Big Chill Hit to Shizuoka

From the beginning of this week, Shizuoka prefecture, where our teas come from, has been very cold. And on March 30, the temperature of the tea fields dropped to below freezing, and buds were largely affected by it. This doesn't influence tea quality, but the harvest date might be slightly delayed.

Recently, my father, Tea Maestro Sugimoto, has visited to his tea farmers very often. He makes sure that each tea plant grows their buds with energy and talks with his farmers about this year's harvest. Tea farmers are diligently taking care of their tea fields. Soon, tea fields will change their color to brilliant green.

In Japan, there are many tea producing regions. Well-known regions are Kagoshima, Fukuoka, Mie, Kyoto, and Shizuoka. Just like a wine, every regions have different taste characteristics, and each region is equally respected by people. Shincha harvest will begin from South region of Japan. So, Kagoshima is usually the first; the last year, they began the harvest from the end of March. And Fukuoka, Mie, Kyoto and Shizuoka are following.

Shincha 2010

Now we, Sugimoto America, are very happy to announce that 2010 Shincha preorder has started.

Shincha literally means "new tea" in Japanese and is the very first cut of green tea. During the wintertime, tea plants absorb and stock nutrients from soil. When the spring arrives, the plants, full of energy and nutrients, begin to sprout and show the amazing color of vibrant green.

Shincha is technically equal to Sencha, which is made of young tea leaves only. But only the tea harvested in early spring is called "Shincha." Shincha has much more Theanine, the component of sweetness, than Sencha.

Just like the last year, we offer 3 kinds of Shincha - Temomi Shincha, Hashiri Shincha, and Hachiju Hachiya Shincha. Last year, surprisingly, there were so many inquiries for Temomi Shincha. Not only to the U.S., we sent the Temomi to France!

Temomi Shincha
Temomi means "hand kneading" in Japanese and Temomi Shincha is 100% hand-made green tea. When the Sen Cha was created centuries ago, this Temomi method is commonly used, but today machine replaces the labor. Recent years, Temomi technique is vanishing.
Temomi Shincha is a very special tea for a special occasion. If you would like to try the truly traditional taste of green tea, this is definitely your choice.

Hashiri Shincha
Hashiri means "early season" in Japanese. Our Hashiri Shincha is produced from very young leaves harvested at the end of April. These early-season leaves are very soft and contain a lot of sweetness. This is the taste of spring.

Hachiju Hachiya Shincha
Hachiju Hachiya literally means "88 nights," and refers to the eighty-eighth day since the beginning of spring. The period of time lets tea plants matured, and Hachiju Hachiya tea leaves have the perfect balance of sweetness and bitterness.

Shincha is a special tea for Japanese people. I believe these Sinchas will herald the arrival of spring.

International Restaurant & Foodservice Show NY

International Restaurant & Foodservice Show of NY was held from February 28 to March 2. To meet my customers in NY, I flied to JFK on February 24, and that was my mistake. On February 26, 4th biggest snow in 141 years hit Manhattan! 20.9 inches reported at the Central Park!! My country in Japan, Shizuoka, is very warm and rarely have snow, so this was my 1st experience to have such a huge snow storm - I was very lucky (or unlucky).


Let me introduce one of our customers in NY - BOZU Restaurant in Brooklyn. They are serving our teas and have very unique dessert - Hojicha Pudding. It had slight Hojicha flavor with very soft texture. I really love it. If you have chance to visit Brooklyn, please visit Bozu and try Hojicha Pudding.


At the end, International Restaurant & Foodservice Show of NY ended with a huge success. Japan Pavillion of this show was the largest Japan Pavillion ever, and there were so many people visiting to try Japanese specialty foods. We served more than thousand cups of tea samples and received many positive feedbacks. Especially, our new products - Sencha Powder and Genmaicha Powder attracted a lot of attention of restaurant buyers. Sencha Powder and Genmaicha Powder are very easy ways to serve delicious green tea. You just need to mix it with hot or cold water. In Japan, these powder teas are recognized as "eco-friendly tea" and start being used in many Sushi restaurants.

Winter Fancy Food Show 2010

35th Winter Fancy Food Show was held from January 17 to 19. Just like the last year, Shizuoka prefecture had a booth, and my company helped the booth to promote Shizuoka's most famous product - TEA. Compared to the last year, there were so many attendees from the first day. Some exhibitors said hopefully "it might be a sign of an economic upturn."

