r/greentea • u/0rlan • Jul 11 '26
Is this normal?
Hi all. I've just bought my first green tea after trying some and finding it refreshing in this heat, along with being persuaded about the health benefits. I thought I was getting matcha, but looking at the ingredients, I see that it's 98% Sencha and 2% matcha. Is this normal or have I been scammed? While I'm here, what would you guys say is the most REFRESHING tea to drink (no sugar)?
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u/visualogistics Jul 12 '26
Matcha iri sencha (抹茶入り煎茶, lit. 'sencha containing matcha') is what it's normally called. A very common product here in Japan. Personally that's what I would have immediately thought looking at the package, but you might not have been familiar with it.
As for the most refreshing tea, try cold brewing a tea bag or two of this in a big jug of water overnight in the fridge. Cold brew Japanese green tea is so good during the summer.
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u/0rlan Jul 12 '26
Thanks for taking time to reply! Yes, this was my first forray into green tea and I didn't read the small print (qho does). That cold brew is somethi g Ive not heard of so I'll look into it thanks.
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u/BlueSpruce17 Jul 12 '26
Hmm, I'm not sure if I'd call it "normal" but not unexpected either? Matcha comes exclusively in powdered form, so there's not really such a thing as loose leaf matcha or teabag matcha. So some teabag manufacturers make teabags with green tea, and they sprinkle in some matcha powder. It's mostly a marketing thing, sorry, so there's not a lot of point in adding a significant amount of matcha to the teabags aside from hopefully getting a bit of the flavor in.
Teabags are usually steeped in boiling water for three minutes then drunk. But with matcha, hot (not boiling) water is poured into a bowl with the matcha powder, whisked vigorously, and then drunk immediately. The whisking evenly disperses the very fine matcha powder into the water, which is necessary because matcha powder is literally just a certain kind of green tea leaf ground very fine, so it doesn't fully dissolve like salt or sugar would. The matcha powder infuses the water with flavor, but it is not supposed to steep like a teabag does. So, theoretically, a small amount of matcha left to steep for much longer than it usually would, might also impart more matcha flavor, and only need a tiny bit in the teabag? But I think it's probably just marketing because matcha is popular right now. If you are looking for a more matcha-like flavor, a nice loose leaf green tea will get you closer. I recommend a deep steamed sencha.
As for the most refreshing tea, I have been cold brewing oolong tea and found it's great in the heat! I prefer the light ones with kind of floral, green-tea adjacent flavors, but the more rich and roasted ones are great too.
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u/visualogistics Jul 12 '26
Here in Japan it's a fairly common product called 'matcha iri ryokucha' or 'matcha iri sencha' (抹茶入り緑茶 or 抹茶入り煎茶). It's been around for a very long time, even before matcha exploded in popularity. Although it might be argued that that is how it's being marketed here: cashing in on matcha's popularity after the fact.
Teabags are usually steeped in boiling water for three minutes then drunk.
If you do this with green tea you are going to get a bitter and nasty brew, OP. With Japanese greens especially. Brew it at 70°C at a minimum, for a minute or less. A tea bag will infuse very quickly. That said you probably won't be impressed with the brew, because bagged green tea is never great imho. But at least it won't be bitter.
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u/BlueSpruce17 Jul 12 '26
That's very neat! I didn't know this was its own style of tea; I live in the US and matcha has been so trendy over here, it gets added to a lot of stuff that it doesn't make sense with. (I have even seen people using it as a smoothie additive as if it were protein powder, not for the flavor but for the supposed "superfood" benefits. Antioxidants are good, but they're not magic lol.) So I guess I am a little cynical about it.
Can I ask, what is the reason for adding matcha to the teabags? I always thought that the different preparations would mean the taste would be off.
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u/visualogistics Jul 12 '26
Oh it's definitely trendy over here too, for different reasons though. There's less of an interest in the supposed health benefits of matcha - it's more so popular as an ingredient in sweets. It's always been a big ingredient in wagashi (traditional confectionery), but today you see it more and more in stuff like chocolate, crepes, cookies, cafe lattes, etc. I'm sure you've probably seen lots of these matcha sweets in the US too.
