Curated teas. From trusted artisans.

About our tea  •  Secure shopping  •  About shipping  •  Our reviews  •  Our customers' accolades
Our 100% guarantee  •  FREE shipping on orders of $50.00 or more (domestic orders only).

Bestsellers

If you are new to loose-leaf green tea, why not start with Top Leaf Green Tea or Monk's Choice Green Tea. These two perennial bestsellers offer a traditional baseline flavor, spanning the full depth and breadth of the green tea flavor spectrum. These teas are also forgiving when it comes to steeping — they can be brewed on the weak side and still deliver palate-pleasing flavor, or brewed on the strong side to delight with refreshing zest.

Monk's Choice™ Green Tea

A flavorful but accessible green — crisp, earthy, and smooth.

Artisan: Koji Nagata, Aso City, Kumamoto, Japan

Aroma: Earthy and bright

Taste: Full-bodied, rich

$12.95 per 100-gram packet

Monk's Choice™ is the grower's most popular tea among his Japanese customers for its full herbaceous flavor complimented perfectly with brisk citrus overtones and a subtle berry-like sweetness. This is truly a tea you can sip all day.

More about Monk's Choice™

This deeply steamed (fukamushi) sencha is of the tamaryokucha ("curly green tea") type (also known as guricha), the most popular style on the island of Kyushu. Unlike the straight leaves of ordinary sencha, tamaryokucha leaves are curled during the tea-crafting process. This and other differences give tamaryokucha its distinctive fresh taste and muted astringency compared to some senchas. The rich volcanic soils of the Mt. Aso foothills, where this tea is grown, make for an exquisitely rich flavor and a hearty aroma, but without the bite that comes from other soil types.

Packaging. Monk's Choice™ Green Tea comes vacuum-sealed for freshness in resealable, standup foil packets. Each packet contains 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of tea, enough to make 40–50 cups of brewed tea.

How to brew. Use 1 teaspoon of tea leaves for an 8-ounce cup with strainer. If using a teapot, use 1 teaspoon of tea for a small teapot or 2 teaspoons for a family-size teapot. The water temperature should be about 75 degrees Celsius (167 degrees Fahrenheit). If you don't have a thermometer, just heat the water until small bubbles begin to appear on the bottom of the pot, then remove from heat. (More on water temperature here.) For the first steeping, let the tea brew for about 2 minutes. For the second and third steepings, let the tea brew for 30 seconds to 1 minute. After each steeping, be sure to remove the leaves from the water — if using a strainer — or pour out all tea from the teapot.

[return to top]

Harmony Tea™ — Green Tea with Roasted Brown Rice

A savory, nutty flavor in harmony with earthy goodness..

Artisan: Koji Nagata, Aso City, Kumamoto, Japan

Aroma: Nutty, roasted grains

Taste: Smooth, slightly savory, subdued astringency

$10.95 per 100-gram packet

Harmony Tea™ is a genmaicha — green tea mixed with roasted brown rice. The rice imparts a nutty, toasty flavor that makes genmaicha one of the most popular types of green tea in America. Unlike some tea growers, this artisan roasts his own rice, which he buys from local farmers. (During roasting, some of the rice grains pop like popcorn. This popped rice is also included in the mixture to enhance the flavor.)

More about Harmony Tea™

Harmony Tea™ begins with a premium sencha, similar the artisan's Monk's Choice green tea, to which is blended just the right amount of flavorful roasted brown rice, to strike a perfect balance between the nutty savoriness of the rice and the rich, herbaceous artisanal guricha-style tea, so that one flavor doesn't mask the other. Even the guricha's overtones of melon and berry are preserved in the overall flavor profile.

Packaging. Harmony Tea™ comes vacuum-sealed for freshness in resealable, standup foil packets. Each packet contains 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of tea, enough to make 40–50 cups of brewed tea.

How to brew. Use 1 heaping teaspoon of tea for each 8 ounces of water. Brew in a cup with a wide, deep tea basket or in a teapot. The water temperature should be about 75 degrees Celsius (167 degrees Fahrenheit). (More on water temperature here.) For the first steeping, let the tea brew for 2 minutes. For the second and third steepings, let the tea brew for about 1 minute. After each steeping, be sure to remove the leaves from the water — if using a strainer — Kor pour out all tea from the teapot.

