Japanese Teas

Tea is done differently in Japan. The Camelia sinensis plant was brought to Japan from China around the year 800 AD, and Japanese tea and tea culture to this day reflect the influence of the contemporary Chinese Tang Dynasty. In Japan, leaves are steamed instead of dried, and are at times ground so that they can be whisked into water. These techniques originated in the Tang Dynasty, and are rarely reflected outside of Japan today.

A.Holliday & Co supplies handcrafted teas from Japan, and imports them to the North American market. Our Japanese teas reflect the best results of centuries of process refinement in Japan. We supply teas from across the region. Our teas include Gyokuro, which is carefully shaded a month before picking to give it a unique grassy and sweet flavor, Hojicha, a roasted green tea with a bold and rich flavor, and Genmaicha, a nutty blend of sencha and popped rice.

Holliday & Co also supplies different grades of matcha, a ground green tea that is traditionally used in the Japanese tea ceremony. Matcha is antioxidant, and contains high levels of L-Theanine – you consume the entire ground leaf, so you get all the benefits of green tea concentrated in a single cup.

Every Japanese tea we import and distribute is hand selected to represent the best of a unique and unusual tea culture.