What is Konacha tea?

Konacha (粉茶, powder tea) is made up of small bits of leaves, which are filtered out during the processing of gyokuro and sencha.

Although it translates literally as “powder tea”, konacha isn’t really powdered like matcha or funmatsucha.

Brewed konacha has an intense green color and a strong taste.

Green tea’s components are quickly dissolved in water because of the tiny pieces, hence the brewing time should be short to avoid a taste that’s too strong.

Also, the number of infusions is low, expect no more than two infusions with konacha.

how to brew konacha

Is konacha any good?

This tea is economical because the leaves are all broken down into small pieces. They are essentially leftovers.

However, the pieces often come from good-quality tea leaves, provided that they come from gyokuro or sencha.

What this means is that the chemical components are the same as in more expensive teas, so health-wise it’s not inferior at all.

If you like teas with delicate flavor, then konacha is probably not for you. As its dark color suggests, it has high astringency and bitterness.

But did you know that you can still drink konacha without the bitter flavor?

Houjikonacha

Although not so common, konacha can also be roasted into Houjikonacha (ほうじ粉茶, roasted powder tea).

That way the bitterness is diminished and the tea acquires a roasted flavor and aroma. It is also used as an ingredient in a Japanese dish, which I’ll write about in another post.

How to brew konacha:

Brewing konacha is easy. Use a teaspoon (4 gr) of konacha per person and put into your kyusu (Japanese teapot).

Then heat 130 ml (4.4 oz) of water per person just before the boiling point (95 ºC, 203 ºF) and pour directly into your kyusu.

Wait for no more than 30 seconds and serve into each cup.