[return to top]

Top Leaf™ Green Tea

The youngest, topmost leaves. Refined aroma and flavor.

Artisan: Koji Nagata, Aso City, Kumamoto, Japan

Aroma: Lightly earthy, tangy, semi-sweet

Taste: Clean, creamy, softly tangy, with grapefruit overtones

$17.95 per 100-gram packet

This is our top-of-the-line honcha, or traditional green tea. Top Leaf™ Green Tea, a fukamushi (deeply steamed) sencha, is specially pampered in its own separate corner of the tea orchard. Not only does this tea receive extra fertilizer (organic, of course) during the growing season, but at harvest time, the growers pick only the top layer of young tea leaves. The result is a distinctive, more subtle, gentler flavor. This tea is always first flush.

Top Leaf™ won first place in its category the 2011 North American Tea Competition.

More about Top Leaf™

You will taste the careful craftmanship with which this amazing green tea is made. Treat yourself to one of the best green teas in the Aso tea-growing region—Mellow Monk^® Top Leaf™ Green Tea.

Packaging. Top Leaf™ Green Tea comes vacuum-sealed for freshness in resealable, standup foil packets. Each packet contains 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of tea, enough to make 40–50 cups of brewed tea.

How to brew. Use 1 teaspoon of tea leaves for an 8-ounce cup or mug. Use a wide, deep strainer to give the tea "room to bloom." For teapots: using 1 teaspoon for a kyusu or small, single-serving teapot, or 2 teaspoons for a family-size teapot. The water temperature should be about 75 degrees Celsius (167 degrees Fahrenheit). If you don't have a thermometer, just watch for the little bubbles that appear on the bottom of the pot. Once they appear, the water is ready. (For more on water temperature, see here.) For the first steeping, let the tea brew for about 2 minutes. (After each steeping, be sure to remove the leaves from the water — if using a strainer — or pour out all tea from the teapot.) For the second and third steepings, let the tea brew for about 30 seconds to 1 minute.

[return to top]

Kuma Green 1228™ Sencha Green Tea

A tasty artisanal sencha from Kuma County, Kyushu

Artisan: Kazuo Watanabe, Sagara Village, Kuma County, Kumamoto

Tea aroma: Earthy and sweet

Tea flavor: Succulent, with light citrus notes and sweet apple and grape highlights

$20.95 per 100-gram packet

A brightly herbaceous guricha-style fukamushi (deeply steamed) sencha, with a gentle sweetness with fruity highlights — apples, melon, and white wine grapes — as well as citrus notes and a hint of jasmine. [Note that this is not jasmine green tea; the hint of jasmine is naturally present in the tea.] Made from yabukita tea plants grown in the rolling hills of Kuma County, tended and crafted into tea by artisan Kazuo Watanabe.

More about Kuma Green 1228™

Kuma Green 1228™ is the culmination of all the teamaking skills of a dedicatedly traditional artisan, Kazuo Watanabe, who personally tends to his plants, harvests the leaves, and turns them into guricha-style sencha green tea of the highest quality. The tea's delicate flavors dance upon the palate supported by a firm foundation: an exquisite balance among all four of the basic green tea flavor components of amami (sweetness), umami (savoriness), nigami (bitterness), and shibumi (astringency).

The name "Kuma Green 1228™" refers to the address of Mr. Watanabe's estate in Sagara Village, in Kumamoto Prefecture's Kuma district. This area is renowned for traditional tea estates ensconced among its gently rolling hills, whose rich soil and ideal water drainage provide the yabukita plants with a wonderfully nurturing environment in which to thrive.

Mr. Watanabe is a two-time recipient of Japan's prestigious Minister's Award for his dedication to quality. He tends to his plants with what can only be called tenderness. In the documentary Japan, Where Japan's Green Tea Grows, he says his tea plants are like his children, and this dedication to high-quality teacrafting is abundantly evident in every sip of this smile-inducingly delicious tea.

