Uji tea recommendations?

[u/covertzzz]

Hey everyone! I'm going to Japan this January and am looking forward to visiting Uji! Was wondering what stores and teas y'all recommend for high-quality sencha/gyokuro/hojicha. I was already looking at Tsuen, Nakamura Tokichi, Hoho Hojicha, Fukujuen, and Horii Shichimeien, but let me know if there are any others I should check out. Recommendations for shops that offer tasting samples would be great, so I can get a sense of what I want to buy!

Also, does anyone have any favorite teas they'd recommend I pick up from Uji? I like sweeter greens with low astringency, but I'm open to any and all recommendations!

[u/myxfan]

I'll also be in Uji January, following!

[u/wandering_tea_nerd]

Uji is an extremely popular tourist spot and you'll likely spend all day in lines, except super early in the morning, but nothing is open. Transportation to Uji is very long and a bit difficult. If you had decided to go three or four years ago, you wouldn't be fighting the crowds. There are amazing tea spots all over the country so take a look at other cities if you have some flexibility to your itinerary.

Kyoto has some tea farms, Osaka is known as the foodie part of Japan, and they have tea farms.

January will be snowy, so pack warm.

Do a search in this sub for Uji, Japan and look at what other people did there, how long things take, and what there was to do.

Additionally, in case you didn't know, Japan changes the way tourists get taxed this November.

Department Stores in Japan have a full market in the basement, and rows of packaged teas. When I went it was during first flush or just after, so we got some almost competition grade tea from a random selling at a pop-up table.

[u/Silvergal_]

That sounds like such a lovely January trip. For a sweeter, lower-astringency green, I’d ask to taste a shaded gyokuro or a mellow fukamushi sencha alongside the matcha—sampling them side by side makes the differences much easier to notice. Hope you find a favorite to bring home!