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...
Ishizuchi Kurocha
Thanks to my friend Noli from Sugimoto America, I had the chance to try this rare type of Japanese dark tea. He gave me this and other tea samples...
Hakuyoucha: White Leaf Tea
Because of my previous tea review, I became interested in Hakuyoucha (白葉茶, white leaf tea). We’re not talking about a white tea here, it’s an uncommon green tea made...
Sara’s Tea Caddie White Leaf Sencha
This has to be the most exotic sencha that I’ve tried. I had no idea that such a tea existed. Jo Johnson from Scandalous Tea gave this sample to...
Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco
I visited the Japanese Tea Garden last year before heading to the World Tea Expo. It’s the oldest public Japanese garden in the US, and it is located in...
The World’s Special Tea (Book Review)
My friend and fellow tea blogger Jo Johnson of Scandalous Tea gave me this gift. It’s a children’s book about the history of tea, written by her and Joya...