Old Hong Kong as a trading centre For most of the 20th century until the 1980’s, the not so delicate looking large dried tea leaves from Yunnan, especially those overgrown ones, were almost entirely sold to Hong Kong. The tiny…
A matcha exporter company from Japan? Not long ago, an entity with a very authoritative name, conveying something like a body representing matcha producers from Japan sent us a huge list of matcha, 6 pages of it. Some organic, some…
The status of green teas, as of May 1, 2026 Working directly with producers scattered across a broad geographic locations has not been an easy task even in the free port of Hong Kong. It is a lot more difficult…
For choosing more serious infusion vessels, although we have been focusing mainly on Yixing teapots, it is hard to resist a deeper study of the artisan grade Japanese teapots that are available to us only an hour’s drive away in…
A tea pot made with a porous clay material, such as a Yixing, or an unglazed earthenware would absorb in various proportions of any liquid that comes into contact with it. This characteristic contributes to the infusion effect that the…
Japan to USA — tax will be required for parcels arriving on August 29 Starting from August 29, small commercial parcels from Japan coming to the US will be charged a 15% tariff. The previous “de minimus” arrangement will no…
Before we discuss the actual situation, please allow me to quote from a June 2025 report from Kyoto Tea Industry Chamber of Commerce: “Despite expectations for increased production due to ongoing shortages, both Uji tencha* and Shocha tencha saw declines,…
Hakone hot spring resort Eleven summers ago, after getting off at a wrong train stop in a hot spring bath resort area in Hakone, on the outskirts of Tokyo, my girlfriend and I had to walk over an hour up…
A private message A few nights ago, the customer who had left the most number of reviews on our site, N.N., sent me a message saying, “…I’ve been enjoying the Fengxi Old Ginger the past couple days. When I brew…
When we began to conceive the Tea Taster’s Box series two years ago, we noticed there is a need for a redesign for all of our product labels. The one that is being used until now was quite hastily put…