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With our photo studio still in carton boxes, I took this quick product shot in the balcony. It's a cloudy day so not really great lighting, but just so you can see what the teas look like. More caption at the bottom
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Japanese line of products ready for wholesale
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As we are still being dragged by all the tediosity in the bureaucratic and incomprehensibly clumsy procedural requirements in setting up the basics needed for operating here*, I have also been working hard to make deeper connections with producers whom we have been working with in Japan.
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Besides top traditional quality productions, such as that wonderful hand-plucked gyokuro from the slopes upstream of the Uji River, we have spent a good session tasting the more wallet-friendly category of houjicha with the respectable Master Kikuoka. Particularly we compare-tasted between traditionally roasted ones with those baked using far-infrared (FIR). The difference was amazing and I really want more people to enjoy it.
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Most producers we have been to in Japan do not use standard tasting tools like the ISO taster's mug etc. Despite the looseness of their practice in tasting, they do produce varieties and grades with distinctive differences
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Sencha vs Gyokuro
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We have also done a detailed comparison between a very fine sencha from Kagoshima against a supreme quality Uji gyokuro. They work with farmers in this southern Kyushu peninsula for their fresh leaves to process in their satellite factory there. This way they can have leaves unique in the beautiful subtropical terroir but produced with the mastery under their Uji heritage.
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The team and the tea master thought we would like the smoother and more umami gyokuro better. We actually picked the more complex and deeper dimension in the sencha. This is a very rare batch though, honestly I have never had a sencha so complex and well balanced before. Not sure we are able to get this particular batch yet, because it is destined for the annual tea competition, and if it wins, I don’t think we can afford to sell it at all.
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Besides exploring the year’s great harvests from Uji and Kagoshima, we learned a lot about teas from our producer in Mie as well. Mie is the key tea region in the larger area historically referred to as “Ise”, and about an hour drive away from our new office. We have now been working with them for four years, and there are more stories to tell, but later.
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Our selections
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I am listing hereunder the Japanese teas in our curated repertoire, and can start shipping to you. They are what we think as top quality amongst all that we have sampled, and the best value for what they are.
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- Gyokuro Uji, Competition and Premium Grades
- Kabusecha Ise
(a price efficient shaded-grown tea that is often sold as pricier gyokuro)
- Sencha Uji, Competition Grade
- Sencha Yame, Competition Grade
- Matcha Ise, Ceremonial Premium Grade
- Matcha Uji, Ceremonial Master Grade
- Houjicha, FIR processed
- Kukicha (or Karigane, or Shiraore) from Gyokuro
- Kukicha (or Karigane, or Shiraore) from Sencha
- Genmaicha
- Sencha Kyoto Premium Grade
- Sencha Ise Grade 1
- Gyokuro Kyoto Premium Grade
- Gyokuro Ise Grade 1
- Matcha Uji Ceremonial Grade 1 & 2
- Matcha Ise Ceremonial Grade 1 & 2
- Matcha Culinary Grade 1
- Houjicha Grade 1
Lower grades in volume are available at request.
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While we can ship teas from Japan, our stocks from Hong Kong is still on the way. Getting tea in volume into Japan is a lot more complicated than their officials would like you to believe, at least for individual small businesses like us.
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However, it looks like we have finally resolved most of the gridlocks and hopefully things can be delivered to us very shortly.
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Thank you for your supports and patience all along!
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Hope more good news very soon! Cheers,
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More caption to the top photo:
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1. Matcha, Culinary | 2. Kabusecha | 3. Houjicha powder | 4. Gyokuro Uji | 5. Sencha | 6. Genmaicha | 7. Kukicha | 8. Matcha, Ceremonial | 9. Houjicha made from leaves | 10. Houjicha made from petioles
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If any of you are thinking of moving your company to Japan, please be advised to take what the people in government agencies tell you with a pinch of salt. They only try to make everything appears a lot simpler. However, do also note that the government procedures are comparatively much easier, and much less finicky bureaucratic, than certain commercial enterprises, such as banks and shipping companies.
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If you have not previously bought from us wholesale and would like to know the price of these teas. Please write to us using your official email address and let us know your business, such as your website etc. To protect the interests of all of our clients, we do not disclose sensitive information as prices to the general public.
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True Quality. True Taste.
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