In this episode, we taste a Genmaicha and learn a little bit more about one of Japan’s most popular teas!

In this episode, we’re going to be talking about matcha. Our Matcha Washimine and Matcha Sesui both come from Mr. Nakai in Wazuka, right outside of Kyoto. The Nakai family was one of the first in Japan to switch to Organic tea. Mr. Nakai’s father was one of the creators of the JAS logo on every packet of organic Japanese tea!

In this episode, we head back into the field to visit the farmers at Satoen. We start off by touring the factory and then we stop by their brand new matcha cafe and even get a tour of their organic tea fields!

In this episode, we teach you how to properly store your matcha. This is extremely important because if you store your matcha incorrectly, it will totally diminish the flavor in a very short period of time. With proper matcha storage, your tea should stay fresh for months!

In this episode, we learn how the same tea plant is used to make 2 very different green teas. The Bancha and Gyokuro almost couldn’t be more different. Gyokuro is from the first harvest, Bancha is from the second or third. Gyokuro is shaded, Bancha is unshaded. The top leaves are picked to make Gyokuro, the bottom leaves are picked to make Bancha. This of course results in two very different tasting teas!

In this episode we talk about my first trip to Fuji Matcha and my first trip to Shizuoka. It was an amazing trip that I won’t soon forget. I learned so much about tea, got to see some amazing views of the Japanese countryside and I got to meet two amazing farmers that walked me through the entire matcha production process.