JPS6023816B2 - Instant green tea manufacturing method - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to improving the flavor of instant green tea.

Recent so-called instant green tea, which is mainly made of soluble green tea, is produced by concentrating and drying a hot water extract of green tea leaves, but in this process of extraction, concentration and drying, the unique flavor of green tea is lost. This significantly reduces the unique flavor of green tea. In addition, the flavor components of green tea are found in the tea leaf cells, and are protected from oxygen, moisture, etc. in the air by various components of the tea leaf tissue, and can be said to be stable against deterioration, but once extracted and dried like soluble green tea, The powder has a marked change in flavor, especially in aroma. Therefore, the present inventor conducted research in search of an instant green tea that has the natural flavor of green tea, is economically stable, and retains its aroma for a long time, and as a result, developed a soluble green tea powder 10
The present invention was completed after learning that instant green tea with excellent flavor and long-lasting flavor can be obtained by mixing 5 to 35 parts by weight of powder obtained by pulverizing green tea leaves. The present invention uses 10 parts by weight (hereinafter weight is omitted) of soluble green tea powder so that the powder particles pass through 32 meshes (500 microns), preferably 42 meshes (350 microns), and 200 meshes (74 microns). 5 to 35 parts of green tea straw powder that has been ground so as not to pass through 270 mesh (53 microns) or to pass through 270 mesh (53 microns).

Each process will be explained in detail below. The term "mesh (micron)" used in the present invention refers to a dry matter state. The green tea leaves used in the soluble green tea powder or green tea leaf powder in the present invention refer to tea leaves such as Gyokuro tea, Isocha tea, Sencha tea, Bancha tea, and Ryokuhicha tea leaves, and those commonly available in the market can be used in the present invention. .

Among these, it is preferable to use some or all of the green tea leaves that have been delicately processed, such as hojicha or kamayocha, as the green tea leaves used in the green tea hollyhock powder. This is because if a small amount of the aroma produced by Hommeo is present in the instant tea, the flavor will be improved. It is also preferable to use some or all of the green tea leaves that have been treated with fresh leaves to enhance their aroma. The proportion of these Enmiao or Ryokai processed green teas used is a matter of personal preference. Soluble green tea powder is generally a powder that can be dissolved in water or hot water, which is obtained by subjecting an extract of green tea leaves to hot water, hot water, or the like through treatments such as fog drying or freeze drying. Some are further processed to form grains. Furthermore, various additives such as dextrin and the like as excipients and amino acids as taste enhancers may be contained depending on the circumstances, but this does not pose any problem in the use of the present invention. Although these soluble green tea powders are generally satisfactory in terms of taste, it must be said that the unique aroma of green tea is still insufficient. The present invention places emphasis on this aroma and also improves the taste, thereby providing instant green tea that is comparable to ordinary green tea itself. Furthermore, green tea hollyhock powder refers to green tea leaves that have been ground to pass through a 500 micron mesh.

A preferred embodiment is one that passes through a 350 micron mesh but does not pass through a 74 micron mesh, or a 53 micron mesh.
Preferably, it passes through a micron mesh. The instant green tea of the present invention is prepared by pouring an appropriate hot water into it and serving it for drinking.At this time, it is important to retain the flavor of green tea, but it is also necessary to consider the appearance of the green tea liquid when drinking. . When the majority of the green tea hollyhock powder is pulverized to 53 microns or less, when hot water is poured into it, it is sufficiently dispersed and suspended, giving it an appearance similar to that of a powdered tea. In addition, when the tea leaves are ground to 74 to 350 microns, the tea leaves quickly settle, giving the appearance of a green tea liquid that does not feel strange when drunk as a normal green tea liquid. Also, green tea leaves should not be ground to a mesh size of 500 microns or more. This is because when you drink it, you will feel a sense of harmony due to the appearance, and it is the same as drinking regular tea, powdered tea, etc. using a tea strainer, and you will lose the meaning of instant tea. Because it will be. For the pulverization method, conventional methods and equipment are used.

