Tea Maestro's Routine "Tea Cupping"

My father, Tea Maestro Sugimoto, has been making tea for over 40 years. Since he started his career as a tea professional, tea cupping is his daily crucial routine. He performs cupping before, during, and after the tea production to make sure his tea is being produced the way he wants.

He always uses boiling water to steep 4-5 grams of tea leaves. Once pouring the boiling water, he scoops and smells tea leaves. He doesn't necessarily drink the tea. Smell of the tea leaves tells everything. Use of boiling water is very important, he said. The boiling water brings out all the tea's characteristics, even negative elements. The key of the cupping is to find any fault to fix it.
When he finds faults, he meticulously adjust the blending ratio of the tea leaves.

Tea Maestro does this every single day. This is how our green tea is produced.

Eye-Opening Cold-Brewing

So, we've talked about how to make iced green tea with teabag last time.
Today I want to share with you the method of cold-brewing with loose leaf.
No hot water needed. That's right. No hot water at all!

Cold-brewing is a delicious and simple way of making sweet and flavorful green tea. Perfect for summer.
Have you ever wondered why the same green tea you have sometimes taste different?
It is most-likely due to the water temperature you use to brew your tea.

It's all about chemistry. The water temperature changes the balance of catechin (=bitterness) and theanin (=sweetness) in green tea, and gives you a wider range of flavor. So, Here's the tip.
The tea becomes sweeter when brewed with lower temperature.
The tea becomes bitter when brewed with higher temperature. With that in mind, you can enjoy variation of flavor with the same tea by controlling the water temperature. It's worth trying.

Today, we brew with very cold water.

1. Use a little more loose leaf than your regular hot-water brewing. We use 3-4 teaspoons of Sen Cha loose leaf for a 12 oz Tokoname teapot.

2. Add ice cubes and water into the teapot.
3. Brew for 5 minutes.

4. Pour into your favorite glass. When you pour, you may want to shake your teapot a little to evenly pour out the extract. That's all.

It is very flavorful and sweet! Even thought it is not brewed with hot water, it's got the fantastic aroma and color of green tea. You can enjoy the second brewing, the third brewing and even the forth!

Try cold-brewing with SA Sen Cha!
All Sen Cha Loose Leaf products are on sale through August.

Because our SA green tea is "fukamushi (deep-steamed)" green tea, it works perfectly well for cold-brewing.

Another interesting method I want to introduce to you is ice-brewing. I personally have not tried it yet but I am VERY interested.
You literally brew green tea with ice only. Drip by drip brewing slowly. It must be SOOO good.
I found ice-brewing teapot on Amazon.
Anyone wants to try ice-brewing with our Sen Cha?

Iced Green Tea

Are you enjoying the sun?
Try iced green tea in the hot weather like this. It's so delicious, soothing, healthy and easy to make.

You can use loose leaf or teabag to make iced tea. Loose leaf always gives you its best flavor. But teabag is very convenient and tastes fantastic as well. Follow the instruction to make delicious iced green tea at home using large teabags.

SA Japanese Green Tea has three wonderful flavors of large teabags.
Sen Cha | Classic Green Tea
Hoji Cha | Roasted Green Tea
Genmai Cha | Green Tea with Roasted Brown Rice & Matcha

Now all the large teabags are 10% off through July!

Make a pitcher of iced green tea and enjoy it with your whole family. Or how about green tea on the rocks? Soothing emerald green and wonderful flavor will surely please your palate.

Key point of making delicious iced green tea is that you need to brew it thick with a little amount of hot water first. Then pour iced water or ice cubes to cool it immediately. It will lock in the flavor and slow down the oxidation.



Pitcher of Iced Green Tea

Drop a teabag in a pitcher. 1-2 teabags per quarter gallon depending on your preferences.

Add a little amount of hot water to brew the tea thick.

Pour iced water to cool it. Keep the pitcher in the fridge and use it up within a day to enjoy its freshness.












Green Tea On The Rocks

Drop a teabag in a glass.








Add a little amount of hot water to brew the tea thick.







Pour ice cubes and enjoy!

Visit Us at World Tea Expo in Las Vegas

Come Visit Us at Booth #416

Sugimoto America is excited to introduce our premium green tea at the World Tea Expo in Las Vegas. Please visit our booth and try varieties of Japanese green tea.

Meet the Maestro

Award-winning tea producer, Tea Maestro Sugimoto will join us from Japan. Come and chat with him or ask him questions. This will be a great opportunity to know more about Japanese green tea and its culture.

World Tea Expo 2011

June 24 - 26, 2011

Location: Las Vegas Convention Center

Address: 3000 Paradise Road

Las Vegas, NV 89109

www.worldteaexpo.com

"Drip Tea" Won New Product Award at World Tea Expo

We are very excited to announce that our new tea concept Drip Tea won the New Product Award at World Tea Expo 2011.

Drip Tea lets you enjoy the authentic green tea with no fuss. No tea pots needed. Just pour hot water into the filter placed on your cup. It brews perfectly just like brewing in a teapot. When you are done, just toss the filter. It’s that easy!
Unlike ordinary teabags, Drip Tea never brew tea too strong or too weak. Our revolutionary filter is designed to drip at a perfect speed to extract the delicious flavor of green tea.

We are introducing this new concept product at World Tea Expo in Las Vegas.
Visit us at Booth # 416 and meet our award-winning tea blender, Maestro Sugimoto. He will come from Japan just for this show.

World Tea Expo 2011
June 24 - 26, 2011
Las Vegas Convention Center

Shin Cha Report - Final

Young green tea leaves were harvested on May 9, 2011 for making Hachijyu Hachiya Shin Cha. Hachijyu Hachiya Shin Cha is our last Shin Cha (New Tea) product of 2011.

Maestro Sugimoto excitedly told us that green tea quality of this spring is excellent. "Aroma is delightful. We can enjoy delicious green tea this year. " said Maestro.

Hachijyu Hachiya Shin Cha was air-shipped from Japan on May 10, and it will be delivered to those who have placed an order soon.

Only 20 units of Hachijyu Hachiya Shin Cha are available now.
If you want to try the freshest green tea, please visit our online store.

Mother's Day Coupon for You!

Are you still looking for something for the Mother's Day?

Coupon Code: A050211MOM
5% off for purchase of $20 or more
Valid until the Mother's Day of May 8, 2011

Use this coupon to buy healthy green tea gifts for your loved ones.
You can choose any item from SA Japanese Green Tea online store.

Don't miss out our featured gift sets that are beautifully wrapped for this special occasion.