Sensational Sencha for Summer - Chado Tea House Newsletter August 2025
Pick a Craze, Any Craze
Vancouver - sunny and warm. Japan is very hot.
Every summer, Japan gets hot, but what really gets you is the humidity. Places like Tokyo are well known for high humidity, and many ‘Tokyoites’ plan their summer holidays to be out of the city. This year it is really hot, so from the tea picking in the fields of Uji to the commuters on Tokyo’s underground commuter trains – it is probably not much fun.
Japan has a ‘Tea Cultivation Line’ (北限のお茶 or hokugen no ocha), which is the line going east-west that marks the upper limit of where it is practical to grow tea. Currently, the line is through Ibaraki Prefecture, which is about halfway up the main island of Japan.
Hokkaido, one of our favorite parts of Japan to visit – but don’t tell anyone, is the large northern island at the top of Japan, and so much further North than the cultivation line. The temperature there last week was 42 degrees, which was a record.
Research projects are now underway in Hokkaido to explore the potential of growing tea in the region. One such project is 'The Northern Limit Tea Project', which pretty much sums it up. The project is mainly for research and educational purposes, but they do produce small quantities of specialty tea, like roasted kamairicha and black teas.
Japanese Walking!
We'll be discussing the big Japanese Craze in a moment, but first, let's take a look at another one.
By many accounts, this is a big thing now. A quick survey of the Chado Tea House people found nobody had heard of it yet, but according to the Craze Meter, it is up there.
The idea is to walk quickly for 3 minutes, then slowly for 3 minutes, repeat this pattern until 30 minutes is up. According to the research, this 30-minute exercise yields significantly more positive benefits than a regular 30-minute stroll. Even the Guardian in the UK is giving it a try.
Now the other craze - Matcha.
It might be past the craze stage now and be here to stay. Lots of people love their Matcha these days, and there is not enough to go around.
We are having trouble obtaining delivery times for our orders from suppliers. We have Matcha in stock, but we're currently facing a challenge in getting timely delivery of new stock. This is happening to stores everywhere. We have long-standing, very good relationships with our suppliers, but we are hearing of other wholesale clients being told they cannot be accommodated.
The demand for Matcha is also affecting other teas now. Some farmers are changing the way they grow and process the tea this year. Many producers are being offered high prices for their tea to be grown under shade and sent for processing at Matcha producers rather than the sencha, Gyokuro and so on producers they used in the past.
We are having difficulty getting some tea that we have carried for many years because of this. We are working to ensure we have a good supply of Matcha and our other teas.
In celebration of Mountain Day in Japan on August 11th, Mount Fuji viewed from Lake Shōji. Any excuse to showcase Mount Fuji! Image by Alpsdake.
Two Sencha Teas to Try
Sencha is still the most widely produced and consumed Japanese Tea.
The production method of Sencha Tea is quite complex, and the techniques used and machinery developed to produce the distinctive sencha 'needle' shaped tea are a great thing to see in person if you ever get the chance to visit a tea farm and/or production facility.
These farm visits are very popular in Japan now, and some allow hand-picking and rolling, so you can appreciate the making of the tea up close and personal.
PREMIUM Fukamushi Sencha SHIZUKA - Silver Tea is Back!
One of our all-time best-selling teas, Imperial Silver, won the Gold prize for two consecutive years from the prestigious Monde Selection of Brussels, Belgium.
It is back in a new package with extra tea - 80g instead of 70g.
Premium Japanese Sencha tea. Premium leaves are deeply steamed, which yields excellent color and a rich, deep flavor. Fukamushi is especially popular in Shizuoka Prefecture, where it’s said that prolonged steaming helps bring out the flavor from leaves grown in areas with less sunlight.
We are very happy to have this tea back in stock.
First flush, Fukamushi, Shizuoka
4g (1 1/4tsp) / One cup / 80-70°C (176-158°F) /30-45 sec / brew up to 3 times
Platinum Award-Winning Tea at Nihoncha Awards 2022.
Sencha KIRARI 2025 harvest - we have waited a long time to bring you this exceptional tea, and we hope you agree that the wait was worthwhile.
This Sencha KIRARI is harvested in the Enshu district of Shizuoka prefecture. It received the Platinum Award in a Japanese tea competition in 2022 and sold out very early, so we reserved the upcoming 2025 harvest. Finally, it’s arrived.
The delicious taste hits your taste buds the moment the tea touches them. The Sencha has a well-proportioned, rounded edge - a truly satisfying taste, and we believe it is deserving of the award.
Kirari 31 (official name of Kirari) is a strain selected from a group of seedlings bred in 1994 with ‘Saki-Midori’ as the seed parent and ‘Sae-Midori’ as the pollen parent. The cultivar was only registered in 2015 and is a very rare cultivar at this time. It has many of the qualities of the dominant Yabukita cultivar in terms of its resistance and robustness, so we expect it to increase in popularity over time. We certainly look forward to more if the quality can match this tea.
This cultivar is suitable for high-quality Sencha, as here, and also for Matcha and Gyokuro production, as they contain high levels of theanine.
4g (1 1/4tsp) / One cup / 80-70°C (176-158°F) /30-45 sec / brew up to 3 times
Tariff Update for US Customers
There has been a significant development on the tariff front.
We are based in Canada, and the tea we sell is from Japan. So far, we have not received notice that our shipments to US customers have incurred tariffs at the time of delivery.
For many years, we have shipped products under Section 321, a part of the customs system that exempts small shipments from duties and tariffs. This is called De Minimis and has been in effect since the 1930s.
It was announced a few months ago that the De Minimis system was due to be removed by the US in 2027, but has now been moved ahead to August 29th, 2025. The intention is to remove the system for all countries, so every parcel entering the US will be liable for Tariffs, Duties and Taxes.
At this time, there is much confusion about how the changes will be implemented, enforced, and applied.
If you are considering ordering in the next 30 days, it may be better to place your order before August 29th to avoid potential problems.
There is further confusion between postal and courier services. We currently use postal services provided by Canada Post and the US Postal Service to deliver our products to US customers. There is speculation that postal services will not be affected at this time.
The method of applying tariffs to 'De Minimis' shipments is either by using rates based on the product's value or 'not ad valorem', which is a flat rate. We are not sure why these Latin terms are being used. I went to school a long time ago in England when corporal punishment was still popular. You knew when the teachers started addressing you in Latin that a punishment was coming, usually involving something that hurt. This feels similar.
We are preparing for these changes to understand all the implications and ensure that our US customers can still enjoy our products at a fair price.
We promise to keep you posted. We will not be charging extra for our shipments to the US at this time. If any issues arise with parcel delivery, we will work with affected customers. Please contact us if you have any problems with delivery.
As stated earlier, things have been going smoothly since the various changes came into effect earlier this year, but the De minimis change, if it goes ahead, will likely affect our service, and we will let you know as soon as we have more information.
Happy Tea Drinking Where You Are.