Japanese Green Tea Versus Japanese Coffee

Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes, 55 seconds

Both beverages are drinks of choice during breakfast and can inspire the youthful to learn how to craft and masterfully continue the tradition. At the same time, tea and coffee baristas are making innovations to create new tastes and flavors.

Let’s talk about how Japanese drink tea and coffee before we dive into their differences.

How do Japanese Drink Coffee?

When Dutch traders brought coffee to Japan more than 300 years ago, coffee became popular in the 1930s and again in the 1960s (because of lifting the coffee ban) through today. Coffee is associated with Western culture; and many kissaten, cafés, and vending machines are still prevalent in Japan. 

Canned coffee in kombini (vending machine) is the most popular way to get coffee because kombinis are often located in train stations and streets where busy people can easily purchase a coffee while going to work.

When making iced coffee, just like with soda, put the ice in first before pouring the coffee. A small amount of hot water is mixed with brewed coffee so the iced coffee is cold, yet the taste and brew can still be enjoyed. 

According to the Euromonitor market research, although most coffee sales are instant coffee, fresh-ground coffee sales are growing. From this research, we may conclude that people are now rooting for fresh-ground coffee, whether sophisticated ground coffee or simple green coffee beans ready to roast. They want to taste these kinds of coffee in their homes, experiencing artisanal coffee during break time.

Despite coffee being an imported product to Japan, coffee drinking eventually became a culture itself. While Japanese tea has a tea ceremony, coffee drinking and making/eating chocolate have effects that can make drinkers breathe and feel calm. With the experience of coffee shop baristas and enthusiasts turned into coffee shop owners, some just recently opened zen-like and traditional Japanese style cafés like the Kabuki and Omotesando Koffee (closed in Omotesando area since 2015, but it did open international branches).

With international coffee big chains and third-wave coffee, making and drinking coffee serves as an art and luxury. From using drip materials to espresso machines, access to artisanal coffee is easy, and with cute drawing/art on cup lattes, coffee drinking is fun.

How do Japanese Drink Tea?

Japanese tea drinking, whether by doing a tea ceremony or drinking it inside the house, is delicate. Table manners are put into practice, like putting the saucer or small tray under the Japanese teacup (yunomi) and holding it with both hands when drinking the tea.

Tea came first in Japan, before coffee. Ever since an envoy consisting of Buddhist scholars went to China during the Tang Dynasty, the Japanese have cultivated teas. Tea became a part of the Japanese culture despite the fact these leaves are imported from a neighbor with a different culture.

Tea ceremony is not just about tea tasting, but also appreciating the taste and flavor through one’s senses. It shows hospitality to the guests. Foreigners can also participate in a tea ceremony.

The ideal ambiance for tea drinking is in a zen garden. Nevertheless, tea shops and kissatens are there to serve various teas and desserts. There are varieties and tea-fruit fusions to adapt to the current trends since many young people don’t have time to prepare freshly-brewed tea.

Consumption of tea has decreased, while that of coffee has increased. More Japanese drink coffee because they feel that traditional tea is old-fashioned, and they are too busy to make their own fresh-brewed tea; unlike coffee which they can buy canned on subways and at convenient stores. Tea farming is also in decline as the children of tea farmers are not interested in that field and want to work in higher-income cities.

Nowadays, to create a demand for green and black tea, tea farmers and businesses collaborate to target young workers and students by incorporating Japanese green teas, especially matcha, in drinks and they are being served in coffee shops. There are flavors such as matcha latte, green tea cakes, and many varieties of green tea desserts and beverages. There is even a coffee-tea hybrid for young workers who find coffee very strong. Black teas or milk teas are trendy too and can be an alternative for coffee lattes.

Some big chain cafés serve both tea and coffee.

Gathering

Drinking coffee is treated as a social event where people hang out, chat casually and gather their thoughts; while tea drinking is more like an event to celebrate and show the art of serving and entertaining family and guests.

Health Benefits

Both drinks help people concentrate, lose weight, and fight diseases. However, what makes green tea stand out from coffee is it has antioxidants. Coffee also has these but fewer than green tea.

Taste

Both are delicious if mixed with milk, chocolate, or sweets. In its natural state, coffee has a strong bitter taste, while the famous green tea is milder and has a bit sweeter taste depending on the tea quality. Black tea has a stronger bitter taste than tea but is still milder than coffee.

Since both have powdered forms, it’s fun to make iced drinks at home and get creative with the ingredients; like the famous dalgona coffee, milk tea with tapioca pearls or brown sugar, and iced green tea or maybe a matcha milkshake.

Are you more of a coffee drinker or a tea drinker? Please share your thoughts and experiences with us! How do you find the taste of Japanese-made coffee and tea?

Japanese Green Tea Co. is starting a new company, Japanese Coffee Co.  If you are into coffee as much as tea and want to try out Japanese coffee, please visit us.

Photo “Dried green tea and coffee beans background” is copyright under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License to the photographer Marco Verch and is being posted unaltered (source)