Compare two teas
Side by side across seven dimensions. There is no verdict and no winner — the purpose is to understand the difference, not to be told which to buy.
TeaHQ has written about this pair
Japanese tea manufacture is split between a grower who makes crude tea and a refiner who separates it. The separation does not produce one tea plus waste — it produces five products, all sold, all named, and priced in an order that has almost nothing to do with which is nicest.
- What it is
- Mecha: The small rolled buds and tips.Aracha: The crude tea as it leaves the grower's factory: long leaf, stem, dust and fines still mixed.
- Where it comes from in the process
- Mecha: Screened out by size.Aracha: Before refining. Almost all Japanese tea passes through this state.
- What it tastes like
- Mecha: Stronger and more savoury than the sencha it came from.Aracha: Rough-edged and sappy with real sweetness underneath.
- Why it tastes that way
- Mecha: Bud material is richer than the leaf around it.Aracha: Everything is still in it, including the stem sweetness and the fine bitter material.
- What it costs
- Mecha: Cheap relative to what is in the cup.Aracha: Rarely sold at all; the small amount that reaches drinkers is a curiosity.
- How to brew it
- Mecha: Short. It is concentrated and will turn drying.Aracha: As sencha, expecting unevenness.
- Where you meet it
- Mecha: Sold as mecha or bud tea.Aracha: Direct from a grower, or at a factory.
In summary: The price order here is set by particle size and by what a refiner can sell in volume, not by quality. Mecha and karigane are the two clearest cases in the Japanese range where a by-product is better value than the product it was sorted out of.
Point by point
| Dimension | Mecha | Aracha |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Green tea · unoxidised | Green tea · unoxidised |
| Production | In order: Steaming (Japanese fixation) → Rolling and shaping → Drying. bud only and spring harvest. | In order: Steaming (Japanese fixation) → Rolling and shaping → Drying. spring harvest. |
| Origin | Japan | Japan — Shizuoka |
| Flavour | umami, vegetal and grassy. medium and drying in the mouth. Aroma: seaweed, sweet grass, cooked greens. Moderate in character. Moderate in intensity. | grassy, vegetal and sweet. medium and astringent in the mouth. Aroma: fresh grass, sweet stem, steamed greens. Moderate in character. Moderate in intensity. |
| Brewing | Western brewing (teapot or mug): 1.5–2.5 g/100 ml at 65–75 °C, first steep 60s. Kyusu brewing (Japanese style): 3–5 g/100 ml at 65–75 °C, first steep 60s of 3 authored. Gongfu brewing (gaiwan): 3–4 g/100 ml at 75–85 °C, first steep 20s of 4 authored. Ice steeping (kōridashi): 4–7 g/100 ml at 0–5 °C, first steep 1800s. Cold brew tea: 1.5–2.5 g/100 ml at 3–8 °C, first steep 28800s. | Western brewing (teapot or mug): 1.5–2.5 g/100 ml at 70–80 °C, first steep 60s. Kyusu brewing (Japanese style): 3–5 g/100 ml at 65–75 °C, first steep 60s of 3 authored. Gongfu brewing (gaiwan): 3–4 g/100 ml at 75–85 °C, first steep 20s of 4 authored. |
| Cultural context | Not recorded for this tea. | Used in Japanese tea farming practice. |
| Who may prefer it | Someone who wants presence without being dominated and wants to enjoy it on the first cup. It tolerates an imprecise brew. | Someone who wants presence without being dominated and is willing to drink something several times before it makes sense. It rewards attention to leaf weight and timing. |
Nothing above is a recommendation. The last row describes the drinker each tea suits, using each tea’s own authored fields and the same sentence structure for both, so neither can be framed as the safe choice.