttbz.org.cn/upload/file/20241031/6386598513837134385668075.pdfView study →}.

A subtle, nutty yellow tea from Huoshan County, in the Dabie Mountains of western Anhui. The gardens lie mostly at 300–700 m, in a cool, misty climate with fog on up to 181 days a year ^{1Reference 1People’s Government of Huoshan County (nTechnical specifications for registration of geographical indication: Huoshan Huang Ya (霍山黄芽)View study →}.

Huoshan also makes a coarser large-leaf yellow tea, Huoshan Huangdacha, from older leaves and stems. Its chemistry and taste differ markedly from the bud tea’s ^{3Reference 3Li et al. · 2024Integration of non-targeted/targeted metabolomics and electronic sensor technology reveals the chemical and sensor variation in 12 representative yellow teasView study →}.

With Guangdong Da Ye Qing, one of the two classic “yellow big teas”, the large-leaf grade of yellow tea ^{5Reference 5Pan et al. · 2022Tea and tea drinking: China’s outstanding contributions to the mankindView study →}. It is a different tea from Huoshan Huang Ya, the county’s bud tea: coarse summer leaf and stem, roasted dark, where the bud tea is pale and delicate.

Production in Lu’an has grown fast: in 2020 output was nearly six times that of 2012 ^{1Reference 1Wang et al. · 2025Dynamic changes in aroma of large-leaf yellow tea during the whole processing at an industrial scale: from fresh leaf to finished teaView study →}.

A bud-only yellow tea from Junshan, a small island in Dongting Lake in northern Hunan. Its downy buds look much like the white tea Silver Needle, but the yellowing turns them golden and takes away the grassy edge of a green tea.

In a glass, the buds stand upright and bob up and down as they sink. Genuine island tea is rare, and much of what is sold under the name is grown around the lake.

One of China’s oldest and best-known yellow teas, from Mount Meng near Ya’an in western Sichuan. Tea is said to have been grown on the mountain for over two thousand years.

True Meng Ding Huang Ya is made only from early buds. Its traditional making, with three rounds of wrapping and frying, is listed as Sichuan provincial intangible cultural heritage ^{1Reference 1Xu et al. · 2026Comprehensive multi-omics analysis of Mengding bud yellow tea in the intangible cultural heritage: insights into taste formationView study →}.

A yellow tea from Moganshan, a cloud-wrapped mountain in Deqing County, northern Zhejiang ^{2Reference 2Li · 2017Li, G. (2017, 10 February). 特产地｜莫干黄芽能否成为特色小镇的品牌 (Speciality origins: can Mogan Huangya become a brand for a speciality town?). The Paper (澎湃新闻). https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1615202View study →}. It is made like a green tea until the yellowing, which takes away the grassy edge and leaves a soft, sweet cup.

The mountain’s output is small: about 116 tonnes in 2015 ^{2Reference 2Li · 2017Li, G. (2017, 10 February). 特产地｜莫干黄芽能否成为特色小镇的品牌 (Speciality origins: can Mogan Huangya become a brand for a speciality town?). The Paper (澎湃新闻). https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1615202View study →}.

A representative yellow tea of Zhejiang ^{1Reference 1Wu et al. · 2025Optimization of the sealed yellowing parameters and suitability evaluation of the different cultivars for manufacturing the Pingyang Huangtang teaView study →}, from Pingyang County in Wenzhou. Its name, huangtang, means “yellow soup”.

Output is small and quality uneven, and researchers have recently worked to set the yellowing temperatures and humidity and to find better cultivars ^{1,2Reference 1Wu et al. · 2025Optimization of the sealed yellowing parameters and suitability evaluation of the different cultivars for manufacturing the Pingyang Huangtang teaView study →Reference 2Dong et al. · 2024Dong, Z., Xu, B., Xie, Q., Chen, Q., Hu, S., & Lu, J. (2024). 平阳黄汤茶闷黄工艺优化和品质形成机制研究 (Study on the optimization of the paper wrapped yellowing process and quality formation mechanism of Pingyang Huangtang tea). 茶叶 (Journal of Tea), 50(4), 206-214. https://search.napstic.cn/literature/periodical/010cy202404002View study →}.

