Frequently asked questions

We are an online store for pure Japanese green tea, which was grown, harvested and processed by individual tea farmers exclusively in Japan. This means that each variety of our teas always comes from only one producer, which we present to you with pictures and information on the product pages & in the blog.

All Japanese teas are basically extracted from the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) and then processed into loose green tea (Sencha) or green tea powder (Matcha). No additives are used and no teas from other tea farmers or even from other countries are added. We only sell green tea from Japan that is grown without pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizers. Our teas are therefore 100% free of pesticides & pollutants.

We provide you with transparent information about our teas and all the information we have about their origin, cultivation and the producers themselves. We trust our tea farmers and want you, our customers, to be able to do the same. In addition, all our teas are tested for pesticides by an independent laboratory in Germany and we make these test reports available to you in the product description of the individual teas. We therefore see no need for an additional organic seal.

An additional advantage: by avoiding the expensive and time-consuming organic certification, we can keep the price of our green teas as low as possible for you as our customers. We can also support tea farmers who work 100% pesticide-free but are not certified organic: our Sencha No.1, for example, is produced by Mr Takayuki without the use of pesticides or chemical fertilizers (as are all our teas). Nevertheless, Mr. Takayuki has not had all his tea fields certified. This is also expensive in Japan and does not give Mr. Takayuki, who mainly produces for local customers, any particular advantage.

Conclusion: an organic certification would drive up the price of our teas and still not add value.

Sencha is the Japanese green tea most commonly drunk in Japan for its freshness & fruitiness. It is grown unshaded in open fields and steamed immediately after harvest to stop fermentation. This gives it its unique flavor. It is then dried & rolled, giving the tea leaves their typical Japanese needle shape. Its easy preparation and great taste make it the perfect everyday tea. In our tea store you can buy directly from Japan imported & pesticide-free Sencha green tea.

By the way: Varieties such as Kabusecha or Genmaicha, which we also offer, fall strictly speaking also under the category Sencha, but are special in your cultivation or their composition. Learn more about this in our blog post about the different tea varieties in Japan.

Matcha is a Japanese green tea that is ground into powder and whipped at home with a matcha whisk in a little water. It is an integral part of the Japanese tea ceremony & is considered one of the highest quality teas in the world.

Unlike Sencha, Matcha is covered with cover tarps 3-4 weeks before harvest to protect it from sunlight. This allows more green chlorophyll as well as sweet amino acids to accumulate in the leaves. This makes it particularly intense green, sweet and aromatic. After harvesting & further processing, it is ground into the finest powder in granite mills. The preparation of Matcha can be a relaxed everyday ritual and is not only very tasty, but also very healthy. In our tea store you can buy directly from Japan imported & pesticide-free Matcha. Of course, we also have complete Matcha sets on offer, which contain all the necessary accessories for the preparation of Matcha.

Kabusecha, like the somewhat better known Gyokuro, belongs to the shaded green teas. In the case of Kabusecha, the tea fields are covered with nets for up to 28 days before harvesting, which allow about 50% of the sunlight to pass through. This is very laborious as it can only be done by hand so as not to damage the young shoots. Covering lowers the content of bitter catechins, while increasing the concentration of sweet theanine. The result is a less tart, but slightly sweeter & intensely aromatic green tea. If you are now in the mood for Kabusecha, take a look at our SHO CHA Kabusecha in the store.

We speak English. Please let us know if you have any questions through our contact page or write an email to info@sho-cha.com

私たちは日本語が話せます。質問があれば教えてください。メールアドレスは: info@sho-cha.com

Both our Sencha and Matcha are grown by the respective tea farmer on his own tea farm. Our business partner picks up the tea directly from the farmers, sorts the tea leaves, packs it in bulk and transports it to the airport. Since our Kabusecha is an unsorted tea (Aracha), our Kabusecha is exported to us directly from the farm in Shizuoka. Our matcha tea farmers do not have their own grinding machines, so the matcha is ground at our business partner's facility before it is packaged in Japan. This is typical for small tea farmers who produce mainly for the local market.

The tea arrives in Germany by air freight. Here it is cleared through customs and transported by OCS ANA, on our behalf, from the airport to Rostock. We inspect the tea for integrity, appearance, smell and taste. Then we have it analyzed for pesticides by an independent institute. Only when we are 100% sure that the tea is flawless and, above all, pesticide-free, do we unpack it in our tea packaging and send it to you.

