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.

All SHO CHA teas are grown without the use of pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizers. We provide you with transparent information about our teas and all the information we have about their origin, cultivation and the producers themselves. We regularly visit our tea farmers in Japan and have them show us the tea fields and tea factories. We trust our tea farmers and want you as our customer to be able to do the same. In addition, all our teas are tested for pesticides by an independent laboratory in Germany before they are launched in our store. 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 a customer. 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 that is most commonly drunk in Japan due to its freshness and fruitiness. It is grown unshaded in open fields and steamed immediately after harvesting to stop oxidation. This gives it its unique aroma. It is then dried and rolled, giving the tea leaves their typical Japanese needle shape. Its simple preparation and great taste make it the perfect everyday tea. In our tea store, you can buy Sencha green tea imported directly from Japan & pesticide-free.

By the way: varieties such as Kabusecha or Genmaicha, which we also offer, also fall strictly speaking under the Sencha category, but are special in their cultivation and composition. You can find out more about this in our blog post on the different types of tea in Japan.

Matcha is a Japanese green tea that is ground into powder and whisked in a little water to prepare it. It is an integral part of the Japanese tea ceremony and is considered one of the highest quality teas in the world. It is also popular in Japan and abroad as a matcha latte with the addition of milk.

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

Kabusecha, like the somewhat better-known Gyokuro, is a shaded green tea. In the case of Kabusecha, the tea fields are covered with nets up to 28 days before the harvest, allowing around 50% of the sunlight to pass through. Gyokuro is traditionally shaded with straw mats, which means that almost no sunlight reaches the tea leaves. This is very laborious as it can only be done by hand so as not to damage the young shoots. Covering reduces the content of bitter catechins while increasing the concentration of sweet theanine. The result is a less bitter, but slightly sweeter & intensely aromatic green tea. If you now fancy Kabusecha or Gyokuro, take a look at our top shaded green teas.

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 green tea and our Matcha are grown by the respective tea farmer on his own tea farm. Our business partner collects the tea directly from the farmers, sorts the tea leaves, packs it in bulk packaging and transports it to the airport. Most of our matcha tea farmers do not have their own grinding machines, so the matcha is ground by our business partner before it is packaged in Japan. This is typical for small tea farmers who mainly produce for the local market.

The tea is sent to Germany by air freight. Here it is cleared through customs and transported from the airport to Rostock by UPS on our behalf. We inspect the tea for integrity, appearance, smell and taste. We then 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 pack it fresh in our tea packaging every week and send it to you.

Conventional green tea is usually purchased and blended by local traders at auctions in Asia. Other middlemen order the green tea from Asia, which is then transported to Europe by ship in containers. This transportation usually takes 2-3 months. The local German retailer then buys this tea from the middleman in the EU. Small tea farmers with their own tea farms generally play only a minor role or none at all. This is best explained using an example:

A German online tea store wants to offer its customers mild, slightly fruity green tea. He asks the wholesaler (intermediary A) in Germany for such a tea. This intermediary A actually has a tea of this type in its range. Where does he get it from? He obtains his tea from another wholesaler (intermediary B) in Italy. He is very familiar with the import of EU-compliant goods from Asia. He has business relations with a wholesaler in Japan (retailer C) who can supply him with this tea regularly and in unlimited quantities - but how does this work? How can a tea producer permanently supply all the desired quantities with a consistent taste?

Trader C buys his tea from various 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, 2000 kg of fruity green tea from large 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 term, a single producer would not be able to supply the desired quantities to retailer 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 taste 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 is unavailable, a similar product is simply bought from a Chinese tea grower and mixed in. On the other hand, there are some

disadvantages:

PESTICIDES AND POLLUTANTS: There is a high probability that tea from different sources, which has often been mixed and repackaged, is contaminated with pesticides and harmful substances. Organic teas can also be affected if (voluntary) controls are not constantly carried out throughout the supply chain by all producers and intermediaries involved.

QUALITY: Inferior teas with a mild taste 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 achieve a high margin. The transportation routes by ship are lengthy and the quality often suffers as a result.

PRICE: The price is relatively high in relation to the quality of the tea. The numerous middlemen make green tea more and more expensive to buy and resell.

TRACEABILITY: It is usually no longer possible to trace the individual producers. There are often too many different teas that are blended. The middlemen and even the local stores are therefore usually unable to provide any information about the producers.

The strengths of our trading principle lie in the disadvantages of the conventional tea trade:

DIRECT FROM THE PRODUCER: We know exactly where our green teas come from and can transparently introduce you to the respective producer with pictures, videos and information. We can rely 100% on the sustainable tea cultivation of our tea farmers and the absence of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. And as our customer, you can too.

QUALITY:
Our teas are flown in directly from Japan. On site, we store all teas vacuum-packed and refrigerated in freezers. We fill our green teas freshly into our packaging every week. At every step we ensure 100% freshness & quality.

