Competition Grade Tea and Belended Sencha are now available. They are all limited edition only available this winter season.

With a single cup of Blended Sencha, one can concurrently enjoy two different characteristics: the aroma of Sencha and the taste of Gyokuro. Blended Sencha is more sweet and mellow than basic Sencha, characteristic of Gyokuro. But, it has a more refreshing aroma than Gyokuro, characteristic of Sencha.

The aroma of Sencha and the taste of Gyokuro are created by a labor-intensive blending technique similar to that of Blended Sencha Premium or Super Premium.

Arcanum is a great secret of nature, a natural mystery or special blend of natural ingredients, known only to a small group of specialists, such as alchemists. We call this tea "Arcanum" because it is a special blend of Sencha which provides a dramatically intense and balanced flavor.

Blending technique as well as evaluating technique are important factors for tea manufacturers and tea merchants in order to intensify the flavor, fill in gaps of flavor, or keep the flavor equalized throughout the year.

Our Blended Sencha Premium and Super Premium are blended in order to dramatically intensify the flavor. Depending on the skill of the tea manufacturer, the flavor of blended tea will either become dramatically intensified or completely destroyed.

The taste and aroma of the tea leaves to be blended must work well together. Most teas actually do not taste well when blended together, so the tea manufacturer must have a thorough understanding of the blending technique, as well as specific knowledge of which finished teas and breeds of tea can be blended. Some teas create excellent harmony when blended together. The tea manufacturer must choose these teas wisely to create a top-quality finished product. In addition, the difference in degrees of diffused sunlight before harvest affects the final product of the blended tea. It does not work well to blend tea leaves grown in full sunlight and tea leaves grown in totally diffused sunlight. Extreme flavors don't work well in most cases.

The above factors, especially the breed of tea and growing technique (diffusion of sunlight), largely influences the blended flavor. They are central in blending. Therefore, the tea manufacturer must train on a day-to-day basis - the blending of tea is a true art form and the manufacturer must be a skilled alchemist.

Needless to say, all our tea leaves used for blending are healthy and in ideal condition. It is impossible to redeem defective tea leaves with blending techniques. If defective tea leaves are blended with healthy leaves, unfortunately the healthy leaves absorb the unexpected flavors of the defective leaves, and the entire batch is ruined. Therefore, it is extremely important for farmer and tea producer to grow and buy only healthy tea leaves. The purity and quality of the final tea product depends on the careful and vigilant discipline of the farmer and tea producer every day from conditioning the soil and growing the tea leaves to harvest and packaging. In this way, we ensure that only healthy, top quality tea leaves are sold to the customer. This way of producing green tea with an eye to detail and quality is an important part of Japanese green tea culture and tradition.

We have arranged to add three limited edition Competition Grade teas and two limited edition Belended Sencha teas.

Competition Grade Tea is extremely rare and available only at the National Tea Fair of Japan, attended by those within the Japanese green tea industry. The flavor is unique only to teas contributed to the exclusive competition and quite different from usual tea.

Belended Sencha has concurrently two different characteristics: the aroma of Sencha and the taste of Gyokuro. They are composed of fine and unique breeds of tea with special characteristics. Each individual tea is more sweet and mellow than basic Sencha, characteristic of Gyokuro. But, it has a more refreshing aroma than Gyokuro, characteristic of Sencha.

Competition Grade Tea is limited edition of just 650 packages each and Blended Sencha is limited edition of just 850 packages each ONLY AVAILABLE this winter season.