Packaging. Kuma Green 1228™ Green Tea comes vacuum-sealed for freshness in resealable, standup foil packets. Each packet contains 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of tea, enough to make 40–50 cups of brewed tea.

How to brew. Use 1 teaspoon of tea leaves for an 8-ounce cup or mug. Use a wide, deep strainer to give the tea "room to bloom." For teapots: using 1 teaspoon for a kyusu or small, single-serving teapot, or 2 teaspoons for a family-size teapot. The water temperature should be about 75 degrees Celsius (167 degrees Fahrenheit). If you don't have a thermometer, just watch for the little bubbles that appear on the bottom of the pot. Once they appear, the water is ready. (For more on water temperature, see here.) For the first steeping, let the tea brew for about 2 minutes. (After each steeping, be sure to remove the leaves from the water — if using a strainer — or pour out all tea from the teapot.) For the second and third steepings, let the tea brew for about 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Sleepy Cat™ Green Tea

A tasty artisanal hojicha from Kuma County, Kyushu

Artisan: Kazuo Watanabe, Sagara Village, Kuma County, Kumamoto

Tea aroma: Smoky with hints of almonds.

Tea flavor: Sweet and nutty, with hints of cocoa and walnut.

$13.95 per 100-gram packet

Sleepy Cat™ is a broadly—but subtly—flavorful tea. The smoky aroma hints of almonds and gives way to a sweet, nutty flavor, with hints of cocoa and walnut. Sleepy Cat™ tea is made from traditionally crafted green tea—similar to the same artisan’s Kuma Green 1228. The artisan then carefully roasts the tea with a practiced touch—more art than technique. Perfect heating imparts a sublte, nutty roasted flavor while also carefully preserving tantalizing hints of the original green tea flavor underneath—a unique flavor profile among Japanese hojichas in general.

Made from yabukita tea plants grown in the rolling hills of Kuma County, tended and crafted into tea by artisan Kazuo Watanabe.

More about Sleepy Cat™

Sleepy Cat™ is the culmination of all the teamaking skills of a dedicatedly traditional artisan, Kazuo Watanabe. He personally tends to all his plants, harvests the leaves, and crafts them into teas of the highest quality. To make Sleepy Cat™, sencha green tea leaves are harvested and initially crafted into traditional sencha green tea, but after that it's off to the roasting. Here, artisan Watanabe calls forth his decades of experience to roast each individual batch to absolute perfection—cutting the amount of bitter caffeine to bring out the leave's natural flavors while at the same time imparting an overall nutty flavor profile.

This time-tested process yields tea with a smoky aroma and a warm, homey taste, softly sweet and nutty. Hints of cocoa and walnut abound. A refreshingly dry mouthfeel is followed by an unexpectedly creamy finish. The overall roasty taste is eminently food-friendly.

The name Sleepy Cat™ is a combined reference to the cats found at so many Buddhist temples (such as those visited by our tea's namesake, Saicho) and to the low-caffeine hojicha that Monks would drink to relax. The name also refers to the super-mellow catlike state that this calming tea can help you achieve.

Mr. Watanabe's tea estate is located in Sagara Village, in Kumamoto Prefecture's Kuma district. This area is renowned for traditional tea estates ensconced among its gently rolling hills, whose rich soil and ideal water drainage provide the yabukita plants with a wonderfully nurturing environment in which to thrive.

Mr. Watanabe is a two-time recipient of Japan's prestigious Minister's Award for his dedication to quality. He tends to his plants with what can only be called tenderness. In the documentary Japan, Where Japan's Green Tea Grows, he says his tea plants are like his children, and this dedication to high-quality teacrafting is abundantly evident in every sip of this smile-inducingly delicious tea.

Packaging. Sleepy Cat™ Green Tea comes vacuum-sealed for freshness in resealable, standup foil packets. Each packet contains 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of tea, enough to make 40–50 cups of brewed tea.

