Winter is slowly turning to spring, but here in Portland it's still sweater weather! The cool mornings and evenings have encouraged us to savor the warm, chocolaty notes of our our organic Kyô-bancha... and to be honest we do not mind that at all. What makes our Kyô-bancha special? Read on to find out!
Kyô-bancha, which originated in the Uji region, is what we call a more "rustic" tea. Comprised of unrefined harvest (called aracha) the tea showcases large leaves of varying sizes and stems collected from pruning the tea plants. This is truly a zero-waste tea!
Kyô-bancha's defining characteristic is in its roast. The tea is roasted for varying times and to different temperatures (depending on the producer) to extract different flavor characteristics — much like how different artisans roast coffee to showcase different flavors. Furthermore, tea leaves grown for Kyô-bancha or houjicha are grown in full sunlight, which results in a high concentration of the super-antioxidant Catechin.
Our producer's Kyô-bancha is exquisitely chocolatey in aroma and exhibits a warm, satisfying earthy flavor similar to roasted chicory or cocoa nibs. We love drinking it hot, but have to admit it's amazing cold-brewed as well (just in case you're lucky enough to live somewhere warm year-round).
Bonus - it's low in caffeine!
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I wanted to personally write and let you know that beginning Friday, April 22nd, the price of our Daily Matcha will increase by one dollar, from $20 to $21. This is the first time we have been required to raise the price of tea in our 8.5 year history, and as a thank you for your continued support I wanted to give you a heads up.