It's All About Tea — japanese tea

Chashitsu is the Japanese term for a tea room. It is a little hut, resembling a house, where Japanese tea ceremonies (chanoyu) would take place. Following tradition, matcha green tea is always served in the chashitsu, alongside some simple sweets prepared by the tea master. It is said that chashitsu started appearing during the Sengoku period (mid-15th century to early 17th century). Before then, tea was commonly enjoyed in separate rooms and not in individual tea huts. (Read more)

As much as we love our daily gong fu tea, the summer days are only getting hotter. We know sometimes as much as you’d like to enjoy a quiet moment with your tea pet, brewing up pot after pot of delicious loose leaf tea, the heat can make the practice unbearable. At times like this, we switch to our favorite summer-time tea brewing method — cold brewed tea! (Read more)

Once drinking Japanese green tea was reserved only for the Emperors, noblemen, and samurai. Nowadays, Japanese green tea is enjoyed in households all throughout Japan. The kyusu is used all through Japan for the convenience of brewing Japanese green teas like sencha, genmaicha, and gyokuro. It is an iconic part of modern Japanese tea drinking culture. (Read more)

Out of Japan's 47 prefectures, tea is produced almost everywhere except for Hokkaido, the most northern part of Japan, as well as Osaka and Yamagata prefectures. Shizuoka and Kagoshima are the two most significant regions of tea production throughout Japan. (Read more)

Mid May in Japan. Right about now is when tea farmers are busy packing and shipping out the very first green tea harvest of the year. Many wait an entire year to try this first flush tea — shincha. How could they not? The lack of any bitter notes, the undeniable umami, and all the nutrients that the tea bushes have been storing up all winter long. Shincha is well worth the wait! (Read more)