How to brew. Use 1 teaspoon of tea leaves for an 8-ounce cup or mug. Use a wide, deep strainer to give the tea "room to bloom." For teapots: using 1 teaspoon for a kyusu or small, single-serving teapot, or 2 teaspoons for a family-size teapot. The water temperature should be about 75 degrees Celsius (167 degrees Fahrenheit). If you don't have a thermometer, just watch for the little bubbles that appear on the bottom of the pot. Once they appear, the water is ready. (For more on water temperature, see here.) For the first steeping, let the tea brew for about 2 minutes. (After each steeping, be sure to remove the leaves from the water — if using a strainer — or pour out all tea from the teapot.) For the second and third steepings, let the tea brew for about 30 seconds to 1 minute.

See larger view

Summer Select™ Sencha Green Tea

A tasty artisanal bancha-style sencha from Kuma County, Kyushu

Artisan: Kazuo Watanabe, Sagara Village, Kuma County, Kumamoto

Tea aroma: Mildly herbaceous tone with sage notes.

Tea flavor: Pleasant roasted tone with enjoyable nutty elements and a satisfyingly creamy mouthfeel.

$13.95 per 100-gram packet

A guricha-style fukamushi (deeply steamed) sencha harvested in the early summer, bancha style. Compared to spring harvests, Summer Select™ is lower in caffeine and amino acids and contains more superhealthy catechins thanks to the extra summer sun. Made from yabukita tea plants grown in the rolling hills of Kuma County, tended and crafted into tea by artisan Kazuo Watanabe.

More about Summer Select™

Tea artisan Kazuo Watanabe's Summer Select™ Green Tea is a bancha. A bancha is essentially a sencha green tea that is harvested in early summer, rather than in the spring. The bancha growing conditions produce a tea with a strikingly dryer flavor profile than you'd ever find among the sweet, savory teas of spring. Summer Select™'s strikingly different flavor profile is due to higher amounts of superhealthy catechins but also lower amounts of amino acids (including theanine) and less caffeine. The effect is to turn up the shibumi (dryness) while turning down the umami (savoriness) and caffeine's nigami (bitterness), allowing you to enjoy the delicate herbacious flavors underneath. This gentlely balanced, subtly delicious infusion is what wins bancha legions of fans worldwide.

Mr. Watanabe is a two-time recipient of Japan's prestigious Minister's Award for his dedication to quality. He tends to his plants with what can only be called tenderness. In the documentary Japan, Where Japan's Green Tea Grows, he says his tea plants are like his children, and this dedication to high-quality teacrafting is abundantly evident in every sip of this smile-inducingly delicious tea.

Packaging. Summer Select™ Green Tea comes vacuum-sealed for freshness in resealable, standup foil packets. Each packet contains 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of tea, enough to make 40–50 cups of brewed tea.

How to brew. Use 1 teaspoon of tea leaves for an 8-ounce cup or mug. Use a wide, deep strainer to give the tea "room to bloom." For teapots: using 1 teaspoon for a kyusu or small, single-serving teapot, or 2 teaspoons for a family-size teapot. The water temperature should be about 75 degrees Celsius (167 degrees Fahrenheit). If you don't have a thermometer, just watch for the little bubbles that appear on the bottom of the pot. Once they appear, the water is ready. (For more on water temperature, see here.) For the first steeping, let the tea brew for about 2 minutes. (After each steeping, be sure to remove the leaves from the water — if using a strainer — or pour out all tea from the teapot.) For the second and third steepings, let the tea brew for about 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Mountain Snow™ Premium Matcha

Finely powdered matcha made from sencha varietals.

Artisan: Kazuo Watanabe, Sagara Village, Kumamoto, Japan

Aroma: Fresh and clean

Taste: Vibrant and full flavored, slightly sweet

$19.95 per 95-gram packet

Made from the yabukita sencha cultivar, Mountain Snow™ delights with the sweetly herbaceous tastiness of sencha and less bitterness than conventional matcha. The smooth, silky powder dissolves easily in hot or cold water.

