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

http://www.lupiciausa.com/ carries a good selection and some decent
Taiwanese Oolongs. They are perhaps the leading vendor in Japan,
though their American presence is much more subdued.

On Oct 28, 2:51*am, "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

Also http://www.matchaandmore.com/ was recommended by my teachers at
Urasenke, and can attest that they sell high quality Matcha despite
never ordering from them myself.

On Oct 28, 2:51*am, "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

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

On Oct 28, 6:29*am, Jonathan R > wrote:
> 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 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

Itoen is pretty convenient-- call their New York office, and their
matcha shows up fast!

I, too, realized that Japanese greens were on-line from Japan, and I
have used Hibiki-an and O-cha. Also like:

http://maiko.ne.jp/english/

There is a German guy who works with this company, Ralph Faerber. He
speaks great English, and it is because of him that the Maiko website
has elaborate *English* (and German) explanations going. I went to
Uji about a year ago, and he gave me a personal tour of the tea
fields, and took me to a restaurant that specializes in serving food
that uses tea as a vegetable I believe if you ever had questions
about the tea you were buying, he would be able to give very grounded
and intelligent answers.

This place is especially proud of their gyokuro, but their sencha is
good too, and I'm quite fond of their matcha. I also buy shin-cha
from them every May.

As I recall, you place the order, then they contact you by e-mail with
the shipping price, which you then pay separately. I think the prices
(even after shipping) are quite reasonable for the quality. Shipping
also seems fast.

On Oct 28, 9:36*am, Thitherflit > wrote:
> Itoen is pretty convenient-- call their New York office, and their
> matcha shows up fast!
>
> I, too, realized that Japanese greens were on-line from Japan, and I
> have used Hibiki-an and O-cha. *Also like:
>
> http://maiko.ne.jp/english/
>
> There is a German guy who works with this company, Ralph Faerber. *He
> speaks great English, and it is because of him that the Maiko website
> has elaborate *English* (and German) explanations going. *I went to
> Uji about a year ago, and he gave me a personal tour of the tea
> fields, and took me to a restaurant that specializes in serving food
> that uses tea as a vegetable *I believe if you ever had questions
> about the tea you were buying, he would be able to give very grounded
> and intelligent answers.
>
> This place is especially proud of their gyokuro, but their sencha is
> good too, and I'm quite fond of their matcha. *I also buy shin-cha
> from them every May.
>
> As I recall, you place the order, then they contact you by e-mail with
> the shipping price, which you then pay separately. *I think the prices
> (even after shipping) are quite reasonable for the quality. *Shipping
> also seems fast.

Again, very cool, never knew about that one. Another I had forgot that
I came upon during my search was: http://aoitea.com which is another I
have no direct personal knowledge of but seemed very good as well.

I'd be interested if anyone has had the matcha or the gyokuro/sencha
from Upton tea, as I normally bypass them for almost everything due to
some issues I've had with quality and freshness in previous orders,
but since many of these are packaged and sealed at the producer, they
may be decent. I'll probably just jump in and make an order at some
point to test my theory, but if anyone has experience I'd love to know.

> I'd be interested if anyone has had the matcha or the gyokuro/sencha
> from Upton tea, as I normally bypass them for almost everything due to
> some issues I've had with quality and freshness in previous orders,
> but since many of these are packaged and sealed at the producer, they
> may be decent. I'll probably just jump in and make an order at some
> point to test my theory, but if anyone has experience I'd love to know.

I've bought everything Japanese that Upton sells at one time or
another. I considered it all a complete waste of money, I hate to
say. (I order from them a lot!) It wasn't very high-grade stuff, and
compared to the prices we get from the direct dealers in Japan, wildly
over-priced, I'd say.

BTW, looking at prices for koi-cha (thick tea) from MatchaandMore, I
suspect that there is a lot of price-hiking done by importers. The
matcha that I like from Maiko is their best one, but it's only about
$40 (before shipping) for 40 grams-- and it is *very* nice koi-cha!

On Oct 28, 9:22*am, "Dominic T." > wrote:
> On Oct 28, 6:29*am, Jonathan R > wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > 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

On Oct 28, 3:45*pm, Jonathan R > wrote:
> On Oct 28, 9:22*am, "Dominic T." > wrote:
>
>
>
> > On Oct 28, 6:29*am, Jonathan R > wrote:
>
> > > 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-ultimatelywhoI 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/-seemedtohave some very nice matchas, they
> > > > are next on my list to try.
>
> > > >http://www.yuuki-cha.com-hadbeenin 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

Hey Jonathan,

There are a couple teas that caught my eye on Ippodo and good catch
about the site maintenance, probably will be a rise in prices... but
the truth is that the prices this year were actually pretty low so I'd
take that explanation with a grain of matcha. The order I have coming
will keep me busy for probably a month or two so I'll have to take my
chances. My next order will probably be with Yuuki-cha, followed by
Ippodo unless their pricing remains reasonably stable with what it is
now then I'll make them next again. After those two I plan on
exploring some of the new ones listed in this thread. I will
definitely be posting pictures and thoughts/notes/reviews as I go on
my blog and the text copied here.

I'm just happy that some new blood/lurkers have come out and posted
lately!

- Dominic

Hi, Dominic--

Of the vendors you list, Ippodo is my favorite for Japanese tea. When
friends travel in Japan, they send me Ippodo tea. I often purchase
from the Ippodo website, and I have never been disappointed. Each
spring, I make it a point to purchase the shincha. I am a devotee
of Ippodo's matcha, particularly of the Seiun. My first Ippodo order
was in February of '06. Ippodo's prices seem to be in line with the
competition's, and Ippodo's quality is--overall--better, IMHO, than
most others'.

Regards,
~grasshopper

Dominic T. > wrote:
>I'd be interested if anyone has had the matcha or the gyokuro/sencha
>from Upton tea, as I normally bypass them for almost everything due to
>some issues I've had with quality and freshness in previous orders,
>but since many of these are packaged and sealed at the producer, they
>may be decent. I'll probably just jump in and make an order at some
>point to test my theory, but if anyone has experience I'd love to know.

I have used Upton's matcha and been very happy with it, though I have
been using it only for cooking since I don't much like brewed matcha.

I have also used their lower grade powdered tea, the one that comes in
little plastic straws, and it's not anywhere near as good as the regular
matcha. Their regular grade is nice and flowery and the other powdered
teas have none of those flowery overtones.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."