"Do You Sell Organic Green Tea?"

We do! In order for a tea to legally carry the organic green tea label, much extra labor and expense must go into growing it in certain ways that meet government standards. Organic green teas also must be processed and grown in such a way that they are not exposed to non-organic fields and facilites. Truly organic green tea must be certified by the proper government authorities.

It is important to understand that even regular, non-organic green tea in Japan must pass some of the most rigerous food safetly laws in the industrialized world, especially in regards to MRL (maximum residue levels) allowed. Non-organic green tea which originates in Japan is *completely* safe. Even organic green tea will usually have *some* minute residue level, and both organic and non-organic green teas are tested for MRL's.

Because of the way they are grown, finding an organic green tea which matches a non-organic in terms of taste and quality can be a difficult task. Organic green teas use slow release fertilizers, and are often grown in areas of higher elevations. Expect to pay more for an organic green tea that is the same quality level as it's non-organic cousin.

If it's organic you insist on, be sure to be careful as there are companies suggesting that their teas are organic when they have not actually been certified as such.

Since we personally visit the farms and factories where most of our green tea are produced and are highly confident that our green teas are produced in a safe manner regardless of whether they are classified as organic or not, our policy at O-Cha.com is to carry the highest quality, best tasting green teas first, and only then consider whether they are organic or not. However, we do carry a growing number of high quality organic green teas, organic matcha, and organic powdered sencha which meet our high standards for taste and quality.