Finding The Best Tea...

1. Timing of Harvest

Japanese tea leaves are normally harvested about 3-4 times a year. Ichibancha (the first flush), harvested in the spring, receives the highest grade.  All our gyokuro & sencha are made only from ichibancha.

2. Type of Tea Leaves

Japanese tea leaves are picked from the new leaves of the stem.  It is said the that the super premium teas only use the first 3 leaves, hand-picked from each stem.  The remaining older and bigger leaves are harvested later and used to make bancha, a lower grade tea. Take a closer look at the leaves next time you brew Japanese tea.  The one with leaves that are thin and needle-like is the higher grade tea. Please compare our tea leaves with other brands in the market.

3. Proper Storage

Improper storage conditions will affect the taste of your tea.  We, at the ikebana shop, get our gyokuro & sencha priority air-shipped directly from the tea farm in Uji, Kyoto.  They do not sit in an importer/wholesaler's warehouse until sold to the retailer. Our teas are packed in humidity-resistant bags.  Once package is opened, tea leaves should be kept in an air-tight, odour-free container and stored in a cool, dry place. Use a cha-zutsu (tea caddy) to keep your tea fresh.

4. Proper Brewing

Correct water temperature and steeping time required for each of our teas can be found in the previous page.  One tip to cool water down from boiling is to pour it first into the teacup, wait a little bit for it to cool, then pour it onto the tea in the teapot.  This serves the double purpose of cooling your water and warming your teacup!  De-chlorinated water is best as the smell of chlorine will affect your tea's flavour.  Easiest way to do this is by boiling tap water for more than 2 minutes. After steeping, always pour out all of the tea.  Do not leave any water in the teapot or else the next brew will not taste as good.