
- HOME >
- Tea Processing
The role of stem in tea
- [2013.06.22] Posted By Akira Hojo
Did you know the stem of tea is an important factor that affects the taste of tea? Japanese green tea is usually made of 1 bud and 2 leaves where the aracha (or mao-cha in Chinese, means the crude tea right after the process) contains noticeable amounts of stems. However, the stems are removed during the sorting process subsequently.
Removing stems for the sake of the appearance
For Japanese tea industry (while even for most of the teas in China and Taiwan), the appearance of the tea leaves are one of the most important criteria. Therefore, tea manufacturers work very hard to remove the stem due its colour that are of lighter green, to make sure that the appearance of tea is in dark green colour. Using high-tech equipment such as a colour sorting machine, the stems will be effectively removed. However, a tea without stems produces a flatter taste plus spreading of the flavour would be reduced. I conducted an experiment as follow to demonstrate the effects of the tea stems against the tea produced.
Manually remove the stem from Aracha and compare the effect
I prepared an aracha that contains stems and I manually removed the stems and compared the taste between aracha, stems and tea without stems simultaneously. In an amount of 3-5g of aracha which is meant for a 1 time brewing, it does not contain too many stems; perhaps a range from a few to several stems. The results obtained shows that the differences are extremely obvious and noticeable. The aracha that contained stems produces a stronger body and naturally we felt that the flavour is stronger and widely spread. However, the aracha that had leaves without stems produced less flavour and lighter body.