A yellow tea from Mount Wei, in Ningxiang, Changsha. Despite the name maojian, which usually labels a green tea, it is yellowed after fixing, and then dried over smoke. The smoking is what sets it apart from other yellow teas ^{2Reference 2Tenmokus Editorial Team (2025 · 2025Yellow tea: the rare and niche tea on the verge of disappearanceView study →}.

Bai cha means “white tea”, but Anji Bai Cha is made as a green tea. The name comes from the leaf: in the cool of early spring the Baiye No. 1 bush puts out shoots so low in chlorophyll that they look almost white ^{1,2Reference 1People’s Government of Anji County et al.Technical specifications for registration of geographical indication: Anji Bai Cha (安吉白茶)View study →Reference 2Yunnan Sourcing (n.d.)Anji Bai Cha green tea of Zhejiang [product page]View study →}.

Picked in that pale state, the leaf is unusually high in amino acids and low in polyphenols for a green tea ^{1Reference 1People’s Government of Anji County et al.Technical specifications for registration of geographical indication: Anji Bai Cha (安吉白茶)View study →}.

The farm-finished tea. Japanese tea farms make aracha straight from the fresh leaf, and wholesalers then refine it: they sort it, cut it and fire it again before blending. The stems, buds and fines sorted out along the way become kukicha, mecha and konacha.

Sold as it leaves the farm, aracha is an unblended, single-garden tea, with the whole picking in the cup.

The older, gentler style of sencha, steamed for the shortest time. Little of the leaf’s structure breaks down, so the needles stay long and whole and the tea brews slowly, to a clear liquor with a fresh, grassy aroma. It is the style associated with Uji and the mountain gardens of Shizuoka.

Green tea grown in Australia for the Japanese market. Many of the growers in Victoria’s alpine valleys are former tobacco farmers, and their leaf goes to a factory at Wangaratta built and run by the Japanese tea company Ito En ^{1Reference 1LyonsLyons, D. (n.d.). Growing green tea in Victoria, Australia. Tea Epicure. https://teaepicure.com/growing-green-tea-in-victoria-australia/View study →}.

It is made to Japanese standards and tastes like an everyday Japanese sencha: very green, vegetal and sweet.

An everyday grade, picked later in the season from larger, coarser leaves. It is less aromatic and more astringent than sencha, and it is the tea drunk through the day in Japan and with food.

Much bancha goes on to be roasted into hojicha or blended with rice for genmaicha.

Tiny, downy spring leaves rolled into tight spirals that look like snail shells, from the Dongting hills by Lake Tai near Suzhou. It is one of China’s best-known teas.

The bushes grow under and between fruit trees, and the tea’s fruity, floral fragrance is traditionally put down to them.

Darjeeling is best known for black tea, but some gardens make green tea from the same small-leaved China bushes. The leaf is fixed straight after picking instead of being withered and oxidised ^{1Reference 1English Tea Store (2012 · 2012The good and bad of steamed Darjeeling green teaView study →}.

The result is milder and sweeter than most Japanese green teas: pale gold in the cup, smooth, and fruity rather than grassy ^{1,4Reference 1English Tea Store (2012 · 2012The good and bad of steamed Darjeeling green teaView study →Reference 4Upton Tea Imports (n.d.)Goomtee Estate Darjeeling green tea, organic [product page]View study →}.

A green tea from the hills around Duyun, in south-central Guizhou. Maojian means “downy tips”: the young shoots are worked in a hot wok into tight little curls and the down is brought up over them ^{1Reference 1eGuizhou (2022 · 2022Guizhou’s tea-frying technique included in UNESCO cultural heritage listView study →}.

