On Oct 27, 8:51*pm, "Dominic T." > wrote:
> Well since there wasn't much response to my cry for help on this years
> Japanese greens, I'm guessing there isn't a whole lot of interest in
> these parts, but in my own searching I've come across some new vendors
> beyond the standard choices mentioned here.
>
> I have had a strong desire to get back to my personal tea "roots" and
> Japanese greens as well as matcha. I had gotten away from it initially
> because it was frustrating to find quality, fresh, Japanese teas in
> America that were fresh and not over-hyped and under-delivering. But I
> have to admit, at the time the Internet was still fairly new and I've
> never really begun to explore what is available online recently beyond
> the standard few that get mentioned the most often. So I thought it
> was time to dive back in and see if anything has changed. Hopefully in
> a week or two I'll know.
>
> http://ryu-mei.com- ultimately who I ordered from due to their fair
> prices for tea, accessories, and shipping. The owner seems to be a
> straight-forward person so I'm looking forward to the product and to
> see how it stacks up. Anyone ever used this vendor before?
>
> www.ippodo-tea.co.jp/en/- seemed to have some very nice matchas, they
> are next on my list to try.
>
> http://www.yuuki-cha.com- had been in the running and I'll eventually
> order from them to see how they are, but their shipping rates were a
> bit high. They did have good communication though.
>
> Upton tea - surprisingly they had some matcha and what seemed to be
> decent sencha and a couple gyokuros... has anyone ever tried any of
> them from Upton's?
>
> Any other Japanese tea vendors that you may know about would be
> appreciated, it can be hard uncovering new vendors in this realm.
>
> - Dominic

Some years ago my son lived in Kyoto, and he send me tea he purchased
from the Tsuen tea shop in Uji (www.tsuentea.com), the oldest tea shop
in Japan. I am very fond of their teas -- excellent quality and
packaged in nitrogen to retain freshness (tea packaged in nitrogen
will remain fresh for a year or longer if unopened). I have had their
gyokoros, senchas, karigane-senchas, houjicha and genmaicha. Tsuen
does not sell on-line, but they have worked out an arrangement with O-
cha.com which has a "Tsuen Store" which carries some, but not all of
the Tsuen line. My favorite Tsuen tea available from O-cha.com is
Otsuuoson -- a karigane-sencha blend I really enjoy, and the price is
very good. The Tsuen senchas are all in the Uji style, which makes
them "crisper" than the more deeply steamed senchas produced elsewhere
in Japan

Customer service from O-Cha has been excellent -- shipping is prompt
and the product arrives from Japan in a week to 10 days, and the owner
answers questions promptly. In fact, the owner recently special
ordered one of the Tsuen teas for me, one which is not otherwise
available on O-Cha. Shipping is not inexpensive, however.

O-cha also sells Japanese teas from other sources and from time to
time I have tried those teas also, with good succes.

For more about Tusen tea, check out www.tsuentea.com
O-cha is at www.o-cha.com

I have also ordered tea from Hibiki-an, a tea producer in Uji, Japan.
They have a full line of teas, all of which are grown on Hibiki-an
farms. I have bought senchas, houjichas and matcha coated genmaicha
(really good) from them, and I have enjoyed them all. I recently
purchased a karigane houjicha from them which was really interesting
-- it is made entirely from stems, which imparts a sweet taste to the
houjicha roasted flavor. Every year I purchase a shincha sencha from
Hibiki-an (first pick of the season) which is minimally processed,
called their Farmer's blend. It is a great way to celebrate spring.
I once purchased a hand picked sencha from Hibiki-an. The price was
high and although the taste was very good, it was not appreciably
better than the machine picked teas, but the leaves were absolutely
beatiful and it was a nice aesthetic experience. Check them out at
www.hibiki-an.com. Hibiki-an has a good deal on shipping -- for
orders over a certain size ($30?) shipping is free. Shipping is
prompt and the Hibiki-an teas are packaged in nitrogen to preserve
freshness. I have never had an occasion to test their customer
service, but their e-mails confirming the order are informative. They
also have an e-mail newsletter that I enjoy -- during tea season they
send an update every few days about the progress of the tea leaves,
tea picking and tea processing which I enjoy (its good marketing for
them, but it is fun to read).

Jonathan