shb and friends:
Here is something I wrote for a mini-brochure some time ago:
"...Actually it's called kukicha or bancha twig tea, (bancha tea, being the beverage that is brewed from twigs and leaves!).
There are a variety of cha (teas) to choose from in Japanese cuisine.
Shaded by bamboo from direct sunlight to maintain their tenderness, the small, delicate, earliest leaves of the common tea plant (Camellia sinensis) are picked to make Gyokoru, the highest quality leaf green tea.
When ground to a fine dust, it becomes matcha, used in the Japanese tea ceremony.
Then the blinds are removed and the larger lower leaves are picked to make sencha, the medium grade green tea.
Lower on the bush, older leaves and small twigs are picked to make bancha, a lower grade green tea.
Less expensive than sencha, bancha is usually served in Japanese restaurants and goes well with food.
Hojicha, a lightly toasted "roasted tea", that unlike other green teas become bitter when cooled, makes a refreshing summer drink.
Kukicha, derived from the final cuttings: twigs and stems, is not considered to be a green tea.
Containing little caffeine, due to the lack of leaves, kukicha has some calcium and is calming to the digestive tract and nervous system.
The best tasting kukicha tea is made using spring, well, or filtered water in aglass tea or coffee pot.
To prepare:
Add 1 heaping teaspoon of kukicha twigs to 1 quart of cold water.
Cover and bring to a rapid boil over medium to high heat.
Turn off the heat and let the tea infuse the water.
If the tea is allowed to simmer on low the color deepens but then the tea becomes more bitter and maybe you'll want to add something sweet and perhaps something milky.
A boiled kukicha that is allowed to infuse with the heat off, will be light in color and be subtly sweet and slightly astringent, something that is refreshing after a nice macrobiotic dinner, by itself, or with a light macrobiotic dessert or snack.
There are a number of brands to choose from: Choice, Eden, Great Eastern Sun-Haiku (Mitoku) and Ohsawa.
I'm currently enjoying Ohsawa Ise Organic Twig-Only Tea-Kukicha.
Available in the following bulk sizes (I think that bulk tastes better than teabag, but you decide): 11 lb., 2.2 lb., 16 oz. and 3 oz. and also in 16 or 24 teabag boxes,
Read More about kukicha in the following books:
Cooking with Japanese Foods by Jan and John Belleme ISBN 0936184043,
And The Whole Foods Encyclopedia by Rebecca Wood 0139565540 or
http://www.rwood.com/.."
Thank you, very much.
Bruce Paine