Its hand-frying technique was added to UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage list in 2022, as part of China’s traditional tea-processing techniques ^{1Reference 1eGuizhou (2022 · 2022Guizhou’s tea-frying technique included in UNESCO cultural heritage listView study →}.

China’s best-known steamed green tea ^{3Reference 3Sui et al. · 2025The aroma formation from fresh tea leaves of Longjing 43 to finished Enshi Yulu tea at an industrial scaleView study →}. Steaming was how all Chinese green tea was fixed in the Tang dynasty, before pan-firing replaced it; Japan kept the older method, and Enshi Yulu is one of the few Chinese teas still made that way ^{2Reference 2Path of Cha · 2026Award-winning “Jade Dew” Enshi Yu Lu green tea [product page]View study →}.

The steam is lighter and shorter than for most sencha, and the leaf is rolled into tight, straight needles, so the cup is mellow and sweet rather than marine ^{2Reference 2Path of Cha · 2026Award-winning “Jade Dew” Enshi Yu Lu green tea [product page]View study →}.

Tea buds, usually green or white, hand-tied around dried flowers such as globe amaranth, jasmine or osmanthus. In hot water the bundle unfurls and the flower opens, so it is best brewed in a glass pot.

A modern style of sencha, steamed for longer than an ordinary one. The long steam breaks the leaf down, so it is less needle-like and full of fine particles. More of the leaf ends up in the cup, so it brews darker and more opaque, and it tastes sweeter and less bitter.

Sencha milled to a powder that mixes straight into water, so the whole leaf is drunk. It is not matcha, which is made from shaded tencha leaf with the stems and veins removed. Funmatsucha is the cheaper, everyday powdered tea, and it is the tea that conveyor-belt sushi restaurants leave at each seat, beside a hot-water tap.

Green tea, usually bancha or sencha, mixed with roasted and popped brown rice. The rice gives a nutty, toasty flavour and stretches the leaf, which once made it a thrifty everyday tea. Matcha-iri genmaicha has matcha added for colour and a stronger green-tea taste.

Each leaf is rolled into a small, tight pellet, which keeps it fresh in storage. The pellets unfurl slowly in hot water. The taste is fresh and a little smoky, with a mellow aftertaste, and it is the green tea behind North African mint tea.

One of Japan’s highest grades. The bushes are shaded for about three weeks before picking. Shading raises the leaf’s theanine and caffeine and lowers its catechins, so the tea is much sweeter and more savoury than sencha and far less astringent ^{1,3Reference 1Unno et al. · 2025Stress-Relieving Effects of Japanese Green Tea: Evaluation Using the Molar Ratio of Caffeine and Epigallocatechin Gallate to Theanine and Arginine as an IndicatorView study →Reference 3Sano et al. · 2018Effect of shading intensity on morphological and color traits and on chemical components of new tea (Camellia sinensis L.) shoots under direct covering cultivationView study →}.

It is brewed differently from sencha: more leaf, less water, water at only 50–60 °C and a longer steep. Cool water draws out the amino acids while holding back the bitter catechins and caffeine ^{1Reference 1Unno et al. · 2025Stress-Relieving Effects of Japanese Green Tea: Evaluation Using the Molar Ratio of Caffeine and Epigallocatechin Gallate to Theanine and Arginine as an IndicatorView study →}. It is drunk in small cups, a few sips at a time.

Green tea, usually bancha, later-picked sencha or kukicha, roasted at high heat. Roasting turns the leaf and the cup reddish-brown and gives a nutty, toasty flavour with little bitterness. It breaks down most of the theanine and catechins, but most of the caffeine survives ^{1Reference 1Unno et al. · 2025Stress-Relieving Effects of Japanese Green Tea: Evaluation Using the Molar Ratio of Caffeine and Epigallocatechin Gallate to Theanine and Arginine as an IndicatorView study →}.

It is a common evening and mealtime tea in Japan.

