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Japanese Tea update

May 15, 2012

hello. Uji is now at the beginning of full production. it is hotter

season, so the tea is growing fast.

we are buying very carefully as the steaming is not proper with many

teas as the leaves are harder(grown) than the

farmer thinks his leaves are. Matsuda is doing very well, so we are

excited to see the processed tea of

Matsuda in a few weeks. I believe he is one of the very few who is

doing best in the whole Wazuka.

Kagoshima is now ending its season in a few days. So far their

quality was not so good in the average.

Shizuoka has now produced one third of their production ability but

the market is crushing already.

we hear they have found very little level of radio active substance,

so the market should go steady than

last year, but it is falling. it was 2100yen average yesterday which

is about 10% lower than last year.

they say nobody is buying except Itoen, and strangely nobody discusses

about the quality.

It maybe because of the long deflation/depression of the economy, and

the radiation problem, and

mixture of it.

Mike Harney

Michael Harney has been the tea buyer and blender of Harney & Sons for twenty years. He travels to Asia and meets with tea producers from all the major tea countries, looking for the season's best teas. A graduate of Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration, he lives with his wife and their three sons in Salisbury, Connecticut.

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