TeaChat

Preferably organic and has to be made in Japan for a good price (bulk)?

Den's Tea (www.denstea.com) and O-Cha (www.o-cha.com) are your best bets.

http://hibiki-an.com and www.zencha.net have organic sencha fresh from Japan as well. In fact, all of hibiki-an's tea complies with the strict EU standards for agricultural residue.

Thank you guys

Just to throw in my 2 cents......I would shy away from buying in bulk....both O-Cha and Dens are excellent vendors for Jap. Green Tea but, the key to loose leaf and good tea is freshness. I suppose if you are buying for a large amount of people, buying in bulk would have a purpose, but, if buying only for yourself, than I would buy in small amounts (under 4oz.)

-Nick (TaiPing)

Not sure exactly what you mean by bulk, ie if buying for individual use or resale, because yes freshness is key with sencha and matcha, due to the fact that the tea is finely cut so there is a lot of surface area. I wouldn't buy more than you can consume in a month or so once opened.

This is my favorite Sencha I have come across:

Ito En Chiran Kanayamidori, from Kagoshima

And this organic matcha is awesome, better than the conventionally-grown matcha's I've tried:

O-Cha Organic Kaoru Matcha


They say that the best tasting tea is not organic, because organic certification costs quite a bit, and many growers prefer to spend their money purely on making the best tasting tea.

I have heard that Japanese tea is generally safer because they don't use water-soluble pesticides, and as a more developed country their agriculture is more closely regulated, whereas who really knows what goes on in China.... Still, I love Chinese tea as well...

I buy in bulk when certain tea is offered for a limited time - such as Den's Cherry Sencha.

I make sure to wrap up the package once it is open and store it in the frig. I only take out two ounces at a time. This way I don't have any problems with freshness.

Samovar