Green tea scented with fresh jasmine flowers. The buds are picked by day and layered with the dried tea overnight as they open ^{1Reference 1Fuzhou City · 2014Jasmine and tea culture systems of Fuzhou City [GIAHS proposal]View study →}. The tea absorbs their aroma, the spent flowers are sifted out, and the best grades repeat this with fresh flowers several times.

It is labour-intensive, and the best is expensive. Good jasmine tea carries the scent without the petals; blossoms left in the finished tea are mostly for looks. White, black and oolong teas are scented with jasmine too ^{4Reference 4Wang et al. · 2026Jasmine tea: unveiling the secrets of processing, flavor characteristics, and potential health benefitsView study →}. More: jasmine.

Shaded like gyokuro, but for a shorter time. It sits between the two: richer and sweeter than sencha, fresher and lighter than gyokuro. It can be brewed cool like gyokuro for umami or warmer like sencha for more briskness.

Japanese tea pan-fired in the Chinese way instead of steamed. It is a small speciality of Kyushu, and it is toasty rather than grassy, with little bitterness.

Kamairicha is one of the two kinds of tamaryokucha, the curled Japanese green teas; the other is steamed.

The small particles and dust sifted out while gyokuro and sencha are refined. It brews strong, bright green and fast, and it is the agari tea served free in sushi bars.

Unlike funmatsucha, it is not milled: the flakes are steeped and strained, not drunk whole.

Made from the stems, stalks and twigs sorted out of sencha and gyokuro. It is creamy and nutty with a light-coloured liquor, and it is naturally lower in caffeine than leaf tea ^{1Reference 1Zhang et al. · 2022Exploring the Quality and Application Potential of the Remaining Tea Stems after the Postharvest Tea Leaves: The Example of Lu’an Guapian Tea (Camellia sinensis L.)View study →}.

Kyoto’s everyday tea, made from the coarse growth of the same bushes that give the region’s shaded teas ^{1Reference 1Tezumi (n.d.)Wazuka Kyobancha [product page]View study →}. Unlike hojicha, which is rolled tea roasted afterwards, kyobancha is never rolled: the big leaves are steamed, dried flat and roasted ^{1,3Reference 1Tezumi (n.d.)Wazuka Kyobancha [product page]View study →Reference 3Mizuba Tea CoMizuba Tea Co. (n.d.). Organic Kyô-bancha [product page]. Mizuba Tea Co. https://mizubatea.com/products/organic-kyo-banchaView study →}.

The roast gives it a smoky, toasty cup with very little bitterness, and it is drunk hot or cold ^{2,3Reference 2Yunomi (n.d.)Yunomi (n.d.). #0093 Azuma Tea Garden: Kyobancha smoky roasted green tea 京番茶 [product page]. Yunomi. https://yunomi.life/products/azuma-tea-garden-kyobancha-smoky-roastView study →Reference 3Mizuba Tea CoMizuba Tea Co. (n.d.). Organic Kyô-bancha [product page]. Mizuba Tea Co. https://mizubatea.com/products/organic-kyo-banchaView study →}.

China’s most famous green tea, named after a village and its well in the hills above Hangzhou’s West Lake. The leaves are pan-fired and pressed flat by hand against the wok, which gives them their smooth, flat shape and a toasty, chestnut flavour.

The hand-panning runs in stages, with the leaf cooled between them, and an experienced maker judges the heat by touch. Machine-panned Longjing is now common and much cheaper.

The only famous Chinese tea made from leaf alone, with no bud and no stalk. The shoots are picked late, the leaves pulled off one by one and graded, then fired in two pans, patted flat with brooms of reed, sorghum or bamboo, and dried over charcoal in stages ^{1Reference 1Municipal Government of Lu’an CityTechnical specifications for registration of geographical indication: Lu’an Guapian (六安瓜片)View study →}.

The final, very hot charcoal firing gives a toasty depth unusual in a green tea, and a frosted look to the dark leaf.

