Kukicha
茎茶 · Twig Tea
Green
Kukicha is made from what the other teas threw out.
When sencha and gyokuro are sorted, the stems and stalks are pulled out and set aside as waste. This tea gathers them back. Stems hold less caffeine and more sugar than leaf, so what looks like the poorer part makes the sweeter drink.
It was a poor household's tea in Japan for a long time, and reached the West in the 1960s through the founder of macrobiotics. Made from gyokuro stalks it earns a better name, karigane, wild goose. It is soft and creamy, faintly nutty, with nothing to prove.
- creamy
- nutty
- sweet
- Origin
- Japan (Uji roots)
- Water
- 80°C / 176°F
- Ratio
- 4 g / 100 ml
- Caffeine
- Low
- Rinse
- Not needed
Standard Japanese stem tea; karigane grade from gyokuro stems
How much leaf
Gong fu brewing is leaf-heavy and short. Set your gaiwan or pot size and this is what to weigh out.
Vessel volume
100 ml
Recommended dose
Use ~4.0g of tea
The session
3 infusions, about 3m 10s of total contact time.
- Steep 140sA light green, softly sweet.
- Steep 21mCreaminess rounds the middle.
- Steep 31m 30sNutty water, gentle to the end.
Also sold as
Bocha, Karigane, Shiraore
Steaper times this session for you
A countdown per infusion, a gong when each one is up, and the whole library in your pocket. Coming to iPhone.
Get notified at launchThese numbers are a median of independent gong fu sources, not a law. Leaf age, vessel and water all move them. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.