Konacha is one of the 3 types of Japanese tea powder. The other two are Funmatsucha and Matcha. They are similar in appearance, but different in manufacturing processes, tastes and usage. Konacha is a gathering of fine tea leaf grains produced through the manufacturing processes. Funmatsucha is a powdery Japanese tea prepared by cutting Sencha. You dissolve Funmatsucha in hot water to make tea.
Matcha is a powdery Japanese tea produced from tea leaves which have been protected from the direct sun for about 2 weeks in prior to picking. These tea leaves go through specified tea manufacturing processes and then are ground into powder, which is called Matcha. Matcha is used for tea ceremonies in Japan. It is also globally well known in these days for ingredients of sweets like Matcha icecream and Matcha biscuits.
While Funmatsucha and Matcha are manufactured with purposes, Konacha is a kind of by-product of Sencha (a high grade Japanese tea). Because of this reason, Konacha is less expensive than the other two, but its aroma and taste are as good as those of Sencha. Thanks to its powdery form, you can quickly extract nice and strong aroma and taste from Konacha. Furthermore, just like standard Sencha, Konacha contains the natural element called catechin which is effective to kill germs and strong smells. These features of Konacha are suitable when you eat sushi, as they kill smells of fish and seafood used for sushi. If you go to a sushi restaurant in Japan, you will be offered Japanese tea prepared with Konacha. However, at many sushi train restaurants, they use Funmatsucha which you can easily dissolve in hot water. Sushi may be nice with beer or wine, but if you try on Japanese tea with sushi, you will be surprised how refreshing the tea is and will find a special match between sushi and the tea.
To make tea with Konacha, you will need a tea pot that has a strainer suitable for Konacha. If the strainer’s mesh is too rough, all grains of Konacha will easily go through and your tea will be full of grains, but if the mesh is too fine, it will be clogged with the grains. Once the tea pot is ready, put Konacha in the strainer and pour hot water directly into it. Konacha tea will be ready straight away. Please note that all tea elements of Konacha are extracted in the first tea making. Therefore, if you want to make more cups of Konacha tea, you have to discard the used Konacha and put a new portion.