Ceremonial vs Culinary Matcha: What the Difference Actually Means for Your Cup Walk into any Japanese tea shop in Uji — the misty, river-valley town south of Kyoto that produces some of Japan’s finest green tea — and you’ll notice something immediately. The staff don’t just hand you a bag of matcha and wave goodbye. … Read more
Best Japanese Green Tea Brands: A Tea Lover’s Guide From Japan Japanese green tea is one of those things that genuinely changes you. After years of drinking supermarket teabags back home, my first cup of properly brewed gyokuro in Uji — poured by a fifth-generation tea farmer who’d been shading his tencha plants for three … Read more
Best Matcha Powder for Lattes: 7 Picks Tested From Tokyo to Your Kitchen There’s a moment I return to often. I’m sitting in a tiny café in Uji — the heartland of Japanese matcha production, just south of Kyoto — watching the owner whisk a bowl of ceremonial-grade matcha with the kind of focused calm … Read more