Sencha vs bancha: what the price buys

The same bushes at different points in the season, and the price gap is larger than the quality gap for a lot of everyday drinking.

tea

What is being compared

Aspect	Sencha	Bancha
When picked	First and second harvests, young leaf.	Later harvests, more mature leaf and stem.
Amino acid content	Higher, which is where the sweetness comes from.	Lower.
Caffeine	Higher.	Lower.
Price	Several times bancha.	The cheapest Japanese leaf tea there is.

For attentive drinking, sencha. For a pot through an afternoon, bancha does the job at a fraction of the cost and with less caffeine.

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