Product information
About Our Tea: The Best that Japan Can Offer
Like a fine wine, high-quality tea depends on more than pretty packaging. The leaves' age, growing conditions, and even soil fertility impact the final flavor. For us, how tea is grown and the way it’s processed is the secret to crafting a sweet, nutritious tea like no other.
We Strive for Sweeter Soil Cultivation with the Chagusaba Method
Chagusaba (茶草場) is an ancient farming method that relies on tending both man-made and natural grasslands to enhance soil fertility. This labor-intensive process takes thousands of man-hours every season, but tea farmers find it worthwhile for the crop quality it produces.
Practiced by Shizuoka farmers for centuries, grasses are grown throughout tea plantations in the summer months and later to be cut down to form an insulating layer to prevent the ground from freezing. Sugar cane and syrup are also added to the soil to enhance its sweetness.
By enriching, protecting, and revitalizing the soil beneath each tea tree, the chagusaba method sweetens the taste of each tea leave by keeping plant roots warm and well-nourished throughout the winter. As the mulch breaks down in the spring, it adds much-needed silicic aid to the base of each tree, enriching the soil and preventing roots from getting burned from too much nitrogen.
‘Dusty’ Tea is A Sign of High Quality, Really!
At first look, our deep steamed tea leaves appear broken down, even dusty. This is because the longer processing time breaks down the tea leaves, especially at their tips. This leads to powdery tea that many compare to ceremonial matcha in taste, texture, and nutrient levels.
Drinking tea leaves directly actually enhances the nutrition for your body. However, if you’re bothered by these fragments, a specially designed fukamushi teapot provides a finer mesh to filter them out.
Our Teas Contain Better Flavor with Deep Steaming Technology
After they are picked, steaming tea leaves is necessary to stop oxidation. Most green tea is steamed for 30 seconds before being rolled and dried, creating a brew that leaves you with a bitter taste.
In contrast, the sunny yet foggy conditions throughout the Shizuoka region where it grows creates a firmer tea leaf, which needs longer steaming to release the complex flavors contained within. This means that our tea undergoes ‘deep steaming’ (aka fukamushi method 深蒸し) for almost two minutes - four times longer than regular tea!
Only thick, sun-soaked leaves benefit from deep steaming. The proprietary steaming machine used for every batch was developed specifically for our tea after years of research and study. Today, it is the leader in streaming technology in Japan and the world.
Longer processing leads to a bolder flavor filled with the health-enhancing amino acid Theanine. Every cup provides a robust taste, smoother mouthfeel, and a subtle hint of sweetness, and far less astringency.
Shipping and Returns
- Free Shipping store-wide today (USA)! (USPS First Class Shipping 2-5 days)
- Free Shipping for Canada, the UK, Australia, and the EU. Click here for more detail
- Rest of the world - International Customer - USPS International Priority Shipping with Tracking (6-10 Days): US$29.99 per order
No Sales Tax
You pay no sales tax unless you live in the State of Washington. Even if you live in the State of Washington, tea (unprepared food) is not taxable.
We Ship Same Day!
Orders placed by 10 AM ET will be shipped from our warehouse daily Monday-Friday after payment is verified. Orders placed after 10 AM ET will be shipped the next day.
We use USPS for all our orders.
You can track packages from the USPS website or by clicking on the tracking number link on the confirmation email you receive.
We Ship Anywhere in the USA, Canada, the UK, the EU, and Australia
We ship anywhere in the USA (including Hawaii and Alaska), Canada, the UK, , the EU and Australia. Click here to see the detail.
For USA shipment, our fresh green teas are shipped directly from Japan to our warehouse in Washington on a weekly basis. We ship all our fresh green tea to you from our warehouse in Washington via USPS. This shipping approach allows us to reliably ship fresh green tea speedily to your door without any international shipping involved after you order.
For Canada, the UK, the EU, and Australia, we ship items to our warehouse in each country and ship to you within the country; therefore, you do not need to pay import duty like purchasing from other companies.
Click here to see the details.
We Now Ship Our Products Internationally
Simply select your country when checking out, and our website will calculate the shipping price.
For most countries, the shipping price is a $29.99 flat rate per order. (This means that the more you order at once, the better deal for you.)
Unfortunately, the free shipping promotion does not apply to international orders.
The item will be shipped using USPS International Priority Shipping with Tracking. It usually takes between 6-10 days for most of the country.
For Indian customers, please visit our Indian site.
We have other alternatives to save you on shipping if you live outside the USA, Canada, or India. Please contact us from this link if you are outside the USA or Canada.
Free Insurance Included
All order comes with Free Insurance through USPS.
Shipping Charge on Subscription Order
Whichever shipping method you choose on the first order will be retained for all future orders. If you choose free shipping today, it will lock in the free shipping for all the time until you unsubscribe.
Order Confirmation
Immediately after you place an order on our website, you will receive an automated confirmation email. This indicates that your order has been registered in our secure system, and your credit card has been pre-authorized for the purchase. The system automatically notifies us so that we can start processing your order to be shipped. Our system tracks inventories in real time. On the rare occasion that the item is backordered or unavailable, we will reach out to you via email. If your items are available for shipment (within 5 business days), we will process the charge, and the order is submitted for shipment. If, for any reason, you do not receive the confirmation email, please contact us at Info@JapaneseGreenTeaIn.com
Damaged Goods
We do our best to ensure that you get your product in excellent shape, and it is our top priority that you are satisfied with your order every time. However, things do happen, and your item may be damaged during the delivery process. Please inspect the package immediately after the item arrives or when signing for delivery. If you notice any damage, please take a picture of the damaged material, and send the photos to Returns@JapaneseGreenTeaIn.com. We will make sure that you receive the replacement product as soon as possible.
Missing Goods
If you notice any missing or damaged items, please send us the information at Returns@JapaneseGreenTeaIn.com.
Cancellation & Returns:
We understand that we all change our minds sometimes. You can cancel your order within 48 hours of the purchase at no cost. We will simply refund you the full amount. After 48 hours, cancellation is subject to a $10 administration fee whether the item has been shipped or not. If your order is already shipped, you (the buyer) will also be responsible for return shipping charges. A refund will be credited to your credit card, which you originally used to place the order. Please contact us at Returns@JapaneseGreenTeaIn.com
Kei Nishida is back with his latest book on the subject of Green Tea: Green Tea Cha, How Japan and the world Enjoy Green Tea in the 21st Century. In this 143-page book Tokyo native Nishida covers the changing use and appreciation for tea in the 21st Century. He brings together a collection of facts and observations that allows the reader to peer into the cultural mindset of those who enjoy Green Tea. He begins by explaining how tea is enjoyed in Japan today and the merger of traditional Japanese culture with that of the jihanki (vending machines). He ends with a discussion of Green Tea Beverages that “you’ve never heard of before but are drop-dead delicious.”
Each chapter brings together a plethora of information about the uses of Green Tea in his pleasant, informative style, encouraging the reader to seek out these drinks and dishes for themselves. By the end of the book, readers will not only have a list of “must-try” drinks and dishes but also an appreciation for this powerful, tasty antioxidant.
Click here to view the Table of Contents and Introduction.