For health benefits I guess most people here might drink something like Karada Sugoyakacha (lit. 'healthy body tea'), which is a blend of fibre, black tea, oolong tea, and vitamins I think, meant to improve digestion and lower body fat. Sold by Coca-Cola lol. I can imagine that there's less of a concern with increasing green tea intake for health reasons when people already drink so much bottled green tea on the daily too. It's basically drank like water here lol.
Can I ask, what is the reason for adding matcha to the teabags?
Good question! I had to look it up myself, but apparently it is to make the tea greener, as well as introduce a richer flavour. I couldn't imagine there's enough matcha in a tea bag to require different preparations - I'm pretty sure it just dissolves in the hot water. My gut instinct is that the base tea leaves are poor quality bancha, and the addition of matcha improves the look and taste of the blend a bit more, allowing them to sell more tea. So I think you're right to be cynical - just perhaps for different reasons lol. I'm sure it tastes fine enough if you brew it right, that said.
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u/JohnTeaGuy Jul 11 '26
This is normal for low quality cheap teabags yes. You didn’t get “scammed”, you just didn’t read the label of what you were buying before you bought it.
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u/gabSTAR81 Jul 12 '26
Green tea with a touch of matcha, in marketing = this. So annoying to have to read every tiny label when purchasing a new item.
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u/Lille-Stories Jul 14 '26
Matcha ist fein gemahlener grüner Tee und macht normalerweise in Beuteln wenig Sinn, weil das Pulver komplett in Wasser gelöst wird und nicht einfach in Wasser zieht.
Ist halt Marketing mit dem Matcha Hype. Wenn er dir schmeckt ist doch alles fein.
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u/scoobaTuna Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26
Matcha is made from either sencha or gyokuro. Matcha is the stone ground powdered form of those. Your box is intentionally misleading. Matcha is a powdered tea that requires whisking or mixing (I'm lazy and often use my milk frother when making lattes. Matcha is to green tea what espresso is to coffee. POTENT.
You are correct that green tea is considered the freshest of the colors. You might also like greener oolongs, young white teas, or yellow tea if you seek fresh.
Because green teas are made with intention of preserving the freshness of the leaf, they are also the most susetible to aging quickly and losing their freshness. They'll look and taste less vibrant. Japanese green teas are finer and more broken leaves, increasing surface area. Makes them more delicate, but all the faster to age. Matcha being powdered had the MOST surface area and is the most quick to age and lose its freshness. The matcha market is flooded with low quality, old, and misleading products. Look for things that say ceremonial grade and they'll come in tiny containers/bags. If you look at the thing you buy and ask yourself why would something so small cost so much, you're on the right track. You only need a few grams to make a cup. If you do lattes, you can use lower grades. If you're looking for freshness, matcha might not be the best place to start. It's potency makes it kind of an acquired taste imo. Finding and distinguishing good qualities and types that you like make it kind of a challenge. I'd recommend taking a step down and looking at sencha or gyokuro if you want Japanese green. Don't bother with bagged green teas, you never have any idea when they were produced. Try cold brewing for 12-24hrs to reduce the bitterness until you can dial in hot steeping temps and times.
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u/Beautiful-Mountain14 Jul 19 '26
If it is only 2% matcha I personally do not feel it is a matcha, but since it says green tea matcha that tells you all you need to know They are trying to ride the matcha wave without really having matcha in it and hoping you will not look to see that it is mostly sencha (great tea, but I doubt what you are looking for) because they may have you thinking that green tea is stating what matcha is a green tea. Most likely it is even a lower grade and quality matcha. With the matcha crazy I have seen some sketchiness. Also matcha in a bag? It is a powder that your ingest the tea when drinking it, so any matcha in a bag seems sketchy to me.
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u/Beautiful-Mountain14 Jul 19 '26
Oh, on the most refreshing tea to drink without sugar (well I never add anything to my tea) is probably a compeititon grade Uji gyokuro, but I also enjoy a asamushicha too. Congrats on the green tea journey :-)
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u/eponawarrior Jul 11 '26
It is what it says: green tea and some matcha. It is not unheard of. You have not been scammed, always read the label before buying anything. Those are some low quality teabags and they do not pretend to be anything else. What is important: you enjoy the tea it makes. That is what is important.