HI all,
I've only recently started to get into tea and I really liked Jing Tea's sencha, but at £22 for 50g I think it might be a bit pricey to drink regularly.
Does anyone out in Teachat land know of a reasonably good quality sencha that I can buy here in the UK? Or is it best to source this stuff directly from Japan?
Cheers
Rhys
Jan 22nd, '11, 14:54
Posts: 27
Joined: Jan 16th, '11, 14:41
Scrolling: fixed
Location: Wales
Contact:
el gringo
Jan 22nd, '11, 15:01
Posts: 20891
Joined: Apr 22nd, '06, 20:52
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: Back in the TeaCave atop Mt. Fuji
Re: Buying Sencha in the UK
It is generally difficult to find reliable vendors for consistantly excellent Japanese teas in Western countries. There are exceptions to this rule in the USA, though I cannot answer for UK.
Welcome to the forum, good luck in your quest.
Welcome to the forum, good luck in your quest.
Jan 23rd, '11, 05:07
Vendor Member
Posts: 438
Joined: Jan 7th, '11, 04:25
Location: Japan, Nagasaki
Contact:
Xell
Re: Buying Sencha in the UK
Probably it is much better idea to directly buy from Japan. I'm sure quality/price will be a lot better. You can get quite good first season sencha from Yame or Uji starting from ~10 euro per 100g.
Jan 23rd, '11, 10:25
Posts: 1483
Joined: Mar 19th, '06, 12:42
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: On the couch
Contact:
Proinsias
Re: Buying Sencha in the UK
I've had a few Japanese greens from Postcard Teas recently and been very impressed. Definitely worth a shot, I'm quite taken with the novelty of ordering quality Chinese and Japanese teas from the same vendor and having them delivered in a day or two.
Jan 23rd, '11, 10:45
Vendor Member
Posts: 438
Joined: Jan 7th, '11, 04:25
Location: Japan, Nagasaki
Contact:
Xell
Re: Buying Sencha in the UK
Quite expensive, not much information on tea. Especially which year and which season tea it is. But delivery of course is a lot faster than from Japan directly 
Jan 23rd, '11, 11:16
Posts: 1483
Joined: Mar 19th, '06, 12:42
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: On the couch
Contact:
Proinsias
Jan 24th, '11, 03:26
Posts: 27
Joined: Jan 16th, '11, 14:41
Scrolling: fixed
Location: Wales
Contact:
el gringo
Re: Buying Sencha in the UK
Thanks for the replies. I had a feeling that sourcing directly from Japan would be the way to get the best quality senchas.
I'd had a look on their website, but the lack of reviews made me a little hesitant of trying them out. I might give them a go now though.Proinsias wrote:I've had a few Japanese greens from Postcard Teas recently and been very impressed. Definitely worth a shot, I'm quite taken with the novelty of ordering quality Chinese and Japanese teas from the same vendor and having them delivered in a day or two.
Jan 24th, '11, 11:36
Posts: 1483
Joined: Mar 19th, '06, 12:42
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: On the couch
Contact:
Proinsias
Re: Buying Sencha in the UK
ChaDao gave a nice write up on them, if you're buying tea in the UK I'd certainly put them on your list.
I'm no sencha expert but the ones I've tried have been pretty much on par with similarly priced tea from O-Cha, Yuuki-cha, Hibiki-an and Ippodo. I'll be looking to Japan around spring when the new harvest hits but until then the odd bag from there will certainly keep me going.
I'm no sencha expert but the ones I've tried have been pretty much on par with similarly priced tea from O-Cha, Yuuki-cha, Hibiki-an and Ippodo. I'll be looking to Japan around spring when the new harvest hits but until then the odd bag from there will certainly keep me going.