【Everything about Bancha Tea】Health Benefits and Amazing Ways to Brew It!

Bancha(番茶) bears close similarity with sencha. Actually, both bancha and sencha are harvested from the same tree. The difference in their cultivation actually comes in at the stage where they are harvested. Comparatively, sencha grade is harvested earlier than bancha. This eventually leads to differences in their grade or quality. Well, there is a clear distinction in the flavor of bancha, very unique deviating by a distance from the common flavor of other green teas. Furthermore, bancha is remarkably diverse in terms of its various grades. It would baffle you to know that bancha alone has about 22 grades! Bancha can be further processed into genmaicha as well as hojicha tea.

An Overview of Bancha

The harvesting time

As earlier mentioned there is not much difference between the manufacturing processes of bancha and sencha tea. The timing of their harvest, however, separates both of them. Basically, bancha tea leaves are harvested in the period after summer. While Sencha is notably harvested when the leaves are younger, bancha leaves are harvested when more matured.

The harvest timing and its effect on the caffeine amount

This harvest timing admittedly contributes to the amount of caffeine content in bancha as well as also determining how much of tannins it contains. Certainly, for the fact that the leaves are left for a longer period of time to mature, bancha tea contains a lower amount of caffeine and tannin –than you would source from other teas. Talking about the taste of bancha tea, it is refreshing although the flavor is adeptly bold.

You would also notice that bancha tea naturally has a bitter undertone although these could be eliminated when you add superficial flavors after brewing like lemon and honey. In most traditional cases, many people drink bancha in form of hojicha. This way they would dry and roast it, this tends to enhance its savory flavor.

Bancha from the economic perspective

Looking at bancha from the economic angle, it comes at a notably affordable price when measured to other teas pertaining to cost. In fact for its affordability, bancha tea is informally dubbed in Japan as the “tea of the poor”. In Japan, it very common to be served tea in a restaurant while you are waiting for your meal.

The Name of Bancha

The name bancha is really an intriguing name considering how it came about. Looking at it from the Japanese perspective, bancha possesses dual origins. It is partly coined from the word “ban” which is popularly Japanese. To the average Japanese man, ban represents “every day”. This can also be interpreted as “common”.

Bencha borrows its name from its diversity

The name bancha can be attributed to the diverse nature of bancha which is extensively multi-purpose. The name is also traditionally understood to come from the nature of the leaves of bancha. These leaves are significantly coarser since they are more mature. Also “ban” here in this regard means “late” signifying the interval at which the bancha leaves are harvested – this is the late harvesting. An example in this regard are Japanese words like Nibancha which mean second crop as well as Sanbancha which mean the third harvest.

Different regions with different meanings

All across Japan, there is no definitive meaning of the term bancha. This is because it carries different meanings for different regions. As we explained, it represents coarse tea which is harvested in the Autumn. This is how it is interpreted in eastern regions of Japan like in Tokyo. While in places like Kyoto and other western regions of Japan, the term bancha is more readily associated with roasted green tea. Such roasted green tea is regarded as hojicha tea.

Bancha and The Japanese Tea Culture

In Japan, the affection for bancha tea is intense. While many would easily see it as a lower grade more affordable tea, it is yet very popular in Japan across tea enthusiasts and otherwise. The popularity of bancha tea in Japan can be traced far back to the mid-Edo era. It is a tea well ingrained in the Japanese cultures almost a daily habit of many Japanese families.

Variation in demand across Japanese regions

Nevertheless, in those areas in Japan where tea is massively produced, the enchantment for bancha tea is admittedly lower. This reduced demand for bancha tea in those areas as it is understandable is owing to a rather abundance of higher grade tea. However, in the rural mountains of Japan, the people are affectionately bonded to bancha tea and habitually drink it after meals so as to enhance the digestive process.

The average Japanese and bancha tea

The average Japanese would still choose bancha even higher grade tea for the depth of its lovely flavor. Very few types of green tea can boast equal strength in their flavor. This is closer to the taste of fresh grass. In Japan, bancha is readily infused with herbs especially during the first infusion to ramp up its nutritional content. It is also common in Japan to roast bancha so as to achieve a lovable malty aroma.