Conventional green tea is usually purchased via traders at auctions in Asia, blended and sold to the local German trader via several intermediaries. Small tea farmers with their own tea farms usually play only a minor role here. This is best explained by an example:

A German online tea store wants to offer its customers mild, slightly fruity green tea. He requests such a tea from the wholesaler (intermediary A) in Germany. This intermediary A actually has a tea of this type in his assortment. Where does he get it? He gets his tea from another wholesaler (Intermediary B) in Italy. He is well acquainted with the import of EU-compliant goods from Asia. He has business relations with a wholesaler in Japan (trader C), who can supply him with this tea on a regular basis and in unlimited quantities - but how does this work? How can a tea producer permanently supply all desired quantities with a constant taste?

Trader C buys his tea from different producers at tea auctions in Japan. If, for example, he needs 3,000 kg of the mild, slightly fruity green tea that the customers of the online store in Germany love so much, he does the following: He buys, for example, 2,000 kg of fruity green tea from large-scale producer A, 800 kg of mild green tea from producer B, and 200 kg of aromatic green tea from producer C. He knows from experience that he can achieve the desired taste by blending these teas. In the long run, a single producer would not be able to supply the desired quantities to Trader C.

This example is, of course, greatly simplified. In reality, the tea of the conventional trade contains far more different teas . Also, there are often many more intermediaries and tea producers involved, sometimes from different countries.

Advantages: Customers can choose from a wide variety of green teas to suit their tastes in online stores and tea houses. The selection is huge and the desired quantity is usually always in stock. If, for example, a Japanese producer fails, a similar product is simply bought from a Chinese tea farmer and added. On the other hand, there are some

disadvantages:

PESTICIDES AND POLLUTANTS: There is a high probability that a tea from different sources, which has often been mixed and repackaged, is contaminated with pesticides and pollutants. Even BIO teas can be affected if there are not constant (voluntary) checks throughout the supply chain by all producers and intermediaries involved.

QUALITY: Inferior teas with mild flavors can be mixed into a blend without it being noticeable in the overall mix. Due to a chain of middlemen, the cost pressure is very high and everyone tries to make a high margin.

PRICE: Compared to the quality of the tea, the price is relatively high. Due to the numerous middlemen, the green tea becomes more and more expensive through purchase and resale.

TRACEABILITY: A traceability to the individual producers is mostly no longer possible. Often there are too many different teas that are mixed. The middlemen and even the local stores are therefore usually unable to provide any information about the producers.

In the disadvantages of the conventional tea trade are the strengths of our trading principle:

DIRECTLY FROM THE GROWER: We know the origin of our green teas exactly and can transparently present you the respective producer with pictures, videos & information. We can trust 100% in the sustainable tea cultivation of our tea farmers and the renunciation of pesticides & chemical fertilizers. And so can you as our customers.

ONLY ONE GROWER PER TEA: Our teas are of the highest quality, 100% traceable to the producer, absolutely pesticide-free, unblended & not flavored. Each green tea tastes the same as the respective tea farmer intended with cultivation & harvest. You can taste this difference.

NO INTERMEDIATE DEALERS: Measured against the high quality, our teas are particularly inexpensive, because compared to the conventional tea trade, we can offer a higher quality at lower prices. "From the tea farm to the tea package" is not just a saying, but to be taken literally with us.

SUSTAINABILITY & FOLLOW-UP: Our tea farmers can get a higher price for their teas than by selling to intermediaries. This is important for a long-term relationship. We want you to know & appreciate the producer of each tea as well.

Our green teas are free of radioactivity & are regularly tested for radioactivity by our local business partner. You can download the current test report directly for Sencha & Matcha.

We maintain a high level of trust with every tea farmer: almost all of our tea farmers are now certified organic in Japan and their teas are regularly tested by the authorities. In addition, we have every tea tested again in Germany when we get to know it. We only do this because the switch from conventional to pesticide-free tea cultivation means that traces of pesticides can still find their way from the soil into the plants years later. To ensure that the soils are now pesticide-free, we therefore carry out a pesticide test per tea at the beginning of the business relationship.

We are also in constant contact with the tea farmers to stay informed about their cultivation methods & harvests. Repeatedly testing each shipment would not add value and would increase the price of our teas. We trust our tea farmers completely and want you as our customer to be able to do the same.

We offer the following payment options:

Paypal
Credit card
Apple Pay
Prepayment by bank transfer*.