More about Mountain Snow™

Mountain Snow™ is the product of our dedicated growers' careful teacrafting skills, from cultivating and harvesting their pampered tea plants to steaming and milling the succulent leaves. This powdery delight is made from the same high-grade steamed green tea as the grower–artisan's other senchas. Careful, thorough milling produces a fine powder that readily dissolves into hot or cold water, yielding an incredibly tasty brew — a full-bodied foundational flavor with a bright, succulent sweetness but less bitterness than conventional matcha.

Packaging. Mountain Snow™ Premium Matcha comes vacuum-sealed for freshness in resealable, standup foil packets. Each packet contains 95 grams (3.5 ounces) of tea, enough to make 40–50 cups of brewed tea.

To brew hot, fill a cup with boiled water and add 1/4 of a teaspoon of powder, then mix briskly. To brew cold, add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of tea powder to an empty bottle or other sealable container, then add a couple of teaspoons of water, seal the bottle, and shake vigorously until the powder forms a clump-free paste. Then fill the container the rest of the way with water, seal again, and shake vigorously. If cold-brewing in an open cup, add a teaspoon of water to the tea powder and use a spoon or chopstick, etc., to muddle the tea powder into a smooth paste, then fill the cup with water and mix vigorously with the spoon.

(Some settling may occur in cold-brewed tea. When that happens, simply shake or stir the tea again.)

You can even incorporate green tea into your culinary life—simply sprinkle a spoonful onto any dish right before eating, or add it during the cooking process, for a delightful, tasty touch of green tea goodness.

[return to top]

Blissful Buds™ Green Tea

Green tea made from young buds and shoots..

Artisan: Koji Nagata, Aso City, Kumamoto, Japan

Aroma: Softly succulent

Taste: Sweet, with hints of berry

$16.95 per 100-gram packet

Blissful Buds™ is a mecha, or bud tea, made from young buds and shoots. The aroma is pleasantly herbaceous. The flavor is full and deep, with an apple-like sweetness and overtones of berry and a lightly tangy aftertaste.

More about Blissful Buds™

Blissful Buds™ is made by picking the small young buds at the pinnacle of the tea plant — the leaves richest in catechins. These tender leaves yield a refreshingly sweet infusion, redolent of apples, with berry-like tangy overtones and much less astringency than conventional senchas. This type of tea is also served at the end of a meal at fine Japanese restaurants. (In sushi lingo, this type of tea is referred to as agari.)

Packaging. Blissful Buds™ Green Tea comes hermetically sealed for freshness in resealable, standup foil packets. Each packet contains 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of tea, enough to make 40–50 cups of brewed tea.

How to brew. Use 1 teaspoon of tea leaves with 8 ounces of water, as in a mug or single-serving teapot. Use 2 teaspoons with a large, family-size teapot. The water temperature should be about 75 degrees Celsius (167 degrees Fahrenheit). (For more on water temperature, see here.) For the first steeping, let the tea brew for 2 minutes. (After each steeping, be sure to remove the leaves from the water — if using a strainer — or pour out all tea from the teapot.) For the second and third steepings, let the tea brew for about 30 seconds to 1 minute.

[return to top]

Frosty Garden™ Green Tea

Green tea with some white stems. Exquisitely mild.

Artisan: Koji Nagata, Aso City, Kumamoto, Japan

Aroma: Lightly herbaceous

Taste: Creamy sweetness with a hint of citrus-like zest

$17.95 per 100-gram packet

Frosty Garden™ is a shiraore (also known as karigane), a tasty sencha mixed with some white leaf stems. That, plus a slightly different tea-crafting technique, results in a uniquely "soft" tea—a lightly herbaceous aroma, a gentle, creamy sweetness with nutty overtones, hints of sage, and a savory finish. This tea is always first flush—made from the first harvest of spring leaves.

More about Frosty Garden™ Green Tea

Frosty Garden™ combines high-grade Kumamoto-style guricha with tea leaf stems. The stems, in addition to being rich in theanine, impart a creamy sweetness that exquisitely compliments the herbaceous sweetness of the leaves to yield a savory flavor. Being less sweet and astringent than ordinary sencha allows nutty, savory overtones to come through. The light, citrusy aftertaste hints of sweet lime or sugared lemon zest. Frosty Garden™ is a wonderful change of pace for tea aficionados. In Kumamoto, where Frosty Garden™ is made, this type of tea is often given as a gift on occasions like New Year's or as an ochugen, or summer gift.