My brother came to the show from Japan to help me. There is nothing he doesn't know about our teas because he is the person making the teas with my father. Because he doesn't speak any English, only the problem was interpretation... my English!
We, Sugimoto America, believe the product safety is one of the most important as a company in the food industry. From this perspective, my brother's visit had great significance; my brother could have face-to-face conversation with customers and established personal relationship with them. We want our customers to know who makes our teas and how passionate we are.

Shizuoka is also famous as the catch of bonito"Katsuo," and the company called Shin-Marusho (visit their Japanese website?) also joined to the booth. Have you ever heard "Dashi?" Dashi is soup stock made by shaved dried bonito and is used for almost all Japanese cuisine. The person came from Shin-Marusho provided 2 kinds of Dashi soup and did some research about customers' preference. He said "contrary to my expectation, American preference is similar to Japanese. American people already have acquired taste of Dashi." Just like Sushi got popular in the U.S., there are many Japanese foods getting popular in the U.S. now. Green tea is one of them. Dashi might be the next one?

Japanese Mandarin and Pear Expo

December 10, 2009, Japanese Mandarin and Pear Expo was held for the first time in the U.S. This expo was supported by Japan's Agricultural Ministry and intended to increase the volume of trade of Japanese Mandarin "Aoshima" and Japanese Tottori 20th Century Pear.

Did you know there has been Japanese Mandarin "Aoshima" imported to the U.S. for centuries? Furthermore, it is surprising for me that only Aoshima Mandarin from Shizuoka prefecture, where our teas come from, is allowed to be imported to the U.S. As I blogged before, Shizuoka is famous as No.1 tea producing prefecture, and also famous as a quality Aoshima Mandarin producing region.

At the expo, Chef Dean Shinagawa and his team demonstrated a variety of ways to cook Aoshima Mandarin and Tottori 20th Century Pear. When I was in Japan, I ate a lot of these mandarins and pears, but what Chef Dean made was completely different from what I had eaten before and super delicious! Right now, many of Aoshima Mandarin imported to the U.S. go to Alaska, very few to the mainland. I hope Aoshima Mandarin gets more popular in the mainland, and many local grocery stores start carrying it.

Because our teas and Aoshima Mandarin come from the same Shizuoka prefecture, I provided green tea samples at the expo. Eating a mandarin orange with drinking green tea is authentic Japanese way to enjoy the winter time. It was my pleasure that many people enjoyed the Japanese tradition at the expo.

At the end, I'd like to thank Market to Japan to organize this expo and provide us with this great opportunity.

Try Hoji Cha!

Since the last week, we have had cold weather in Seattle. It has been around 30F; you might say it's not so cold, but it's too cold for me because I am from Shizuoka prefecture, Japan, where the weather is nice and warm. It takes time for me to get out of bed every morning.

Every morning, I warm myself up by drinking Hoji Cha. Hoji Cha is a robust and bold full-bodied tea. It is roasted giving it a distinctive character. The tea's pleasing flavor, golden brown color and low caffeine content make it appealing to tea drinkers of all ages. To brew Hoji Cha, you can use boiling water. High temperature makes tea flavorful with a little bit astringency. Hoji Cha itself doesn't have much astringency, so high-temperature water doesn't make your cup of tea too bitter.

Hoji Cha also goes well with milk. Warm toasty notes of Hoji Cha perfectly harmonize with milk. Add warmed milk into dark-steeped Hoji Cha. OR, you can put milk and Hoji Cha leaves in a pan and simmer over low heat. A few drops of vanilla essence enhances the aroma. Add sugar as you like. To enjoy the cold winter, I recommend this Hoji Cha Milk Tea.

Shop Hoji Cha?

Teapot Bottle

Teapot Bottle is now available in the U.S.!!

Teapot Bottle provides you with innovative ways to steep your favorite loose-leaf tea. It's very simple, but there has been nothing like this before.

This Teapot Bottle can be used to make both hot tea and cold tea. There is a filter at the centre of the thermos, and it keeps tea leaves in the bottle, not in your cup. Picture is worth a thousand words. See how-to-use video (Japanese).

Now we are offering "Introductory Sale" for all of our new products including greeTEAing card. For more information, please visit our website.