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Roasted Tencha Stems (Tenbone Houjicha) Roasted Tencha Stems, in Japanese: Tenbone Houjicha (てん骨ほうじ茶) is made from the small amount of stems and veins of removed from Tencha(てん茶) during refinement while larger branch stems are made into Obubu's Suzume Hojicha. Tencha are the high grade unrolled tea leaves used to make matcha tea powder. Because you drink the entire leaf when you drink matcha, the leaves used for matcha tea powder need to be as sweet as possible. So when Tencha is created, Akky covers the tea plants for up to four weeks to reduce the amount of catechin (which creates bitterness) as much as possible. In the process of making matcha, the dried, unrolled tencha tea leaves are then separated into two groups, soft and tough parts. The tough parts are the stems and veins and they are called tenbone (tencha no hone, the bones of tencha). Akky has taken these bones of the tencha and lightly roasted them to produce a mild yet luxurious flavor. Enjoy the elegance of Tenbone Houjicha and all its sweetness and aroma! Ingredients: Green tea (leaf stems) Cultivar: Yabukita Harvest: July Region: Wazuka Village, Kyoto