The Unkai (うんかい) cultivar is named “sea of clouds” (雲海) and is used for making kamairicha. It was developed by the Miyazaki Agricultural Research Institute and registered in 1970...
Podcast 016: Japanese Tea Cultivars
This is the first time that I record a joint podcast with a fellow podcaster: TJ Williamson from the World Tea Podcast. The same audio file will be published...
The Taste of Tea Stay Balanced
Stay Balanced is a bancha from the Kagoshima prefecture, which is sold by The Taste of Tea. The company is marketing it as a tea rich in catechins and...
Measuring Loose Leaf Tea: Weight vs Volume
Have you ever tried measuring tea leaves to make a cup of tea by weight instead of volume? Most tea drinkers just use a teaspoon and there’s nothing wrong...
The Takachiho Tea Cultivar
Takachiho (たかちほ) is a special cultivar in the sense that it was developed for kamairicha production. This cultivar is named after Takachiho (高千穂) town in Miyazaki prefecture and was...
Teapigs Popcorn Tea
This is the first tea that I review for Teapigs, a company from the UK that has recently begun to sell tea in the US as well. Popcorn tea...
Podcast 015: Tea Culture in the UK
For people like me that have never experienced tea culture in the United Kingdom, this episode will be a good introduction. I talked with Kyle Whittington of Whittington’s Tea...
How to Store Green Tea
Unfortunately, green tea degrades quicker than other types of tea. Now that you’ve bought a premium green tea, make sure that you don’t let it go stale, or even...
MITE Sencha
I received this sencha sample from Hidenori Moriguchi of MITE. This company sells tea from Mie prefecture, and is just starting to reach out to the global market. Made...
World Tea Expo 2014 Part 4
This is the fourth part of the World Tea Expo 2014 series. If you haven’t already, read part 1, part 2, or part 3. On my last day at...
World Tea Expo 2014 Part 3
This is the third part of the World Tea Expo 2014 series. If you haven’t already, read part 1 or part 2. My tea expo adventure continued with Kotodo,...
World Tea Expo 2014 Part 2
This is the second part of the World Tea Expo 2014 series. Click here for part 1. I kept visiting the booths from companies that were either Japanese, or...