Chinese Tea vs Japanese Tea: What's Really Different?

The biggest difference is range and processing. Chinese tea spans six categories (green, white, yellow, oolong, red (what the West calls black) and dark tea, with pu-erh usually counted alongside it) and around a thousand named teas, by the usual count. Japanese tea is overwhelmingly green.

And the green teas themselves are made differently: Chinese green tea is usually pan-fired or baked, which gives nutty, toasty, bean-like flavours; Japanese green tea is usually steamed, which keeps it bright green and gives grassy, marine, umami flavours. The brewing traditions, teaware and ceremonies differ too: gongfu with gaiwans and many short steeps in China; kyusu teapots, lower temperatures and, for matcha, whisked powder in Japan.

I'll be honest: I'm a Chinese tea person, and most of this site is about Chinese tea. But I started, like many Europeans, with a Japanese sencha, and for a while I assumed all green tea tasted like that: bright, grassy, a little like the sea. The first Longjing I tasted confused me: where was the green? It tasted of toasted beans and chestnuts. That was my first lesson in how much processing matters.

At a glance#

Why the green teas taste so different#

All green tea is heated right after picking to stop oxidation. The method of heating makes the difference:

• Pan-firing (China): leaves are tossed in a hot wok or drum. Some browning reactions give toasty, nutty, bean-like flavours. Think Longjing's chestnut.
• Steaming (Japan): leaves are steamed briefly. They stay vivid green, with grassy, vegetal, marine and savoury (umami) flavours.

Japan also shades some teas before harvest (gyokuro, matcha), which boosts sweetness and umami.

History in a nutshell#

Tea culture came to Japan from China. For centuries in China, tea was pressed and ground to powder, and by the Song dynasty it was whisked; monks carried that practice to Japan, where it evolved into the matcha ceremony. In China, the Ming dynasty moved tea culture to loose leaf and teapots, and powdered tea largely disappeared. That's why powdered tea is "Japanese" today, though its roots are Chinese. More in the history of Chinese tea.

Brewing compared#

A shiboridashi, a Japanese handleless pot, works beautifully for both.

Ceremony and culture#

• Chinese gongfu cha is about brewing and sharing: flexible, social, many steeps, the tea at the centre. See the Chinese tea ceremony.
• The Japanese tea ceremony is a formal art with fixed movements, seasonal utensils and sweets, centred on a bowl of matcha.

My side-by-side: Longjing vs a sencha#

Same afternoon, same water.

Longjing, 4 g, 80 °C, gaiwan: pale gold-green, toasted beans, chestnut, soft and nutty.

Sencha, 4 g in 150 ml, 75 °C, 1 minute: bright green, grassy, a marine, savoury note, a little astringent.

Both are green tea. They taste like different drinks.

Which should you try?#

• You like nutty, toasty, gentle flavours: Chinese green tea.
• You like vivid, grassy, savoury flavours: Japanese green tea.
• You want variety: Chinese tea's six categories are a lifetime of exploring.

Myths#

"Japanese tea is better quality than Chinese tea" (or the reverse). Both countries make excellent and poor tea.

"All green tea tastes grassy." Pan-fired Chinese greens are nutty and toasty.

"Matcha is a Japanese invention." Powdered, whisked tea came from China; Japan kept and refined the tradition.

My honest take#

Don't pick a side. Taste a good Longjing and a good sencha on the same day: it's the clearest lesson in how processing shapes tea. Then, if you're like me, you'll keep coming back to China for the variety.

The bottom line#

Chinese tea spans six categories; Japanese tea is mostly green. Chinese greens are usually pan-fired and nutty; Japanese greens are usually steamed and grassy-savoury. Brewing, teaware and ceremony follow different traditions. Start exploring with my guide to the types of Chinese tea.

Read next: Green vs White vs Black Tea and Caffeine in Chinese Tea.