Packaging. Frosty Garden™ Green Tea comes vacuum-sealed for freshness in resealable, standup foil packets. Each packet contains 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of tea, enough to make 40–50 cups of brewed tea.

How to brew. Use 1 teaspoon of tea for an 8-ounce cup or mug. For brewing in a mug, use a wide, deep strainer to give the leaves room to bloom. Use water heated to about 75 degrees Celsius (167 degrees Fahrenheit). Even without a thermometer, you can tell when the water reaches this temperature by the small bubbles that form on the bottom of the pot. (More on water temperature here.) For the first steeping, let the tea brew for about 2 minutes. For the second and third steepings, let the tea brew for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. After a steeping, be sure to remove the leaves from the water — if using a strainer — or pour out all tea from the teapot.

[return to top]

Aso Black™

Smoky aroma, sublimely sweet tastiness.

Artisan: Koji Nagata, Aso City, Kumamoto, Japan

Aroma: Smoky

Taste: Brisk and lightly sweet, with overtones of nutmeg

$18.95 per 100-gram packet

How about a nice change of pace? Aso Black™ is black tea (kocha, or "crimson tea" in Japanese) made from the leaves of green tea varietals grown in the pristine foothills of Mt. Aso. Gently harvested leaves are only lightly fermented compared to conventional black tea, for a sweetness not found in ordinary black teas.

More about Aso Black™

Aso Black™ is a special presence in the world of tea — a black tea made with leaves from the same green-tea cultivars used to make traditional sencha. The flavor is brisk and clean, with a green-tea-like sweetness and a smoky, nutty taste, finishing with overtones of nutmeg. If you like, say, English breakfast tea, you will be positively enchanted by this tea. So order up some scones and brew up a pot of Crimson Grove™.

Packaging. Aso Black™ comes vacuum-sealed for freshness in resealable, standup foil packets. Each packet contains 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of tea, enough to make 40–50 cups of brewed tea.

How to brew. Use 1 teaspoon of tea leaves when brewing in an 8-ounce cup with a tea basket or tea ball. Use 1 teaspoon for a small teapot or 2 teaspoons for a family-sized teapot. The water temperature should be close to boiling (about 100 degrees Celsius or 212 degrees Fahrenheit). Be careful when handling hot water. For the first steeping, let the tea brew for 2 to 3 minutes. For the second and third steepings, let the tea brew for about 1 minute. CAUTION: After brewing, allow the tea to cool a little before drinking. (After each steeping, be sure to remove the leaves from the water — if using a strainer — or pour out all tea from the teapot.)

[return to top]

Blissful Buds™ Bagged

Green tea made from young buds, just like loose-leaf Blissful Buds™ — but in convenient, flavor-neutral sachets.

Artisan: Koji Nagata, Aso City, Kumamoto, Japan

Aroma: Fresh and earthy

Taste: Gently earthy and mildly sweet, with melon overtones

$15.95 per 20-pouch packet

Tasty, high-quality Blissful Buds™ green tea in high-quality, flavor-neutral sachets. Made from young buds, this tea has a fresh, vibrant aroma and a smooth, gently herbaceous flavor with overtones of melon and berry and hins of roasted-tea-like nuttiness.

More about Blissful Buds™ Bagged

Like all of our teas, the tea inside is grown on family-owned and -operated tea farms in Kumamoto, Japan. This Kumamoto-style tamaryokucha (also known as guricha) has melon-like overtones complimenting its hints of berry, nicely balancing out the herbaceous sweetness and briskness distinctive of guricha-style sencha. There are also subtle hints of an almost hojicha-like roasted nuttiness, which become more prominent if the tea is brewed on the strong side.

The infusers are made of a high-quality, ultrafine silken mesh, so as not to interfere with the tea's flavor or aroma. The tea sachets come in a handy resealable foil packet to keep in freshness.

