Premium Green Tea

The Japanese have been drinking cups of green tea for over a thousand years, so there is a huge variety of teas and so much to find out. Keiko travels to visit Japanese tea makers three times a year to hunt out the finest teas and the best flavours. We import all of the leading types of Japanese tea from the most prestigious tea makers in Japan, such as Marukyu Koyamaen, Ippodo and Hoshino Seisha, as well as the rarest teas from small independent tea farmers. 

 

Each of these teas is produced by a different process, and each has a very different flavour, made by tea makers and farmers with individual philosophies and ideas - the complete opposite of making tea in a mass-produced way. We only work with people who are dedicated to growing and creating the best quality tea as craft teas, with people who want to focus on innovation, creativity and excellence. With our frequent visits to Japan, we meet up with all our tea farmers and tea makers at least once a year, and only import the very best selection of the finest teas to present to our customers. 

We offer the following teas from Japan’s best tea makers:

  • Sencha Tea

    Sencha is the most popular green tea in Japan. It can be produced in two ways. Either under direct sunlight, with the sun’s rays stimulating the tea leaves to grow quickly, producing relatively firm tea leaves, which can have a strong, bitter taste. Or, in contrast, in shaded conditions, in the way our Sencha tea leaves are grown, which produces softer leaves, which have a gentle sweetness to their flavour. We normally recommend brewing Sencha Tea in 80 degrees of hot water in a tea pot. We prefer loose leaf tea, as it is important that the leaves can swim freely, providing the fullest flavour. 

       

  • Gyokuro Tea

    Gyokuro is the most luxurious green tea. This is grown in very shaded conditions in order to produce the softest leaves, with this slow growing process also creating a wonderful sweetness and umami flavour. The best region for producing Gyokuro Tea is Yame on the island of Kyushu in Japan. We have chosen to import Hoshino Seicha’s award-winning Gyokuro Tea from the Yame region. To enjoy its elegant and soft flavour, this tea should be brewed slowly in 50 degrees of hot water. We definitely recommend using loose leaf tea and a tea pot, though there are tea-bag Gyokuro teas on the market. 

  • Genmaicha

    This is a very Japanese green tea. Genmaicha is a green tea made with roasted and popped rice. It has a distinct slightly smoky aroma, with a faintly sharp taste of green tea. The Genmaicha that we offer is an award-winning tea from the prestigious Marukyu Koyamaen house, and is the very best Genmaicha from Marukyu’s collection. To get the best enjoyment from the famous smoky aroma of this tea, we recommend brewing Genmaicha with boiling water. 


  • Hojicha Tea

    Hojichais a roasted green tea. It is one of the mildest green teas, with only 4% of caffein. In our tea workshop, Hojicha is very popular with black tea lovers, as its taste is gentler than any other green tea. In Japan it is widely drunk as an evening tea. My family used to drink Hojicha after supper, and I remember my grandfather and I being able to drink the same tea after supper. I like the idea of adults and children sharing the same tea. We recommend using loose Hojicha leaves in a tea pot, or alternatively Hojicha powder for Hojicha Latte lovers. Hojicha powder can also be very handy for making Hojicha cakes and ice cream.  

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