NorthWest WaSencha
The everyday green tea of Japan. Shizuoka grows more of it than anywhere else.
Live Well · Tea corner
🍵 Japanese tea corner
How tea is brewed in Japanese homes, a calculator for leaf-to-water ratios, and where the tea comes from. Culture and craft only.
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Brew guides
Gyokuro
Shade-grown and brewed cool and slow in small cups; a speciality around Uji and Yame.
Hojicha
Roasted green tea with a toasty, nutty aroma.
Genmaicha
Green tea blended with toasted rice; a casual kitchen tea.
Matcha (usucha)
Powdered tea whisked into a thin, frothy bowl, as in the tea ceremony.
Brew ratio calculator
Starting points used by many Japanese tea shops; adjust to taste.
Tea gear
- Kyusu side-handle teapot — The classic Japanese pot for sencha; a built-in strainer keeps leaves in.Find on Amazon.ca
- Matcha bowl and chasen whisk set — Bowl, bamboo whisk and scoop for whisked matcha.Find on Amazon.ca
- Digital kettle with temperature control — Lets you hit 60–80 °C for Japanese greens.Find on Amazon.ca
- Small yunomi cups — Handle-less cups that show off the colour of the tea.Find on Amazon.ca
Where the tea comes from
Uji, Kyoto — historic tea country south of Kyoto, known for matcha and gyokuro. See Uji matcha in our Kyoto directory.
Shizuoka — Japan’s largest green-tea region, with fields below Mt Fuji. See our Shizuoka page for food, omiyage and onsen.
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