A few weeks ago, Elyse Petersen of Tealet told me about the new tea video that they were making. I was granted early access to this video so that...
The Hokumei Tea Cultivar
Hokumei (ほくめい, 北茗) literally means “north tea”. As you would expect, this tea cultivar is apt for the cold climate of northern regions. It is mainly used for sencha,...
Nīryokucha Awa bancha
Noli Ergas from Sugimoto America gave me samples of rare Japanese teas that he found on his business trip to Japan. The name of the company that makes this...
Awa Bancha
Awa bancha (阿波晩茶) is a traditional dark tea from Tokushima prefecture. Awa was an old province in what is now Tokushima prefecture. It is now used as another word...
The Tea Enthusiast’s Handbook (Book Review)
This book is written by Mary Lou Heiss and Robert J. Heiss, the founders of Tea Trekker. They have been selling tea since 1974, so as you you can...
Grey’s Teas Kokeicha
Richard Grey, the founder of Grey’s Teas, contacted me to review some of his teas. I was curious about the kokeicha, since I had never tasted this type of...
Kokeicha
Kokeicha (固形茶) can be translated as “fixed form tea”, or “solid tea”. The same term is used for compressed tea, such as pu-erh. For this post, however, we’ll talk...
The Fukumidori Tea Cultivar
Fukumidori (ふくみどり) is a good cultivar for northern regions in Japan, because it offers exceptional resistance to cold weather. It’s a normal budding cultivar, which can be harvested one...
Cha Doraku Taizo
One must take care when storing green tea because it degrades easily. The fresher the better. Imagine my surprise when Shiho from Cha Doraku asked me to review a...
Temomi: Rolling Tea by Hand
The temomi (手揉み, hand rolling) process for making sencha isn’t widely used nowadays because machines do all the work. However, the tradition is still kept alive. It’s the basis...
Podcast 028: The Tea Crane
Once again I interview Tyas Huybrechts, who recently started his own online tea store: The Tea Crane. He focuses on premium Japanese teas, many of which are either organic...
Tengu Kurocha
This post is a review of an Ishizuchi kurocha branded as Tengu kurocha, and produced by Satsukikai (さつき会). This tea’s story is very interesting. It turns out that at...