Bancha

Bancha is often translated as “Common Tea” or “Coarse Tea”.   Bancha leaves are quite tough so after processing, rather than sencha’s famous needle shape, Bancha leaves are thicker and rolled into flat leaves with pointed ends that look a lot like willow leaves, and that’s where this tea gets its name from: Yanagi is the Japanese word for willow.

Yanagi Bancha is light in body but rich in flavor. It has a slightly floral liquor with notes of caramel and birch. Made from more mature leaves, Yanagi Bancha remains one of the most common Japanese teas: very easy to drink and quite affordable.   Flavours range from smoke, roasted nuts, green grass, earth, soil, wet leaves, and some types of bancha have a stronger straw smell.