Japanese Tea Encyclopedia

Cultivation/Process

From field to finished leaf: shading, harvesting, steaming, rolling and firing — and why each step matters.

7 guides

Most Japanese teas are grown with pesticides. That is not a secret — it is written into the regulatory framework that...

Pick up a finished Sencha needle. It is dark green, tightly coiled, almost dry to the touch. Hold it to the light and...

Nitrogen makes tea taste like tea. More precisely: the amino acid theanine — the compound behind the savory, umami-fo...

Weeks before the spring harvest, workers drape long sheets of cloth across the tea field. Sunlight dims. The leaves d...

Organic tea certification in Japan is stricter than the label suggests. The word "organic" gets used loosely in tea m...

Discover the unique manufacturing process of black tea. This comprehensive guide explains the steps involved in creat...

Discover the manufacturing process of green tea and deep steamed sencha. Learn how these teas are made and the differ...

From reading to drinking

Taste what the research is about.

Handcrafted teaware from seven Japanese kilns — and the stories of the people who make it.