For example, there are freeze-pulverization methods, pulverization by cutting force, and milling methods, which can be carried out depending on the green tea. Among these, freezing and pulverization is preferred, as this is advantageous in terms of flavor deterioration and pulverization efficiency. From the above standpoint, it is preferable for the green tea leaf powder to be smaller in size or in an appropriate size, but the finer the powder is, the higher the processing cost will be, so taking these factors into consideration, It is better to determine the specific degree of pulverization. The green tea hollyhock powder obtained by grinding in this way has a scent comparable to that of regular green tea.
In addition, it has a suitable aroma, and since the aroma is protected by the tea leaf tissue, it does not change over time and can be enjoyed for a long period of time.

The soluble green tea powder and ground green tea leaves are then mixed.

The mixing ratio is 5 to 35 parts of green tea draft powder to 100 parts of soluble green tea powder. If it is less than 5 parts, the effect of improving the aroma is small, and if it is more than 35 parts, it is undesirable because it tends to feel strange on the tongue when drinking.

The mixing method is not particularly limited as long as the two are mixed uniformly, and for example, a normal method using equipment commonly used for mixing powders is sufficient. However, even after such uniform mixing, a certain degree of layer separation may occur during long-term storage due to differences in particle size. Therefore, in order to completely eliminate such problems and to improve solubility, which is a common practice, both soluble green tea powder and green tea leaf powder are granulated together to maintain fluidity. It is also possible to produce aggregated particles. Agglomerated particles can be produced by many known methods, but a preferred method is to use water vapor to move and move both powders, dampen the powder surface to increase cohesiveness, form aggregated particles, and then dry the powder. It is. In addition, regardless of whether agglomerated granules are produced, freeze-drying, or other granulation methods are used, no special conditions are necessary in producing the instant green tea of the present invention, and commonly used treatments may be used. It is something. In this way, instant green tea with excellent flavor and little deterioration over time can be obtained, and this tea can be drunk without any discomfort as ordinary tea.

It also dissolves in cold water, making it easy to make cold green tea. The present invention will be explained below using experimental examples and examples. Experimental Example: Grind with a commercially available Sencha LK9 grinder (RETSCHKG: handled by Nippon Seiki Seisakusho).

This powder is 28 mesh (1000 microns), 24 mesh (710 microns), 32 mesh (500 microns), 42 mesh (350 microns), 115 mesh (125 microns), 200 mesh (74 microns), 250 mesh (63 microns). ) and 270 mesh (ball micron) sieves to obtain respective powders. Instant green tea was obtained by mixing 1 part of each of the obtained powders with 4 parts of a commercially available soluble green tea powder (produced in China, granular). 3W of this instant green tea and 80q○ hot water I
After pouring Z, the appearance and feel of the tea were examined, and the results are shown in the table below. From this result, it was found that the appropriate powder size is 32 mesh (500 microns) or less, taking into account that the tea leaves swell with hot water.
In addition, those with a mesh size of 42 to 200 (350 to 74 microns) can be used as instant tea for drinking by precipitating tea leaves.
It has been found that a mesh (53 microns) or smaller is preferable for instant tea in which the tea leaves are drunk as they are dispersed.

Example 1 After adding 10 75 q0 of commercially available green tea and 50 quarts of warm water and allowing it to stand for 3 minutes, the tea leaves and extract were separated.

The extract is concentrated to a Brix of about 200 using a vacuum concentrator to obtain a concentrated extract. This concentrated extract contained 18 parts of soluble green tea powder. 8U of commercially available Kamamio tea was ground using the grinder used in the experimental example, and green tea hollyhock powder with a size of 125 to 350 microns was obtained using 42 mesh and 115 mesh sieves.

1.8 parts of green tea hollyhock powder was added to the concentrated extract equivalent to 18 parts of the soluble green tea powder and mixed uniformly, followed by freeze-drying. The instant green tea obtained in this way does not cause layer separation, has an excellent flavor when dissolved in hot water, and the green tea leaf powder settles to the bottom within a few seconds to several tens of seconds, so it does not have any rough texture when used. The experience was exactly the same as having a tea ceremony using a regular teapot tea set. Example 2 A green tea extract is obtained in the same manner as in Example 1.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 100 parts by weight of soluble green tea powder and 32 mesh (50 parts by weight)
A method for producing instant green tea, which comprises mixing 5 to 35 parts by weight of green tea leaf powder that has been freeze-pulverized so as to pass 0 micron), and further performing granulation treatment if necessary.