Category: General Info

After the initial process is complete, aracha (crude tea) needs to be refined. In Japan, the refining process (shiage, 仕上げ) is usually done by the tea wholesalers. This process...

Aracha is a crude tea. This tea has gone through an initial process, but is still unrefined. The aracha process varies for each type of tea. For this post,...

Pectin is a polysaccharide commonly found in the cell walls of plants. It is a type of water-soluble dietary fiber. In the food industry it’s used as a gelling...

I learned about this from Oscar Brekell’s book: Magic of Japanese Tea. He has a method in case that one wants to drink a sencha in boiling water (as...

Minamikaori (みなみかおり) means “south aroma”. It refers to Miyazaki prefecture, which is where this cultivar was developed. Its purpose is sencha production, but while researching online I noticed that...

Hatsumomiji (はつもみじ) refers to the first maple leaves to turn red in autumn. This was the first hybrid between a Japanese native tea plant and a black tea cultivar...

I had the opportunity to visit Matcha Cafe Maiko while I was in Las Vegas. Noli Ergas told me about it. We went there together with the rest of...

This is part 4 of a series about the World Tea Expo 2017. Click here for part 1. This year the expo was smaller in terms of vendors. The...

This is part 3 of a series about the World Tea Expo 2018. Click here for part 1. Korean tea companies have maintained a good presence since last year....

There was another company at the expo that I had not seen before, Jade Leaf Matcha. Marc Raymond, who is the manager, gave me a sample of the company’s...

I had never imagined that I would be traveling every year to Las Vegas. But I can’t resist going to the World Tea Expo, I always have so much...