ONLY ONE PRODUCER PER TEA: Our teas are of the highest quality, 100% traceable to the producer, absolutely pesticide-free, unblended & unflavored. Every green tea tastes just as the tea farmer intended it to taste when growing and harvesting it. You can taste the difference.

NO INTERMEDIATE TRADERS: Compared to the high quality, our teas are particularly affordable because we can offer higher quality at lower prices compared to the conventional tea trade. "From the tea farm to the tea packet" is not just a slogan, but something we take literally.

SUSTAINABILITY & SUSTAINABILITY: Our tea farmers can achieve a higher price for their teas than by selling to middlemen. This is important for long-term cooperation. We want you to know and appreciate the producer of the tea.

🙆‍♂️YES! Our Uji Matcha isn't just ground in Uji like many other Uji Matchas. The most important steps upstream, such as cultivation, harvesting, and processing, are all carried out by our tea farmer in Uji. The name "Uji Matcha" is not protected. You won't find matcha from Kagoshima or Fukuoka here, and certainly not under the "Uji Matcha" label.

🧏‍♂️WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? The exact origin of a matcha can be determined by its taste. Only our matcha grown and processed in Uji has the typical sweetness, mildness, and full-bodied aroma of Uji matcha. Only matcha from Shizuoka Prefecture and other areas of Kyoto Prefecture, such as Wazuka, are comparable in quality.

🗾WHERE IS UJI? The tea-growing region is located just outside the city of Uji, southeast of Kyoto in the prefecture of the same name.

💚WHY IS MATCHA FROM UJI SO HIGH-QUALITY? Experience: Matcha has been cultivated in Uji for over 800(!) years. By comparison: Matcha has been produced professionally in Kagoshima for around 50 years. Uji is particularly hilly and mountainous (see photo 2). Many tea fields are almost vertically aligned and therefore receive full sun for only half the day at most. They are therefore naturally partially shaded, which reduces the formation of bitter substances. Furthermore, mechanical harvesting is not possible in the tea fields, which are difficult to access. Tea farmers who cultivate matcha and other green teas here are forced to harvest by hand or with hand machines. This allows them to pay close attention to which parts of the tea plant make it into the harvest. This allows them to pre-select the best and most tender tea leaves and, with great skill, avoid the large and bitter tea leaves.

Our tip: Always pay attention to where your matcha comes from. 🙇‍♂️💚

Our green teas are free from 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 each 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 have all our teas tested for over 600 of the most common pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, glyphosate and radioactivity. We do not test for heavy metals. We will briefly explain why:

Heavy metals, especially aluminum, naturally accumulate in all tea leaves as they grow. The younger the tea plants are when they are harvested, the lower the aluminum content. The matchas tested, which are repeatedly found to have a high aluminum content by Stiftung Warentest & Co. and for which warnings are issued, are exclusively matchas from late harvests. Whether matcha from drugstores, health food stores, discount stores or large tea retailers - almost all are produced from leaves from the fall and winter harvests (October - December). Here the tea leaves have plenty of time to accumulate the aluminum. The late harvest can also be recognized by the strong bitterness of such matcha, as late-harvested tea leaves contain plenty of tannins.

With us you can rest assured: our tea farmers Mr. Hasegawa, Mr. Yoshiharu, Mr. Masahiro & Mr. Hayashi only use tea leaves from the spring harvest (April/May) for the matcha. Therefore, the aluminum content is naturally very low, because the plant hardly has time to absorb much aluminum and other heavy metals. For this reason, we have so far seen no need to have the matcha tested for heavy metals.

Wir bieten folgende Möglichkeiten der Bezahlung:

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Vorkasse per Überweisung*

*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 on orders over €50)

🇪🇺 EU: €9.00 per order (free shipping on orders over €90)

🇨🇭/🇬🇧 SWITZERLAND/UK: €15.00 per order* (free shipping on orders over €120)

*Only for customers from Switzerland & UK: additional VAT, customs duties or other charges such as customs clearance costs may be incurred on import. These costs are not included in the goods or shipping costs and are to be paid by the customer to third parties upon import.

Here you can find further information for customers from Switzerland.
Here you can find further information for customers from the UK.

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

🇩🇪 Germany: approx. 2–3 business days

🇦🇹/🇨🇭 Austria/Switzerland: approx. 3–5 business days

🇪🇺 Other EU countries: approx. 5–7 business days

Loose green tea, usually Sencha, is usually brewed loose in a teapot with a strainer at a water temperature of 70-80°C for 45-60 seconds. Most Sencha green teas taste best at a water temperature of 70°C and a brewing time of one minute. Alternatively, you can also use disposable tea bags or pour the loose infusion through a sieve. Dosage: approx. 2-3 teaspoons per teapot (300-400ml). Dosage, brewing time, temperature and quantity depend on the type of tea and personal taste.

