On Oct 28, 9:22*am, "Dominic T." > wrote:
> On Oct 28, 6:29*am, Jonathan R > wrote:
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> > 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-ultimatelywho 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/-seemedto have some very nice matchas, they
> > > are next on my list to try.
>
> > >http://www.yuuki-cha.com-hadbeen 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 outwww.tsuentea.com
> > O-cha is atwww.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 atwww.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
>
> Ahh, so there are some green tea lovers after all! O-cha and Hibiki-an
> are two vendors often mentioned online, as well as Itoen, and while
> they are all great vendors I personally find some faults here and
> there with each of them for different reasons... nothing that wouldn't
> make me order from them, but enough that I wanted to search and see
> what, if any, alternatives were available. The few I listed in my
> original post and some of these mentioned here are mostly new to me,
> and hopefully will help spread the options for people out a bit
> instead of just the same couple vendors.
>
> I think there are a couple here that offer some new and unique sides
> to Japanese tea availability online, and hopefully helps someone
> besides myself.
>
> - Dominic- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
Dominic, I just realized you had Ippodo listed in your original post.
I went to the Ipppodo retail store when I was in Kyoto, but
unfortunately they were closed that day. They were highly recommended
to me and I am sorry I did not get a chance to see the store. I have
spent some time wandering through their web site, and I am very
intrigued -- they are on my "one of these days I have to order some
sencha from them" list. If you order, please let us know if you like
what you get. You might want to order quickly -- their web site says
they are closing their on-line shop on Friday October 30, 2009 at 6pm
JST and reopening at 10am JST Sunday, November 1. There is a blurb
about "recent steep increases in the costs of raw materials, packaging
and shipping" so I expect they are going to raise prices -- so now
would be a good time to order!
Jonathan
Jonathan