*For payment in advance simply send us your complete address, the desired products and the quantity to: info@sho-cha.com or via contact form. You will then immediately receive an invoice from us with the payment information for the transfer. After receipt of payment we will send your order as soon as possible via DHL incl. tracking.

Our tea and accessories are shipped via DHL/German Post with tracking.

🇩🇪 GERMANY: 3.00€ per order (free shipping from 40€ order value)

🇪🇺 EU: 9.00€ per order (free shipping from 90€ order value)

🇨🇭 SWITZERLAND: 15.00€ per order* (free shipping from 120€ order value)

* For import, additional VAT, customs duties or other charges such as customs clearance costs may apply. These costs are not included in the cost of goods or shipping and must be paid by the customer to a third party upon import. Here is more information about this.

We try to ship every order as soon as possible. As a rule, you can expect the following delivery times:

🇩🇪 Germany: approx. 2-3 working days

🇦🇹/🇨🇭 Austria/Switzerland: approx. 3-5 working days

🇪🇺 other EU country: 5-7 working days

Loose green tea, i.e. mostly Sencha, is usually infused loosely in a pot with a strainer at a water temperature of 70-80°C for 45-60s. Alternatively, you can also use fillable disposable tea bags or pass the loose infusion through a mesh strainer. For dosage: per teapot (300-400ml) about 2-3 teaspoons. Dosage, brewing time, temperature and quantity, of course, always depends on personal taste.

Basically necessary are: Water, tea maker, teapot/disposable tea bags and a cup/mug.

Also feel free to check out our Sencha video for a better insight.

Matcha is usually prepared with a water temperature of 70-90°C and a matcha whisk. The whisk is used to mix the powder with the water and whip the matcha until frothy. Alternatively, use a small whisk or milk frother. For dosage: 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon per cup/bowl. A more detailed explanation and more matcha recipes can be found here under HOW TO MATCHA.

In the best case, you have a kettle with temperature setting at home. Otherwise, the following trick helps: Take two cups/bowls/vessels. The boiling water is first poured into one vessel and then transferred to the other. This will cool the water down. The longer you wait and the more often you decant, the cooler the water becomes. We also show you this method in our Sencha video on our YouTube channel.

If the green tea has become bitter, it is usually due to one of the following reasons:

-> The tea has steeped too long. The longer the tea brews, the more bitter substances are released. Healthy, but unfortunately also bitter. Reduce the infusion time until it suits your taste.

-> The tea was brewed too hot. Here, too, more bitter substances dissolve with higher temperature. Here simply let the water cool down longer before brewing or set a lower temperature on the kettle. Our recommendation: At 70-80 degrees Sencha tastes best to us, at 70 degrees Kabusecha & Matcha.

-> You have taken too much tea or too little water. Try a different dosage.

If the tea is still too tart for you, it may be that the tea simply does not suit your taste. In this case, the only thing that helps is to switch to another type of tea. If you are unsure or would like more tips, please contact us.

For the preparation of Sencha, loose leaf tea, we have very nice teapots from Japan in our assortment. Of course, they are not absolutely necessary. You just need something to get the leaves out of the pot or cup after infusing. A teapot with an integrated or removable strainer is of course ideal - but for starters, disposable tea bags or a strainer will do just as well.

For the preparation of Matcha, we have various Matcha sets on offer here . If you don't want to buy one of our sets right away, you need at least a shallow bowl (cereal bowl, dip bowl...) to foam the tea in. Instead of the Matchabesens does it a whisk or a milk frother to start with.

Sencha is a green tea with whole rolled leaves that unfold again when brewed. Unlike Chinese green tea, the leaves are steamed with hot water steam and not roasted. This creates a fresh, slightly fruity & vegetal aroma. In winter Sencha warms and in summer it is beautifully refreshing due to its mildness & fruitiness.

Matcha is a green tea powder that is consumed whole. Our matcha is obtained from tea plants that have been covered with cover tarps, one also says fully shaded, for several weeks before harvesting. Only the top two leaves and the bud in between are harvested and the stems and leaf veins are separated from the tea leaf. These steps are necessary so that the matcha is not bitter, but typically mild-aromatic & sweet.

After longer storage, the tea, called Tencha in this intermediate step, is ground to a fine powder in stone mills. After infusion, Matcha is whipped with a Match whisk until foamy and dissolves almost completely in the water.

