Umami-Chaya - New Vendor - UPDATED!

[Jack_teachat]

Apologies if this has been mentioned already, but I was wondering whether anyone had bought tea from the vendor Umami-Chaya, seemingly based in Japan. (http://www.umami-chaya.com/). According to the website they were founded in 2009, range of tea is fairly small and includes a Kagoshima Yutaka Midori priced at $19.98 per 100g.

Could be a new one to add to the list!

Jack

I don't work for this vendor btw!

[Oni]

Prices look fair, generally a japanese vendor has good sencha for 1500 Yen above, their gyokuro is very cheap, we need to try it, you cannot tell a lot of things about their products unless someone tastes it.

[sriracha]

Hmm...typos and incorrect spelling make me a bit wary of a site, frankly.

Their tea may of course be delicious but not caring about these little things just seems so sloppy. I'm not out to offend anybody, though! =)

[Chip]

Hmm...typos and incorrect spelling make me a bit wary of a site, frankly.

Their tea may of course be delicious but not caring about these little things just seems so sloppy. I'm not out to offend anybody, though! =)

Well, better Japanglish than many sites.

It is amazing. A few years ago there was literally 1 Yutaka Midori from Kagoshima available to the "west" (yeah, O-Cha ) and now every new site is carrying one. Actually this was the only tea from Kagoshima available for several years it seems. I remember googling for hours and finding nothing.

This is the first time I heard of this site.

[Ed]

The writing really doesn't strike me as Japanglish. I think the writer has a fairly good command of the English language, and just made a couple minor errors.

The prices do seem reasonable. I would consider ordering a bag to check them out but I still have shincha waiting to be consumed. If anyone orders from them please post back here with a review!

[Chip]

The writing really doesn't strike me as Japanglish. I think the writer has a fairly good command of the English language, and just made a couple minor errors.

Perhaps because they are based in Massachusets according to their "Conditions of use" ... which is quite lengthy!!!

Also, not sure what this means in that context? "Umami-Chaya, a Japanese based tea company"

Does this mean it is a Japanese Company, or operated by Japanese Americans? Not sure.

[Ed]

The company can be based anywhere but they are still shipping from Japan. I do believe O-Cha is still "based" in Arizona even though the actual business is conducted in Japan. This new vendor reminds me a bit of O-Cha, with the reward points and whatnot. The prices are particularly attractive... but only if the qualitea is good.

[Jack_teachat]

I'm quite tempted to give the Yame sencha a go, as I don't believe I've had one from the region before.

[Jack_teachat]

I decided to take a punt on the Yame sencha. After having a good read of the site I felt confident enough to place an order, will keep you posted!

[Kevangogh]

The company can be based anywhere but they are still shipping from Japan. I do believe O-Cha is still "based" in Arizona even though the actual business is conducted in Japan. This new vendor reminds me a bit of O-Cha, with the reward points and whatnot. The prices are particularly attractive... but only if the qualitea is good.

This is incorrect. We started in Arizona ten years ago, but moved to Japan over five years ago. I am American, my wife is Japanese. I have full permanent residency in Japan, pay Japanese taxes, health insurance, and live there year around. We are also a fully incorporated company in Japan, we have an office and warehouse in Japan, and we ship from Japan. No, we are not "based" in Arizona.

[TEAcipes]

they just started to follow me on twitter, although they don't seem to tweet all that much...

I'm assuming Japanese-American means "A Japanese company based in the States". There are several vendors that are based in southern California alone, like Den's & Takaoka-ya (and us!).

[Jack_teachat]

they just started to follow me on twitter, although they don't seem to tweet all that much...

I'm assuming Japanese-American means "A Japanese company based in the States". There are several vendors that are based in southern California alone, like Den's & Takaoka-ya (and us!).

That's how I found them aswell

[t4texas]

A not so friendly return policy:

We are confident that you will be happy with the quality of our teas, and as a general rule, we DO NOT accept any returns. However, should you find a difference between your order and what you actually received, please contact us within 48 hours. We will reimburse you for any differences between your order and what you actually received ONLY. In this instance, we require photo evidence of the products you received. Other mishaps caused by non-employees of www.umami-chaya.com such as stolen or lost parcels, or damages to packaging are not our responsibility. Complaints should be submitted to the organization that caused the mishap.

[Jack_teachat]

A not so friendly return policy:

We are confident that you will be happy with the quality of our teas, and as a general rule, we DO NOT accept any returns. However, should you find a difference between your order and what you actually received, please contact us within 48 hours. We will reimburse you for any differences between your order and what you actually received ONLY. In this instance, we require photo evidence of the products you received. Other mishaps caused by non-employees of www.umami-chaya.com such as stolen or lost parcels, or damages to packaging are not our responsibility. Complaints should be submitted to the organization that caused the mishap.

Hopefully none of that shall be necessary!

[Kevangogh]

The company can be based anywhere but they are still shipping from Japan. I do believe O-Cha is still "based" in Arizona even though the actual business is conducted in Japan. This new vendor reminds me a bit of O-Cha, with the reward points and whatnot. The prices are particularly attractive... but only if the qualitea is good.

This is an incorrect assumption. Although I started the company in Arizona 10 years ago, for the last five years we've been completely based out of Japan. We live in Japan, pay taxes in Japan, I have permanent residency in Japan, my wife is Japanese, plus we are a fully incorporated company in Japan. Our office and warehouse is in Japan. We are fully "Japan based" I would say.

Kevin
O-Cha.com