No, it’s not green paint, though you’d be forgiven for mistaking it for such. Koicha is thick green tea, consumed almost exclusively in tea ceremony. Koicha tends to be more expensive than normal green tea as it requires a very high grade leaf with a milder, sweeter taste. This is because the amount of tea used in koicha is so large that an inferior tea would be too bitter to consume. Germophobes beware: in tea ceremony, the koicha cup is traditionally shared by all participants, wiping the rim of the tea cup with a napkin as it is passed around.