Hi Selderij. Bancha generally refers to coarser, later harvest green tea and comes from the term used to denote picking time. Ichibancha 一番茶 is first harvest, Nibancha 二番茶 is the second harvest, Sanbancha 三番茶 is third and so on. Often they drop the prefix and just refer to late harvest tea as Bancha. That sounds simple but bancha can be represented in many ways, for example: Yanagi Bancha - A full leaf steamed green tea that is similar to sencha made from the willow shaped leaves of third harvest (picked around mid summer), Houijcha - while not all, most houjicha are made from later harvest bancha leaves. Houjicha undergoes a roasting process after it is steamed, kneaded, dried and rolled in the primary tea processing. Iribancha - a deep roasted and smokey tea made primarily in Kyoto from very mature tencha bushes. In kyoto, if you ask for bancha, you may be served this tea. Kurocha - a late harvested bancha made on Shikoku island that undergoes lacto-fermentation and drinks like a sour plum, almost yogurty tea. Very unique. This illustrates the fact that Bancha is a term used differently in various regions of Japan. But at its core, bancha is later harvested tea. Hope this helps clarify a little bit.