Sencha (煎茶) refers to Japanese ryokucha (緑茶, green tea) which is made into the green tea beverage by infusing the processed whole tea leaves in hot water. It is the most popular tea in Japan. This is as opposed, for example, to matcha (抹茶), powdered Japanese green tea, in which case the green tea powder is mixed with hot water and therefore the leaf itself is included in the beverage.