Tea Adventures of Current Interns

Justin, Patrick, Katrina, Hannah, Alex, and Satomi-san here! During our internship, we went on several trips and tea-related festivals and events, both individually and as a group. Being located in the Kansai region, there are countless possibilities for discovering many different places in Japan. In this blog, we will tell you a little bit about […]

A brief summary of Japanese Tea – Carly De La Cruz

This blog post is the creation of one of our amazing previous interns Carly De La Cruz. She came to Wazuka to learn about tea and she delved into the rich history and culture with fervour. It’s always a pleasure to see people so passionate about tea and so keen to learn more about how […]

What’s in a Name? Part III: Bancha & Hojicha

Are you ready for part 3?! Here come bancha and hojicha!  Bancha  番茶 The character for ban includes the characters for rice and field, and refers to a turn or a number in a series. Bancha is usually translated as coarse or common tea, and is made from mature leaves picked in between the four main harvests […]

What’s in a Name? Part II: Gyokuro & Kukicha

Welcome back to our blog series on tea names! Today, we’ll cover gyokuro and kukicha.   Gyokuro  玉露 Gyokuro, meaning “jewel dew,” conjures up an image of morning dewdrops collected from rare jade, and the tea liquor is a vibrant green color to match. Gyokuro is famous as a luxury tea; it’s harvested just once […]

What’s in a Name? Part I: Matcha, Tencha, and Sencha

Hello everyone! This week’s post is the first section of a series on Japanese tea names. If you’ve ever been curious why a tea is called by a particular name, this is the post for you!   Tea  茶 Perhaps the most important word on this list is cha, or tea. The Japanese character has its […]