I really like o-cha.com (which is much better than Allegro, IMHO), but I'm looking for other sources to try something different, particularly Gyokuros. I've been watching Hibiki-an for a while, but the many grades and high prices (for a single-estate production) look somewhat suspicious, and I fear that the quality will not be so high as expected.
Anybody got experiences to share?
I have been dealing with a company called Chajin for 2 years now and have had excellent results with them. They are located in Japan and 95% of their customers are Japanese so their website is in Japanese as well, but Ken the manager speaks/writes good enough English to transact business. They have extremely good tea at fair prices, even by Japanese standards, which seem to beat most of the English language websites for a given quality. They also have one of the most extensive selections of Kyusu teapots that I have seen anywhere. They take most major credit cards so doing business with them has been easy. The only downside is that they are sometimes slow to return emails.
Japanese website:
Translated to English:
email: snipped-for-privacy@chajin.co.jp
I have no affiliation with them, I am just a very satisfied customer. I am drinking some their Matcha as I type this.
Mike
I find that it is impossible to really get high-end green tea unless you have a direct connection. It is a crap shoot ordering online, and quality varies wildly. It has a shorter shelf-life and getting really fresh quality green tea is tough online. I have no doubts that Mike's suggestion is a good one, and I plan on checking into it myself, but I have basically resigned to buying medium quality Sencha/Gyokuro/Lung Ching/Matcha/etc. online and in most tea shops and am then pleasantly surprised if I get higher quality stuff by chance. But certain circumstances sometimes present themselves and by luck you get a chance at some really top-shelf stuff, and I try to capitalize on those whenever I can. You really need a close friend or a close relationship with a seller to get great green tea and not get ripped in the process.
I actually find that in the end, most medium quality greens are sufficient... but man is it nice to get a crack at some really good stuff every now and then. At this time of year, it is tough to find much more than mid-grade green tea, or what was high-grade stuff that is a touch past its peak.
- Dominic
I really like Japanese greens, but I wouldn't say I've had a ton of experience with the best of the best. However, I find the teas from Den's Tea
Blues
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