The world of Japanese tea is wide and deep. By now many people know Matcha, Gyokuro, Sencha. Some other teas may not have been in the spotlight but they are also worth some attention. One of them is Kukicha, or stem tea, if translated literary form Japanese. What that means is that Kukicha mostly includes […]
Kombucha is a fermented drink made from tea, whose origins are thought to be in north-eastern China sometime around 200 BC. Rich in probiotics, this drink has recently been seeing a boom in Western world thanks to its alleged good properties; it is made by adding tea with sugar or honey to a symbiotic culture […]
Summer has arrived to our part of the world and with it the demanding heath. Very hot weather and high humidity scream for something refreshing and that is why in Japan is very common to drink cold tea during this season. Every restaurant that usually serves you houjicha with meals, will give you now a cold […]
Spring is when some of the most prized Japanese teas are made. Called ‘jade dew’, Gyokuro is one of the highest-grade teas of this season. Rich an umami unlike any other tea, Gyokuro is appreciated in Japan and around the world. But how did it come to be and how is it produced? The story […]
Many have heard this word, but what does it mean? It seems there is quite a bit of confusion around it. Translated from Japanese shincha (新茶) literally means ‘new tea’. Following this it seems it could refer to any new tea. Usually, however, it is used to describe tea harvested and processed in spring season. […]
March is the month when winter sets off and tea plants are pruned to be prepared for the incoming spring. The big leaves that came all this way through winter, are the very last leaves of the year. Because very coarse, in some regions are just cut off and used as fertiliser. Nevertheless, in some places […]
In 1874, Japanese authorities invited two Chinese tea experts to teach black tea processing techniques to Japanese farmers. The produced teas were considered a bit of a failure and it was decided that more detailed knowledge was necessary to produce a black tea that would convince the export market. So in 1875, the government sends […]
It comes as no surprise to many that when you leaf through books on Japanese tea, you more often than not encounter only mention of green teas: sencha, matcha, bancha, gyokuro, etc. We mostly associate Japan with green teas. What is not such common knowledge, is that Japan actually has quite a chunk of black […]