Due to its long shading and the consumption of the whole tea leaf, matcha contains particularly many effective ingredients:

-> Caffeine: with a caffeine level comparable to an espresso, matcha can be a real pick-me-up. The fact that Matcha does not make you as nervous as, for example coffee or energy drinks, is due to the high concentration of

-> Theanine: this amino acid can have a relaxing and calming effect and counters the effect of caffeine.

-> EGCG: this amino acid is found in all green teas & is present in particularly high concentrations in matcha. A whole range of positive effects is believed to be behind this amino acid.

-> other ingredients: chlorophyll, fluorine, tannins, minerals, vitamins

However, Matcha is not only healthy, but also tastes special due to its special cultivation & its careful processing: from sweetish-mild to nutty to fresh-grassy, the Matcha can take on the most diverse taste nuances depending on the origin & cultivation. The best thing is to try it out for yourself.

Basically, the quality of Sencha and Matcha can be recognized in advance by the following characteristics:

-> smell (good: fruity, grassy, fresh, hearty, vegetable like... / bad: fishy, musty, chemical, completely odorless, murky)

-> appearance (Sencha: Rich green, few dark brown stems, relatively uniform shape of leaves / Matcha: intense bright green (not necessarily dark green), very fine uniform powder, not grainy or lumpy).

-> Origin: genuine Matcha & Sencha come exclusively from Japan

-> Taste is somewhat more difficult to judge and at the same time the most important criteria. It is perceived quite differently from person to person. In addition, for example, incorrect preparation can also lead to unpleasant taste. Here it is particularly the too long pulling or too hot brewing, from which a strongly bitter taste results, which is often felt as unpleasant.

Basically, a green tea can have many flavors: from fresh to spicy, from vegetable/grassy to fruity, from mild to tart/bitter, even very slightly algig or hay it can be. In the end, it is your own preference that decides.

If your green tea arrives sealed in the package, the refrigerator is the best place. Once you open the package, store it in a dry, cool place outside the refrigerator. Otherwise moisture or strange odors may seep into the tea.

Once opened, both matcha and sencha should be consumed within a few weeks. Japanese green tea loses its aroma relatively quickly in an opened package. However, it remains safe for consumption for years.

Just about every green tea has a certain amount of caffeine - but besides that, it also contains theanine in effective concentrations. Theanine has a calming effect & slightly balances the effect of caffeine. Therefore, green tea usually does not have the stimulating effect of a cup of coffee. How much caffeine is in our teas? Here are our matchas & senchas listed by caffeine content. Descending starting with the highest caffeine content:

Matcha N°1
Amai Matcha
Matcha N°2
Kabusecha
Sencha N°2
Sencha N°1
Hana Sencha
Genmaicha

In Japan people pretty much always cook, bake & mix with high-quality matcha powder. However, it has become common in Europe to sell low-quality matcha as Cooking Matcha or Culinary Matcha. At worst, it is low quality Chinese green teas or Japanese Senchas ground with stems. At best, it is Japanese matcha from the fall harvest. The leaves from this harvest are quite thick, not very aromatic & have a lot of bitter compounds. This can be used to make a matcha that is far too bitter to drink but creates a tart note when cooked & baked.

We think little of these cooking matchas. A good Matcha should be drunk pure, as well as in desserts, have a pleasant aroma & not be bitter. Therefore, you can drink our Matchas both traditionally as tea, as well as use for eg Matcha Latte or Matcha Cookies. You can find the right inspiration at How To Matcha.

By the way, our high-quality matchas are so inexpensive due to the direct import that you hardly have to spend more than for conventional cook (Culinary) matchas & still get an incomparable taste experience. Try it out!

The word cultivar actually comes from horticulture and is a variation of a plant species created by breeding or by chance. The individual specimens of this plant variation are more or less identical.

For tea, this means that the individual plants of a cultivar look the same, react in the same way to environmental conditions and, at best, also smell and taste the same. Tea cultivars are often compared to, for example, fruit varieties. The most common "variety" in Japan is Yabukita. About 80% of all tea plants belong to this cultivar or tea variety. Due to its particular hardiness and excellent smell and taste this cultivar has become widely accepted. Other well-known cultivars are e.g. Saemidori, Asatsuyu or Okumidori.

For us as tea drinkers, different cultivars theoretically also mean different flavors. However, the most important influencing factors remain cultivation, harvesting and further processing. In addition, cross-breeding with other cultivars often occurs naturally, and thus a hundred percent cultivar purity can usually not be guaranteed. If you are interested in the cultivar, you can read about it on the respective product page under "Cultivation".