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| Konacha is Now Available! |
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| This Month's Tea |
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| Main Topic |
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| Seasonal Topics & Items |
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| Dear Sir and Madam, |
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| We at Hibiki-an THANK YOU VERY MUCH for your continued patronage and support. We are pleased to offer useful information for your healthy life and continued enjoyment of Japanese green tea. In this issue, we talk about 'Konacha is Now Available! (This Month's Tea)'. |
Konacha is made from the specks and tiny tea leaves of Gyokuro or Sencha tea leaves. Konacha is less expensive than tea leaves because Konacha is a natural byproduct of traditional tea processing, like Karigane. Especially Konacha, sorted from high grade tea leaves, has a better flavor than tea leaves of a similarly low price.
Our Konacha is made from specks and tiny tea leaves of high grade Gyokuro or Sencha, because specks sorted from middle or low grade tea leaves have an undesirable flavor.
In Japan, tea connoisseurs search for high quality Konacha. High quality Konacha is sometimes difficult to find. Konacha accounts for only 10% of all tea leaves. Besides, top quality tea leaves are grown in limited quantity. Hibiki-an is able to have a steady supply of Konacha because we grow and sell only high grade tea leaves.
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| The brewed infusion color is deeper than regular Gyokuro due to the very fine dusting of tea leaf, one characteristic of Konacha. |
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| Konacha is sorted specks and tiny tea leaves from high grade Gyokuro or Sencha. |
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| Left side is Gyokuro Konacha tea leaves and right side is regular Gyokuro. You can see that Konacha is a very fine dusting of tea leaf. |
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| Specks or tiny tea leaves for Konacha are sorted at several steps of the finishing process. This step is first sorting Aracha unprocessed tea leaves. |
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| This step is second sorting Aracha unprocessed tea leaves. |
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| At this step, tea leaves are divided into specks and Mecha sprout tea leaves. |
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[Limited] Konacha is Now Available! |
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Konacha is made from the specks and tiny tea leaves of Gyokuro or Sencha tea leaves. Konacha is less expensive than tea leaves because Konacha is a natural byproduct of traditional tea processing, like Karigane. Especially Konacha, sorted from high grade tea leaves, has a better flavor than tea leaves of a similarly low price.
All items below are limited edition of 600 packages each ONLY AVAILABLE this summer season.
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[Limited] Gyokuro Konacha Super Premium (100g/3.53oz): US$19.00 (Now Available)
Gyokuro Konacha Super Premium is an excellent value. Because it is made from the specks and tiny tea leaves of only the highest quality Gyokuro, such as Gyokuro Pinnacle, Super Premium, Kuradashi Gyokuro Pinnacle, and Super Premium, you can have the finest quality for a fraction of the cost... |
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[Limited] Gyokuro Konacha (200g/7.06oz): US$27.00 (Now Available)
Made from premium Gyokuro specks and tiny tea leaves, Gyokuro Konacha has a unique and delicately sweet flavor. Gyokuro Konacha is an excellent value. Because it is made from the specks and tiny tea leaves of only high quality Gyokuro... |
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[Limited] Sencha Konacha (200g/7.06oz): US$19.00 (Now Available)
Made from premium Sencha specks and tiny tea leaves, Sencha Konacha has a unique and delicately sweet flavor. Sencha Konacha is an excellent value. Because it is made from the specks and tiny tea leaves of only high quality Sencha... |
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A Tip for Brewing Konacha: click here
Konacha specks are more easily brewed for shorter time than regular Gyokuro or Sencha tea leaves. The brewing time is half of regular Gyokuro or Sencha tea leaves... |
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Iced Gyokuro and Sencha Using Konacha: click here
Iced Gyokuro and Sencha Using Konacha: Konacha brews quickly and flavorfully in about half the time as regular Gyokuro or Sencha tea leaves, so Konacha is perfect for Iced Gyokuro and Sencha... |
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| What is Konacha?: click here |
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| Are you enjoying your green moments? Hibiki-an encourages those who love to drink green tea. If you have any requests or questions regarding our teas or services, please don't hesitate to contact us. We sincerely hope that you enjoy genuine Hibiki-an Japanese green tea direct to you from Kyoto, Japan. |
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| Sincerely yours, |
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| Atsushi Yasui |
Seasonal Topics & Items
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[Limited] Tencha is Now Available! |
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| Both Tencha teas below are limited edition of 600 packages each ONLY AVAILABLE this summer season. We hope you will enjoy the pure and elegant flavor of Tencha! |
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[Limited] Tencha Pinnacle (30g/1.06oz) US$31.00 (Now Available)
Traditionally, Tencha was not brewed like Gyokuro or Sencha, because this was not included in the traditional Tea Ceremony teachings. And so, for many years, brewed Tencha has quietly been enjoyed in secret among only a few Matcha manufacturers... |
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[Limited] Tencha Super Premium (30g/1.06oz) US$23.00 (Now Available)
This Tencha Super Premium has specially been arranged in order to be brewed in the same way as Gyokuro or Sencha. The taste is deep and mellow, and the subtle noble aroma lingers in the mouth for a while... |
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[Limited] Tencha Premium (60g/2.12oz) US$27.00 (Now Available)
Tea leaves for Tencha (Matcha) are grown in the same way as Gyokuro, but processed differently than Gyokuro. The growing and processing bring the unique excellent flavor of Tencha. Of course, this Tencha also makes a lovely iced tea. The flavor is uniquely elegant... |