How to Make Bancha Green Tea with Umeboshi(梅干し)

Bancha tea is amusing and presents a wide berth of delicious recipes. Many drinks, as well as meals, can be prepared with your bancha tea. One of such traditional delicacies is preparing your bancha tea with <a style=”text-decoration: underline; color: #F991A9;”  href=”https://amzn.to/2Y2SozK”>umeboshi</a>. To arrive at this let us look at the ingredients you need as well as the preparatory process.

The ingredients

Starting off with the ingredients, we will be adopting measurement just sufficient for one person. So here you will need a tablespoon of your bancha tea. You will definitely need water, say 200ml would do. Then comes in your umeboshi, 1 tablespoon would do as well. You could make use of ginger as well preferably grated, 1/2 tablespoon and then you would need about 2 drops of your soy sauce. Let us now go into the preparation of your bancha tea with your umeboshi proper.

Bancha vs Sencha

Measuring bancha tea against Sencha tea

It is valid to say sencha tea is the most popular type of green tea all over Japan. Most times courtesy stipulates that you serve your guest in a traditional Japanese home sencha tea. Sencha is relatively more ancestral than bancha tea, that it is has a deeper history than bancha tea as claims even portray sencha to have Chinese connection. Commonly, sencha tea is no longer pan-roasted as in the times of old. Nowadays, it is preferably steamed to ensure that the leaf is not oxidized.

Comparing the flavor

Measuring the flavor of your bancha tea against the sencha tea, we see that the sencha tea doesn’t have as much astringency as the bancha tea. Sencha tends to have a sweetness which is rather delicate and has this flowery green unique aroma. However, Sencha tea and bancha tea shares such a close connection that the average tea drinker would even struggle to differentiate between sencha tea and bancha tea.

Comparing their prices

Most times the way people tend to better identify between sencha tea and bancha tea is in terms of the price, in that bancha tea comes at a lower price than sencha. This is why genmaicha tea is cheaper than sencha tea for the fact that genmaicha is made from bancha. The same (regarding the relative cost to sencha) can be said of hojicha tea which is also made from bancha.

The source of astringency which kind of separates bancha tea from Sencha can be attributed to the fact that bancha tea has less catechin than sencha tea from the same harvest. This is because it is allowed to mature longer than sencha leaves.

How To Brew Bancha

Now you may actually want to know how you can brew your bancha tea. It is agreed that brewing your bancha tea is much easier than brewing your sencha in terms of the techniques involved. In fact, it is not necessary to keep an eye out on the temperature of the water in course of brewing your bancha tea. For the brewing process, you would need a big teapot as well as a big teacup. Here the quantity or measurements would be ideal for three persons.

So you need water, you need 9 grams of bancha tea leaves.

You are free to go about re-brewing the tea via those very leaves, but then this time, you shouldn’t steep for long again especially after the second brew. This is because the taste of your bancha tea becomes increasingly bitter. By the second brew, the catechin composition of your should rightly be on the rise. This could even be more beneficial considering the advantageous health implications.

Health Benefits of Bancha tea

Bancha tea has amazing health benefits. Let us look at some of these:

1. Cancer Protection

Bancha tea reduces the rate at which cancer grows in your body. Some of the common types of cancer that bancha tea protects you from include ovarian cancer esophageal cancer as well as pancreatic cancer. Precisely studies have shown that a regular consumption of bancha tea can reduce the risk of ovarian cancer in women by 46%.

2. Relieves you of oral Infections

Many oral infections are prevented by bancha tea. Common among such oral infections is diseases of the cavity as well as periodontal disease. This capacity to prevent oral infections can be traced down to Bancha composition of vital polyphenol and catechins. Most of these have antimicrobial abilities which ensure the health of your teeth and mouth in general.

3. Morealso, bancha tea improves your alertness

Bancha tea helps in revitalizing you mentally. This is owing to its caffeine composition. This tends to keep you fresh in the head and more vigilant.

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