Powdered Shizuoka Green Tea from a Shoutengai Tea Shop

Up until recently, all my tea adventures have been done at either supermarkets or drugstores. While those places offer products at fair prices, they often carry similar products and brands across shops and mostly from the same few green tea makers. I realized that my selections were limited in terms of maker, and I wanted to explore more.

Then one day I walked by a small tea shop at the local shoutengai (shopping market street). I realized that after almost 8 years in Japan, I have never entered these small tea shops, as they often intimidate me. It is like how if you were someone who only drinks cheap instant coffee, it is hard to walk into a legitimate coffee bean roaster. That thought is kind of silly, though, and was I glad that I decided to walk in!

The shop had so much to offer: many packaged teas that work as gifts or for self-use, and plenty of unpackaged tea that you can buy by the gram, on the spot. Teas came from many different brands too, including a lot from Shizuoka, most of which I have never seen in supermarkets. Somewhat overwhelmed, I picked up a small bag of Shizuoka powdered green tea, because we have been using them quite a lot lately.

This Shizuoka green tea is made in Kakegawa, but the distributor is Chaho Hayashi, which I realized is the small Tokyo tea shop I bought it from. This means that it is quite unlikely that you'll find this exact tea sold in big shops. The price point was great too, as the small bag costs just 550 yen with tax included.

As the back of the package explained, we only get to drink 30% of the tea from brewing tea leaves, whereas powdered green tea gives us 100%. That is why I always make 2-3 brews from the same leaves, but powdered green tea is definitely more convenient.

This tea was extremely fine, and it made it easy to dissolve with hot water. If you are making a cold tea, I would recommend dissolving the tea with a bit of hot water first before adding cold water and ice. The colour was a beautiful bright green that made me question my eyes. I had no idea the colour could be so stunning, when the ingredient was 100% Kakegawa tea!

The flavour was very refreshing too, though the aftertaste was a bit lacking, and I feel like that might be an issue with powdered tea in general. It was also not too bitter even though it felt very rich in consistency, so it might not be what everyone expects based on its powerful colour. On the other hand, there were also no bits and pieces of the tea leaves as I drank, which was a very welcoming change.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable tea and a great first experience buying tea from a small tea shop, and I look forward to stepping in again to try other Shizuoka teas they offer!

This post is supported by Shizuoka Green Tea Guide, one of City-Cost's Supporters helping City-Cost bloggers to enjoy life in Japan and engage in new experiences.