Named for the cloud and mist that cover Mount Lu for much of the year, and counted among China’s ten famous teas ^{4Reference 4Chen et al. · 2026Altitude and picking period affect the quality of Lushan Yunwu tea: insights from sensory and metabolomic analysisView study →}. The young shoots are fixed by hand in a hot wok, rolled, then shaped in the pan into fine, downy strands ^{2Reference 2Yunnan Sourcing (n.d.)Lu Shan Yun Wu green tea of Jiangxi, and Imperial Lu Shan Yun Wu green tea of Jiangxi [product pages]View study →}.

Altitude was the main difference between growing areas in one study of eight origins: leaf from higher gardens was sweeter, more umami and more floral ^{3Reference 3Sun et al. · 2024Identification and quality evaluation of Lushan Yunwu tea from different geographical origins based on metabolomicsView study →}.

“Fur peak”: downy buds and young leaves shaped into a slight curl, from the misty Yellow Mountains of southern Anhui. It is light, floral and sweet.

Unlike Longjing, it is dried by baking rather than finished in the wok, which keeps the leaf whole and its down intact.

Tencha leaf, grown in the shade like gyokuro, with the stems and veins removed and stone-ground to a very fine powder. It is whisked into water, and the whole leaf is drunk rather than an infusion of it.

It is prepared two ways. Usucha, “thin tea”, is about 2 g whisked briskly into 60–70 ml of water until frothy. Koicha, “thick tea”, is about twice the matcha in half the water, kneaded slowly into a glossy paste with no foam. Koicha needs the finest grades.

The small buds and leaf tips sorted out while sencha and gyokuro are refined. They roll tightly and brew a strong, full-flavoured cup for little money.

The most famous tea of Mount Meng in western Sichuan ^{4Reference 4Huang et al. · 2024Huang, Z., & Peng, C. (2024, 14 June). Glory of ancient Mengshan tea experiencing revival. China Daily. https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202406/14/WS666bee15a31095c51c508f63.htmlView study →}, the mountain also known for the yellow tea Meng Ding Huang Ya. Gan lu means “sweet dew”, for the long sweet aftertaste.

The young shoots are fried and kneaded in short rounds until they curl tightly, then baked dry ^{1Reference 1Yunnan Sourcing (n.d.)Meng Ding Gan Lu “Sweet Dew” green tea [product page]View study →}.

A green tea from Tianmu Mountain in Lin’an, the hilly western district of Hangzhou. It is light and clean, with fresh, slightly sweet, nutty notes.

The second of Korea’s four green-tea grades, which are named for when the leaf is picked: ujeon, sejak, jungjak and daejak ^{2Reference 2Lee et al. · 2014Quantitative analysis of major constituents in green tea with different plucking periods and their antioxidant activityView study →}. Sejak comes from the second spring flush, a week or two after the first ^{1,2Reference 1What-Cha (n.d.)Korea Boseong Sejak green tea [product page]View study →Reference 2Lee et al. · 2014Quantitative analysis of major constituents in green tea with different plucking periods and their antioxidant activityView study →}.

It is made across Korea’s tea regions, from the pan-fired teas of Hadong ^{3Reference 3CHAMART (n.d.)Traditional Hadong Tea Agrosystem in Hwagae-myeon (South Korea)View study →} to the steamed teas of Jeju ^{4Reference 4Harney et al. · 2026Jeju Sejak [product page]View study →}, and costs much less than ujeon ^{6Reference 6Jackson · 2013Jackson, J. (2013, 14 June). Green as far as the eye can see. The Korea Herald. https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20130614000762View study →}.

Japan’s everyday green tea, and most of the tea the country grows, in many grades and styles. It is grown in full sun, unlike gyokuro, which gives it more catechins and less theanine, so it is brisker and more astringent ^{2Reference 2Unno et al. · 2025Stress-Relieving Effects of Japanese Green Tea: Evaluation Using the Molar Ratio of Caffeine and Epigallocatechin Gallate to Theanine and Arginine as an IndicatorView study →}. The leaf is steamed briefly to stop oxidation, then rolled into fine needles.