Category: General Info

Minamisayaka (みなみさやか,南爽 ) can be translated as “south freshness”. This cultivar is known for its aroma. It is milky, floral and refreshing. While initially meant for sencha, from what...

This is part 5 of a series about the World Tea Expo 2017. Click here for part 1. This was the last day of the World Tea Expo. The...

This is part 4 of a series about the World Tea Expo 2017. Click here for part 1. From S sells beauty products made with green tea. If I’m...

This is part 3 of a series about the World Tea Expo 2017. Click here for part 1. Dobashien is at the expo every year. I recognized tea master...

I kept focusing on the Japanese tea companies on the first day of the expo. Nihon Nosan makes organic tea in Shizuoka prefecture. From left to right in the...

At first I didn’t think that I would be able to attend this year’s World Tea Expo. My finances weren’t good, but in the end things got better so...

The Z1 cultivar is quite rare. It’s difficult to find even inside Japan. There’s also very little information about it, because it’s not a registered tea cultivar. So why...

I’ve been drinking matcha every morning since last year. Even my wife drinks it too. We’re regular matcha drinkers now 🙂 Because of that, I’m using the chasen (茶筅,...

Did you know that there’s another traditional way to prepare matcha? The matcha that we mostly see pictures of is usucha (薄茶, thin tea). Usucha has a layer of...

I first heard about the World Green Tea Association (世界緑茶協会) at the World Tea Expo. The manager, Hiroshi Nishikawa, learned of my trip to Japan because of this blog’s...

NAJTIA (North American Japanese Tea Instructors Association) is a non profit organization representing the Japanese Tea industry and the traditions around Japanese Tea in North America. Before NAJTIA, you could only...

My wife and I wanted to go to Osaka because the city is famous for its food. I hadn’t been there much, even when I lived in Japan. Besides,...