Journal

A guide to our matcha

A guide to our matcha

Over the past year, through several sourcing trips to Japan, we have gradually expanded our matcha offerings at the shop. Now Cultivate carries m...

Arita Sansuien of Uji, Kyoto

Arita Sansuien was founded in 1949 in Uji, Kyoto by Ippei Arita. We visited Ippei Arita in March of 2024, and he graciously showed us the beautif...

Ikkoen Chaho of Nagoya, Aichi

Ikkoen Chaho is a tiny tea shop founded in 1947 by Hiroshi Mitsuo in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. Now it is run by the son of Hiroshi and his wife, ...

Dento Hon Gyokuro: Lessons in Mouthfeel

Gyokuro - a traditional green tea from Yame in Japan - really resides in a class of its own. It offers such an arresting and unusual experience, w...

Gyokuro: Our Brewing Guide

To truly experience this unique and fascinating tea, you will need to give it some special attention in the brewing process... Here is our guide t...

Jasmine: scent memory, and the most enchanting seasonal tea

Jasmine flowers only blooms once each year. In most of China this is late July, and their blooming season is a brief two weeks long. Part of the...

Lapsang Souchong

The name,” Lapsang Souchong,” is the direct translation of 正山小种. The first two characters of this name, 正山, translate loosely into “The mountain” a...

Cooling Greens: Everyday Shincha

The next two months will be peak Summer heat for most of us. There are no better conditions for enjoying refreshing green teas ...we suspect we wi...

Three new Shincha (Fresh Harvest Sencha)

Spring and early summer is a thrilling time for Cultivate, as shipments of fresh harvests continue to arrive from China and Japan. Look at what we...

River, Cliff, and Volcano Tea: Sencha from Maruhachi Tea

Our seasonal exploration of Sencha continues with new arrivals from the catalogue of Maruhachi Tea Factory. Our first sencha is from the Higash...

Making Iced Matcha Latte, at home

The heat of the sun is reaching us, and we would like to share one of our favourite ways to cool down with you: Whisked Yamabuki matcha poured over...

Unexpected Teas from Yakushima, Japan

Yakushima 屋久岛 is a small island off of Kagoshima, in southern Japan. It is a World Heritage Site, and well known as home to an ancient forest that...

Japanese Roasted Tea and Maruhachi Tea Factory

“Hojicha” refers to any type of Japanese tea that has been roasted. Most people don’t know that sencha and bancha are the raw materials for making ...