How to brew. Use one sachet for a cup, mug, or single-serving teapot or two pouches for a family-sized teapot. Allow to steep for 2 minutes for the first infusion and 30 seconds to 1 minute for the 2nd and 3rd infusions. Between infusions, remove the sachet from the water with a spoon, etc., to prevent oversteeping.

[return to top]

Artisan's Reserve™ Green Tea

A special selection of shaded and sun-grown leaves.

Artisan: Koji Nagata, Aso City, Kumamoto, Japan

Aroma: Bright and savory

Taste: Sweetly herbaceous; complex

$20.95 per 100-gram packet

Artisan's Reserve™ is a special blend of hand-selected fukamushi (deeply steamed) leaves, both shaded (kabusecha) and sun-grown. The result is stimulatingly complex flavor profile comprising a broad spectrum of tea flavors, from citrus overtones and melon-like sweetness, with a slightly creamy texture.

More about Artisan's Reserve™

To make Aristan's Reserve™, the grower-artisan carefully blends a selection of kabusecha (shaded tea) with a complementary choice of sun-grown leaves to craft a unique flavor experience not achievable with either type of tea alone — creamy, savory and, at the same time, sweetly herbaceous and hinting of melon and berry.

As with all artisinal Mellow Monk teas, the infusion's dynamic flavor profile changes from first steeping through third, as different flavor components are magnified or muted. By slightly varying steeping time or water temperature, you can enjoy almost limitless combinations of the flavors in this tea.

This sencha is a tamaryokucha ("curly green tea"), also known as guricha. The rich volcanic soils of the Mt. Aso foothills, where this tea is grown, make for an exquisitely rich flavor and a hearty aroma, but without the bite that comes from other soil types.

Packaging. Artisan's Reserve™ Green Tea comes vacuum-sealed for freshness in resealable, standup foil packets. Each packet contains 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of tea, enough to make 40–50 cups of brewed tea.

How to brew. Use 1 teaspoon of tea leaves for an 8-ounce cup with strainer. If using a teapot, use 1 teaspoon of tea for a small teapot or 2 teaspoons for a family-size teapot. The water temperature should be about 75 degrees Celsius (167 degrees Fahrenheit). If you don't have a thermometer, just heat the water until small bubbles begin to appear on the bottom of the pot, then remove from heat. (More on water temperature here.) For the first steeping, let the tea brew for about 2 minutes. For the second and third steepings, let the tea brew for 30 seconds to 1 minute. After each steeping, be sure to remove the leaves from the water — if using a strainer — or pour out all tea from the teapot.

[return to top]

Shaded Leaf™ Green Tea

Shade grown and deep steamed for exquisite flavor.

Artisan: Koji Nagata, Aso City, Kumamoto, Japan

Aroma: Lightly herbaceous, with hints of sweet berry

Taste: Smooth and subtly sweet, creamy, with berry and melon overtones

Payment

Mellow Monk^® accepts all major credit cards and PayPal. Both options utilize a third-party payment processor fortified with the latest in cyber security. Mellow Monk^® does not receive or retain your sensitive credit card or PayPal account information.

Shipping

• Free shipping on orders of $50.00 or more. (U.S. orders only.)
  
  
• Shipping to U.S. addresses (including APO):



• 1 packet: $6.00
• 2 packets: $6.85
• 3 packets: $8.75
• 4 packets: $10.00
• Orders over $50.00 get FREE shipping.
• 1 to 3 packets are shipped by First Class Mail.
• 4 packets or more are shipped by Priority Mail with tracking. Upon receipt of your order, we will email the tracking number to you so you can track your order at usps.com.



• Shipping to Canada:



• 1 packet: US$17
• 2 to 6 packets: US$25
• Larger orders by special arrangement only.
• Delivery time is 2 to 4 weeks.
• For shipping for larger orders, please contact us.



• Shipping to countries in Europe (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom):



• 1 packet: US$22
• 2 to 6 packets: US$33.
• Larger orders by special arrangement only.
• Delivery time is 2 to 4 weeks.
• For shipping for larger orders or to countries not listed above, please contact us.



• To help keeping shipping prices low, we use envelopes for small orders and boxes for larger orders of 7 packets or more.