"stePH" wrote in message

I stand corrected. So what exactly constitutes "kukicha" then?

Twigs of sencha are "kikucha".

The twigs of gyokuro are called "karigane".

The dust (not collected on the floor, but on the belt while processing the
leaves) is "konacha"

The shoots (that's the small leaves that are too small or the tips of the
leaves) are "mecha"

Those products are very common by-products obtained while processing the
leaves. Their names are standardised for all Japan and they are sold that
way on markets.

On this pages , photos and definitions of konacha / kukicha / mecha
http://happy.woman.excite.co.jp/garb...3/konacha.html

You can buy in shops blends of twigs and leaves and even matcha. Blends
have no standard names, the sellers decides. The Japanese package tends to
explain clearly what it contains, or if they are lazy, they only write
"ryokucha" (green tea). I think Lewis found leaves in a "kukicha blend".

There exist also (less standard) :

The big stems are "boucha", usually of bancha, and are often roasted. (I
never saw them otherwise, but I've not seen everything)

Bancha means leftovers collected later in the season. It's often roasted. It
can be aged.

Houjicha can be any *roasted* tea (sencha/bancha/boucha...)., it can be
roasted in a number of way. That can be done to recycle leaves of sencha
that lose their freshness. I have a sort of pottery with a hollow handle
that is a hoji-cha roaster.

There are dozens of regional sorts of bancha/houjicha with as many names.
For instance kyobancha is Kyoto-style, the whole leaves are
fire-dried/roasted. Other sorts are processed differently. The recipe to
prepare them also varies (brewing, simmering...)

Photos of : houjicha/ genmaicha / bancha (not roasted) / kyobancha
http://happy.woman.excite.co.jp/garb...3/hojicha.html

Bancha, bocha, kukicha are said to contain less cafeine. Hojicha is
considered cafeine-less. So old people drink them for this reason.

Kuri