For a particularly pleasant and mild taste, you should use a water filter. Especially if your drinking water contains a lot of limescale, i.e. is quite hard.

Take a look at our Sencha video to get a better insight.

Matcha is usually prepared with a water temperature of 70°C and a matcha whisk. The whisk is used to mix the powder with the water and whisk the matcha until frothy. Alternatively, a small whisk or milk frother is used.

Dosage: 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon per cup/bowl. You can find more detailed explanations and other matcha recipes here under HOW TO MATCHA.

Ideally, you should have a kettle with a temperature setting at home. This makes preparation particularly easy.

Otherwise, the following trick helps: take two cups or bowls. First pour the boiling water into one container and then pour it into the other. This cools 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 at a higher temperature. Simply allow the water to cool longer before brewing or set a lower temperature on the kettle. Our recommendation: Sencha tastes best at 70 degrees, Gyokuro/Kabusecha & Matcha at 60-70 degrees.

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

If the tea is still too strong for you, it may simply not be to your taste. The only thing that will help is to switch to a different variety. If you are unsure or would like further tips, please contact us.

For the preparation of Sencha, i.e. loose leaf tea, we have very nice teapots from Japan in our range. They are not absolutely necessary, but they simplify the preparation and have a positive effect on the taste of the green tea. In particular, a teapot with an integrated or removable strainer is ideal - but disposable tea bags or a strainer will of course also do for a start.

We have various matcha sets & matcha bowls on offer for preparing matcha. If you don't want to buy accessories straight away, you will need at least a shallow bowl (cereal bowl, dip bowl...) to try out and froth the tea in. However, you should always buy a match whisk to ensure good preparation.

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.

All our matcha teas are not only grown pesticide-free but also without chemical fertilizers. However, the intense umami taste of conventional matcha is only achieved by heavily fertilizing the tea plants. SHO CHA Matcha is therefore much lighter in taste, fresher and more floral in aroma.

We also only sell single-origin matcha. This means that each tea comes from just one tea grower. Conventional matcha is blended and therefore comes from numerous tea farmers. As a result, each SHO CHA variety has its own identity and the unmistakable signature of the respective tea farmer. The taste also changes slightly from harvest year to harvest year. These natural changes are not concealed in SHO CHA Matcha.

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.

Although the term "Ceremonial Matcha" or "Ceremonial Grade Matcha" is not protected, it generally describes matcha tea of the highest quality. This matcha would also be used in the traditional Japanese tea ceremony.

How can I recognize Ceremonial Grade?

• Taste: you can definitely recognize the highest quality level by the taste. Notes of sweetness, umami, light grassiness and cocoa are particularly pronounced. Bitterness is usually less pronounced to non-existent.

• Origin: Ceremonial grade matcha is only produced in Japan and almost exclusively in the prefectures of Kyoto and Shizuoka. Matcha from the prefectures of Kagoshima, Kumamoto or Kumamoto are usually not ceremonial grade, contrary to what many traders claim. You can find out more about the origin of matcha here.

• Appearance: most Ceremonial Matcha teas are bright green or deep green. But be careful: conversely, a bright green does not always indicate high quality. There are exceptions here, depending on the degree of ripeness or the production process. We stock several Matcha teas that we proudly declare as Ceremonial Grade due to their first-class aroma and taste:

  • Limited Matcha Uji

  • Limited Matcha Kyoto

  • Matcha N°2 Supreme

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!

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.

Matcha contains a certain amount of caffeine in almost every green tea - but it also contains theanine in an effective concentration. Theanine has a calming effect & slightly offsets the effect of caffeine. Green tea therefore does not usually have the stimulating effect of a cup of coffee. How much caffeine is in our teas? Our Matchas & Senchas are listed here according to caffeine content. In descending order, starting with the highest caffeine content:

Limited Matcha Kyoto
Limited Matcha Uji
Matcha N°1
Amai Matcha
Matcha N°2 Supreme
Matcha N°2
Gyokuro
Sakurajima Kabusecha
Kabusecha
Maji na Koucha
Sencha N°2
Sencha N°1
Genmaicha

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

For tea, this means that the individual plants of a cultivar look the same, react the same to environmental conditions and, at best, also smell and taste the same. Tea cultivars are often compared to fruit varieties. The most common "variety" in Japan is Yabukita. Around 80% of all tea plants belong to this cultivar or tea variety. This variety has established itself due to its particular resilience and its excellent smell and taste. Other well-known cultivars include Saemidori, Asatsuyu and Okumidori.

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

Tea farmer Yoshiharu San allows all his matcha teas to mature. This means that the tea leaves are not ground immediately after harvesting and processing. The prepared tencha tea leaves are stored in a cool place for several months. This reduces acidity, flavor peaks and bitterness. The tea leaves are then ground in the fall & the new year's harvest is only available then. This is how the mild, sweet taste of Matcha N°2 and Matcha Supreme is created.