Tea lovers know the best tea is whole leaf tea, pure and natural, just as it is picked from the camellia sinensis plant. Whether you choose green tea, oolong tea or black tea, it must stay this way to taste its best.

 

Elegant Green Tea grown in a remote mountain area, this entirely handmade, early spring-picked green tea produces a refreshingly sweet cup with a smooth, nut-like flavor. Easy to brew, it won't become bitter from longer steeping. Highly recommended!

 

This premium green tea is dried with hot air after being picked. The dried tea leaves are pan-fried but not fermented to preserve the nutrients and vitamins found in green tea. It also contains rich sources of antioxidants, which protect the body’s cells from damage and fight diseases. The subsequent rolling of the leaves allow the tea to fully release its aroma and taste that has made green tea the most popular tea in Europe and Japan.

Tea tastes wonderful. It is a simple beverage, just water and leaves, but it contains worlds. Like all things of beauty, it is both plain and complex. The detailed practice of the Japanese Ocha No Yu tea ceremony is meant simply to lead one fully into the present moment. The deeper into tea we immerse, the more interesting it becomes.

 

Tea is your art. You are in control. It doesn't come premade; brew it to suit your taste and mood. Enjoy it as is. Add milk, honey, sugar, lemon, herbs, spices, or ice. When drunk alone, tea slows one's day and invites contemplation. Drunk with friends, a pot of tea encourages camaraderie, the comforts of shared experience. There is a tea appropriate for any time, any situation, and any circumstance.

 

We owe to the Buddhist monks of long-ago for their discovery and domestication of tea plant.  The Buddhist monks first started tea-growing around Hangzhou's Lingyin Temple, the most significant landmark of this 2,200-year-old city.

 

Green Tea Production

Tea is harvested by hand then dried. Different growing areas produce unique varieties of teas by their climate; elevation and how tea leaves are processed.

 

We owe to the Buddhist monk of long-ago for their discovery and domestication of tea plant.  The Buddhist monks first started tea-growing around Hangzhou's Lingyin Temple, the most significant landmark of this 2,200-year-old city.

 

Green Tea Production

Tea is harvested by hand then dried. Different growing areas produce unique varieties of teas by their climate; elevation and how tea leaves are processed.

1. Picking - The harvest time for green tea is usually early morning of the spring. Some tea can be cropped year around though. Higher grade green tea requires certain days of the spring season, when trees just begin to shoot up.

2. Roasting - Chinese used to prepare their tea by steaming to stop fermentation. Japanese learned the technique later and still use it for their tea today. From about 11th century, Chinese began to roast their tea leaves rather than steamed them. This roasting method has been commonly used in Chinese green tea production since.

3. Shaping - The differently shape of green tea is determined by how it is treated during second roasting. In most cases, teas are painstakingly pressed into 'spears' or rolled into 'pearls' by hand.

4. Drying Finally, leaves are baked at low temperature to increase the fragrance.

 

Grading and Quality of Green Tea

The Tea harvest starts from the third day before Pure Brightness, a Chinese solar term around the end of March.  Tea cropped from the next three days is the highest grade - about 36,000 tender leaves for every 500 gram of tea.  The harvest will continue until the end of the spring, the later the tea harvested the lower the grade and higher the grade number.

 

How to make the best tea drink?

Water quality affects how a green tea will taste. Spring water is recommended. Tap water turns the brew brown. Some delicate teas should be brewed at a lower temperature than black tea.

1. Boil water to 80 degree Celsius

2. Rinse green tea by adding boiling water for 5-10 seconds and throw water away

3. Add one cup of water (per tea spoon of tea leaves) to the tea leaves and steep it for 1-2 minutes. Add some hot water to dilute any time that you find the tea too strong;

4. If you dislike caffeine, throw away first cup of tea. The 2nd and 3rd cups of tea are always the best tea brewed;

5. You may add boiling water again and again for 2-3 times, but add just enough water for one cup each time. Do not add 2-4 cups of water once or tea that has been brewed for a long time before drinking.

6. You may add honey into tea if you don't like the bitter taste of green tea.  You ma also add mint, cinnamon or other herbs/spices to explore the exotic world of tea.

 

Tea Storage
Always store green tea in an airtight container. Keep it in a cold place, away from light and peculiar smells.