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Iced Tencha: click here
Have you tried Iced Tencha? Iced Tencha has a unique, excellent, and noble flavor which is different both from Iced Gyokuro and Matcha... |
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| What is Tencha?: click here |
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[Limited] Handpainted Glasses, Elegant Yunomi & Matcha Bowl (Summer)
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| We have arranged for some glass tea ware and porcelain, which are all limited
edition only available this summer season. They are all designed with modern,
sophisticated style, while others use traditional handcrafted techniques
for a more traditional design. They will all expand in application depending
on your idea. Please take a look. |
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[Limited] TAKE SANKAKUZU (handpainted glass: pair): US$110.00 (Now Available)
Drawing patterns of this pair of sophisticated tumbler glasses are designed in the motif of a traditional paintings of artisans who revived or established flourish schools which both played the most significant role in Japanese painting history... |
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[Limited] TAKEZU (handpainted glass: 330ml): US$65.00 (Now Available)
This drawing pattern is designed in the motif of a traditional painting called TAKE TORAZU, which was originally drawn by Tanyu Kano (1602 - 1672). He was the great ancestor who revived the KANO school which played the most significant role in Japanese painting history... |
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[Limited] SANKAKUZU (handpainted glass: 330ml): US$65.00 (Now Available)
This drawing pattern is designed in the motif of a traditional drawing pattern called KAKUZU, which was originally drawn by Hohitsu Sakai (1761 - 11829). This looks like the cranes are standing in the water (bottom of glass); a beautiful effect... |
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[Limited] HANA KESSHO HANADA (handcrafted Matcha Bowl): US$106.00 (Now Available)
This Matcha bowl is flat and open style. The flat style was originally developed in order to choreograph coolness in the summer season in the Middle Ages. This HANADA color is quite elegant and beautiful like a clear blue sky or crystal clear aqua ocean... |
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Shincha is Now Available!
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At last, the Shincha Harvest started here in the Uji region!
Shincha teas are now available. We have arranged to add four limited edition
Shincha items only available this Shincha harvest season, featuring a few
regular Sencha items with especially enjoyable Shincha flavor. |
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Limited edition Shincha items
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| What is Shincha?: click here
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Almost Regular Sencha and Gyokuro Replaced by New Crop |
| Replacement Status of Regular Teas by New Crop: click here |
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Iced Houjicha is made from roasted green tea also known as Bancha.
Traditionally, tea farmers exhausted from working in hot summer weather would take a break and enjoy Iced Houjicha. First, they would boil water and tea in a kettle. Then they would cool it off by submerging the kettle of tea in a nearby brook. In fact, most everyone in Japan, not just farmers, traditionally enjoyed Iced Houjicha in the summer season. Houjicha hardly contains Caffeine but it does contain beneficial Catechin. Also Houjicha is a good affordable everyday tea. Iced Houjicha is a source of health for farmers in the hot summer season.
You can brew Iced Houjicha with all our Houjicha teas: Houjicha (Bancha), Houjicha Karigane, Organic Houjicha, and Teabag Houjicha.
There are two ways to make Iced Houjicha. If anything, we recommend you try the Traditional Japanese farmer's recipe at least once! |
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(1) Traditional Japanese farmer's recipe |
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Boil water in a large kettle (about 2 liters) |
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Pour 1/2 cup of Houjicha tea leaves into the kettle and boil for 2 minutes. |
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After cooling it a little, fully chill the tea in the refrigerator. |
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(2) Brewing by using Kyusu (teapot) |
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Place 7 to 8g (3 tablespoons) of Houjicha tea leaves into the Kyusu (teapot). |
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Pour 200ml (7.04fl oz) of boiling temperature of water into the Kyusu. |
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Wait for 1 minute. You'll want to brew the tea quite strongly because later the thawed ice will weaken the flavor. |
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Pour tea from the Kyusu into each glass filled with pieces of ice to cool the tea quickly. Pour alternately little by little, so that the quantity and taste of the tea is equal in each glass. |
| You can brew Iced Houjicha with any of our Houjicha teas. Visit the Houjicha teas shopping page. |
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(Notice) Tracking Delivery Status on our Website
You can now check the delivery status of orders shipped by Express International Delivery on your Account Information (Order History page) on our website. Previously, our customers had to ask us for the tracking number and check the status on their own. Now that the delivery status of orders shipped by Express International is available on our website, this will help to ensure that orders will reach our customers more smoothly. Orders shipped by Standard International Delivery are not trackable, which is the same as in the past. |
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- Order History page: clicking here.
- Express International Delivery: clicking here.
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Account info
You can view your account info, including your order history, as well as change your email, password, or home address or add a new shipping address to your address book by clicking here.
Or if you prefer, we are happy to update your account info for you. Just let us know. Please don't hesitate to contact us!
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