koicha (thick matcha)
ingredient / ingredient-koicha
濃茶
Koicha is a concentrated way of preparing matcha, and the resulting tea, made by kneading more tea powder with less hot water than for usucha. It is served at formal tea gatherings.
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Reading the bitterness
Koicha is both a concentrated way of preparing matcha—kneading more tea powder with less hot water than for usucha—and the resulting tea. It is served at formal tea gatherings. 「公益財団法人上田流和風堂」 (Ueda-ryu Wafudo Foundation) describes using 3 heaping scoops with a tea scoop per person, adding a little hot water to a generous amount of matcha, and kneading it. An individual school run by an instructor qualified in 「表千家」 (Omotesenke) describes using about 2 times as much matcha as for usucha and producing a consistency like potage.
The vocabulary table for taste in the matcha sensory evaluation conducted by the Kyoto Prefectural Tea Industry Research Institute treats bitterness as a separate item. It states that excessive grinding or deterioration may strengthen bitterness, and that when the amount of tencha ground in a mill per unit time is below the standard condition, a heated or scorched taste accompanied by bitterness may appear. The report considers longer heating caused by tea leaves remaining inside the mill to be the cause. This vocabulary table covers matcha generally and does not use the term astringency. Koicha is this matcha prepared at a higher than usual concentration.
According to 「上田宗箇流」 (the Ueda Sōko school), the basic practice is to prepare enough koicha for all the guests in a single bowl and pass it around for drinking, beginning with the principal guest. By contrast, usucha is prepared in a separate bowl for each person. The account thus distinguishes the two by whether the bowl is shared. This practice is described for the Ueda Sōko school; the source does not describe equivalent practices in other schools.
Sources for this overview
Checked for this overview: Describes the guideline of 3 heaping tea-scoop measures per person. / Describes passing around a single bowl and contrasts this with usucha.
Checked for this overview: Describes using 2 times the matcha of usucha and achieving a potage-like consistency.
Sensory Evaluation of Matcha (抹茶の審査について)
Checked for this overview: Confirms that bitterness is a separate item in the matcha sensory-evaluation vocabulary table.
Other names: koicha (ja)
Follow the connections
koicha (thick matcha) →— sensory attribute→ bitterness →can be measured separately …→ astringency
Hypotheses and recipe candidates for this entry are on the Japanese page.
Structured claims — open a section to read each claim's confidence, evidence and limits
Sensory (1)
Scope: Koicha is matcha made by finely grinding tencha and kneading it at high concentration. The source deals with sensory evaluation methods for matcha generally, not koicha specifically, and does not describe bitterness separately for koicha and usucha.
Note: The taste vocabulary table for matcha sensory evaluation at the Tea Industry Research Institute lists 「苦味」 (in translation: "bitterness") as an independent item and says excessive grinding or deterioration may increase it. If the amount processed by the mill per unit time falls below the standard condition (resulting in excessive grinding), a heated or scorched taste accompanied by bitterness may occur. The report considers the longer heating caused by tea leaves remaining in the mill to be the cause. The table lists 「青臭味や覆い香味不足」 (in translation: "grassy odor or insufficient covered-tea aroma"), 「苦味」 (in translation: "bitterness"), 「ざらつき」 (in translation: "grittiness"), and 「芳香味不足」 (in translation: "insufficient aromatic flavor") as parallel categories. It treats bitterness as a separate defect term from astringency or acridity. The taste-evaluation vocabulary does not itself use the word astringency.
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ingredient-koicha —has_sensory_attribute→ sensation-bitterHow processing and cooking change it (2)
Scope: Ueda Sōko school.
Note: This is an account on the official site of the particular Ueda Sōko school; its quantity may differ from those of other schools, such as Urasenke and Omotesenke.
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ingredient-koicha —has_reported_preparation_style_of→ "According to 「公益財団法人上田流和風堂」 (the Ueda-ryu Wafudo Foundation), koicha is prepared by using 3 heaping tea-scoop measures per person, adding a little hot water to a generous amount of matcha, and kneading it."Scope: Omotesenke, as described by an individual teaching school.
Note: This is an account by an individual school run by a qualified Omotesenke instructor, not an official statement by the Omotesenke head house.
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ingredient-koicha —has_reported_preparation_style_of→ "According to a school website run by 「表千家」 (Omotesenke) instructor 「藤本薫里」 (Fujimoto Kaori), koicha uses about 2 times as much matcha as usucha and becomes potage-like when kneaded."Culture (1)
Scope: Tea-ceremony practice of the Ueda Sōko school.
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ingredient-koicha —has_cultural_role_of→ "According to the Ueda Sōko school, the basic practice is to prepare enough koicha for the guests in one bowl and pass it around for drinking in order, beginning with the principal guest. Usucha is prepared as one bowl per person."