Formosa Gunpowder
Legend has it that the name Gunpowder was given by an young English clerk who thought the tiny rolled green balls looked like gunpowder. The tea leaves are specially selected for quality, size and style. They are then rolled into tight nuggets. Gunpowder tea keeps a lot longer than other green teas and is favored because of this characteristic.

Generally, the better gunpowders come from Taiwan (Formosa). The first tea bushes were planted in Taiwan about 300 years ago with bushes from Fujian Province. The tea growing and production is concentrated around the northern part of Taiwan near Chi-lung.

Boiling water causes them to open up like flowers and sink slowly to the bottom in graceful patterns, which add a dimension of visual pleasure to tea drinking. This gunpowder produces a reasonably strong dark-green brew with a memorable fragrance, a slightly bitter but not unpleasant flavor and a long lasting finish. Gunpowder is more dense than other teas so one or two teaspoons for a teapot is all that is required.

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Genmaicha
This is a specialty Japanese green tea that is blended with fire-toasted rice. A good grade Japan sencha is blended with the toasted rice. The fresh vegetative character of the green tea is imparted on the cup, but it is tempered with the bakey-like character of the rice. There is a natural sweetness and almost chewy character to the finish of this tea. During the firing of the rice, it is not uncommon for rice to 'pop', not unlike popcorn, hence, the pet name 'popcorn tea'.

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Japanese Sencha
Japan produces some of the best green teas in the world. The efficiency of Japan's tea production is amongst the highest in the world reaching yields of 1500 pounds per acre. The tea made is generally considered the best green tea in the world.

The production of green tea entails the steaming of the green leaf and hand or machine rubbing. The teas are then pan fried or basket fired, which gives them a distinctive appearance and glossy look and feel. These methods give a taste that is light in colour, but rich and full in the cup.

Sencha is commonly used in Japanese tea ceremonies, marking events of personal importance. For ceremonies marking 'life altering events', matcha is used. Matcha is a sencha that has been turned into a powder through a painstaking, but important ritual.

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Jasmine with Flowers
Jasmine tea is one of the most pleasant tasting green teas available on the market. The tea is enhanced with the addition of jasmine blossoms, which give the tea a visual appeal few other teas have. There are many different grades of jasmine tea. This particular grade is the first grade below the exotic jasmines. It has all the flavour, aroma and good green tea qualities, but not the exorbitant price. In China, they declare this jasmine tea as 'Jasmine #1'.

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You'll find these quality Green Teas and more in our Tea Shop