coarse broken tea leaves and buds; tea siftings
Technical term in tea production: the broken leaf fragments and small buds separated during the sifting process, often used for lower-grade tea or tea bags.
Meicha refers to the fine leaves and buds that come out during the tea-leaf sifting process.
A compound of 芽, “bud,” and 茶, “tea,” referring to tea consisting chiefly of small buds and broken leaf tips separated during processing.