"Are your products Chinese green tea or are they from Japan?"
While there are many fine Chinese teas, when it comes to green tea, Japan is known the world over for having especially high quality green tea. During green tea processing, Chinese green tea is usually pan fired while Japanese green tea is nearly always steamed. Because of this, each type has different tastes and characteristics. Be wary of teas (especially from grocery stores) that claim they are "Japanese Style", but not actually from Japan. All of our products come from Japan. Here is some useful information on the various types of Chinese green tea.
"The green tea I purchased at the grocery store wasn't really green, why is that?"
There are a number of reasons for this. First, most of the "green tea" you find at your store actually come from mainland China, not Japan. That's because they are, well, cheaper. While we love and enjoy oolong teas, we seldom come across Chinese green tea that can compare with most Japanese green tea, both on a taste and color comparison. There are definitely exceptions to this rule, but you will have to look a little harder to find a really good Chinese green tea. Your chances of finding a really good Chinese green tea on a supermarket shelf is next to none, for the best quality teas seldom leave China. Even within Japan, the quality varies considerably so not all Japanese green teas are of high quality.
Another reason is that, compared with other types of teas and how it is processed, green tea does not stay fresh for long periods of time. Take an apple, cut it in half, put it on the counter and come back 20 minutes later. What do you notice? It's starts to turn brown. A similar thing happens with green tea. Under optimal conditions under refrigeration, an unopened bag of green tea will stay fresh for 6~12 months maximum. Once exposed to oxygen, the shelf life drops to 2~3 months.
Next, most of the teas at your local grocery or health food store are not first or even second flush teas, but are from the later harvests. Later harvests can never match the quality of a first harvest green tea. Look for a product that is from an early harvest and at the same time has not spent a lot of time in storage or in transit.