On the left is the manually-sorted stems, the center is the tea without stems and the one on the right is the aracha that contains stems. Most of the Japanese green teas are processed as a tea shown in center. They are sure to remove the stem to obtain a beautiful and consistent appearance of tea even if it sacrifices the taste.
The stems of vegetable are sweet
If you take vegetables as an example, it is easy to imagine why the stem is so essential.
If you eat celery, which part do you enjoy most between the stem and the leaves?
When you eat spinach, which part is sweeter between stems and leaf?
Generally, we would enjoy the taste of the stem more compared to the leaves, regardless of eating the vegetables as salad or cooked.
Likewise, the stem of the tea is sweet and it produces a stronger body than the leaves. That is why Karigane is very popular among our tea line-ups. The Karigane does not have a strong after taste, yet it gives strong body and many customers naturally and unconsciously enjoy it. Based on this concept, I purposely remain the stems when I process Japanese green tea. For all Sencha and Hojicha that I released since last year, I stopped removing the stems. Personally, tea was meant for us to drink and enjoy its fullest and richest taste. I would not sacrifice the taste for the sake of its appearance.
Related Articles
How to get the latest update on HOJO Tea?
1. Follow Twitter, 2. Click "Like" on Facebook, and 3. Subscribe in newsletter. You can have the latest tea news from HOJO Tea.
Subscribe the Newsletter to enjoy the privileges
- You may receive a free sample upon purchase, or you may have the priority to purchase special products. So please remember to subscribe our newsletter as well as the social network.
- New Release of Da Xue Shan Wild White Tea Cake 2021
- Da Xue Shan Wild White Tea 2021 is available now. This tea is always very popular in our shop. In Japan, we brought in loose tea this year, and for Malaysia we produced 200g cake. Mao cha before compressing into cake Very limited resources This tea is made from the wild tea, called Camelia taliensis. …
- New Release of 2 Types of Darjeeling 1st Flush
- We have released two types of Darjeeling 1st Flush Tea. The reason why the Darjeeling 1st Flush is greenish In Darjeeling tea, the 1st flush refers to the first-plucked spring tea. Usually, the Darjeeling 1st Flush tea is greenish. From the outlook, it looks like a green tea. Many people misunderstand that it is green …
NEW ARTICLES
New Release of Da Xue Shan Wild White Tea Cake 2021
- Da Xue Shan Wild White Tea 2021 is available now. This tea is always very popular in our shop. In Japan, we brought in loose tea this year, and for Malaysia we produced 200g cake. Mao cha before compressing into cake Very limited resources This tea is made from the wild tea, called Camelia taliensis. …
New Release of 2 Types of Darjeeling 1st Flush
- We have released two types of Darjeeling 1st Flush Tea. The reason why the Darjeeling 1st Flush is greenish In Darjeeling tea, the 1st flush refers to the first-plucked spring tea. Usually, the Darjeeling 1st Flush tea is greenish. From the outlook, it looks like a green tea. Many people misunderstand that it is green …
Gushu Dian Hong, The Rare Yunnan Black Tea made from Ancient Tea Tree
- The characteristic of Gushu Dian Hong is its intense aftertaste, and this is far better than ordinary black tea. Dian Hong means Yunnan Black Tea Yunnan black tea is called “Dian Hong” in Chinese. “Dian” means Yunnan, and “Hong” means black tea. Gushu means Ancient Tree in Chinese. After all, Gu Shu Dian Hong means …
Limited Release of Single Tree Raw Pu-erh Tea from Pine Forest Ancient Tea Garden
- We have released Pine Forest Single Tree Raw Pu-erh 2019. This tea was made from the fresh tea leaves collected from very old tea trees grown under the shade of the pine forest. The tea trees are more than 300 years old. It is a good chance for you to experience the distinctive characteristic of …
New Release of Wu Jia Zhai Raw Pu-erh Tea 2018 Loose
- We have released Wu Jia Zhai Raw Pu-erh Tea. It is a Loose Tea (Mao-cha). This tea was made in 2018 and has been aged for nearly three years. Thanks to the aging, it has developed more distinctive flavour with sweet scent of sugar cane and dried fruits. Sustainable Tea Garden at high altitude of …
New Release of Tong Mu Shui Xian Black Tea
- We have released very rare black tea, Tong Mu Shui Xian Black Tea. This tea is from Tong Mu Guan in Wuyishan, Fujian Province, China. The tea garden is located at 1000m above sea level, and the tea garden is totally sustainable, the tea trees are grown without pesticide and fertilizer. Tong Mu Shui Xian …
New Release of Da Xue Shan Wild White Tea 2020
- We have launched Da Xue Shan Wild White Tea 2020, in loose tea. For Malaysia, we release the 200g cake version. This year, we have made major improvements in the raw material, producer, and production method, resulting in a very satisfying quality. However, the production volume is extremely small; it will likely to be sold …
Limited Release of Yunnan 10 Years Vintage Black Tea 2010
- We release 10-year vintage Yunnan black tea. This tea was produced in 2010 and aged in Yunnan for 8 years in aerobic storage. We bought this year in 2018, and it has been aged in Japan and Malaysia for two years in anoxic storage condition. The production area is very near to the Myanmar border …
Da Xue Shan Wild Raw Pu-erh Tea 2020 was Released
- We have launched 2020 wild puerh tea. This wild tea is from Da Xue Shan located in Lincang of Yunnan Province, China. We started to introduce Da Xue Shan Wild tea since 2010. But 2020 version was completely renewed. This year, we changed the source of tea, the producers and the production method too. Why …
High Mountain Purple Black Tea 2020 is Now Available
- We have released High Mountain Purple Black Tea 2020. It was unexpectedly well-made this year. I am truly delighted by its outcome. About Purple Tea The High Mountain Purple tea is made from the specific type of tea, the locals called it “Zi Cha”, that means purple tea in English. It is a rare tea …
Shop Info

Address:Lot No. T-215, 3rd Floor, The Gardens Mall, Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra, 59200 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +603-2287-4537
Business Hour: 10am to 10pm
Category
- New Arrival at HOJO Online Shop
- Featured Articles
- Newsletter
- Types of Tea
- Origin of Tea
- Teapot and Tea Equipment
- Tea Column
- How to enjoy tea
- Tea Processing
- How to choose quality tea
- Tea constituents and functional effect
- Safety of Tea
- Foods
- Tea Business Operation
- Hobby and Outdoor Activity
- Ranking of Tea
- Video
- FAQ
- Media Release
Profile

- AKIRA HOJO
- I invite you to experience my tea selections.I was born in Nagano, Japan. In university, I studied agricultural chemistry, and I have the master degree in food science. I worked in Japanese food industry for 10 years. I involved in R&D, QC and QA. As a factory manager, I implemented ISO9000 series and managed the factory.
- The Art of Tea Magazine
- We posted the article on “The Art of Tea Magazine No.9, the magazine is published in Taiwan. We featured some scientific view about the tetsubin
- New Straits Times
- The Malaysian National Newspaper, New Straits Times featured HOJO Tea on 17-Oct-2007.