Gyokuro: What a Pot Actually Costs, and Which One to Buy
A pot of gyokuro costs between $1.53 and $9.90 depending on the shop. What to buy, what to pay, and why the price is climbing.
Fuki Narita
Genmaicha: What It Costs, What to Buy, and the One Thing No Label Tells You
Genmaicha runs $0.42 to $0.80 a cup in the US. What to buy, why it isn’t always the cheap option, and the number no seller publishes.
Matcha Starter Sets: What You Actually Need, and Where to Buy It Cheaper
The same Jade Leaf sets cost 23–40% less on Walmart than on Jade Leaf’s own site. What you actually need, and why sets cost $118.
Matcha Whisks: What to Buy, and Why the Prong Count Doesn’t Matter
Spend $20. A whisk is a consumable that lasts one to two years, and the prong count is a style, not a quality grade.
What Japanese Tea Costs: The Price Index
Matcha $2.34 a bowl, hojicha $0.99 a cup, gyokuro $4.00 a pot. Every Japanese tea in one unit, so you can actually compare.
Hojicha Powder
What It Costs and What to Buy:Hojicha powder is 60 cents a latte at the cheapest shop and a third the price of matcha. What to buy and how to compare units.
How to Tell Good Matcha From Expensive Matcha
Only two of fourteen American shops print a harvest date. What actually signals quality, what “ceremonial” is worth, and the tests that work at home.
Ippodo Matcha
What to Buy, and What You Pay for Buying It in America:Ippodo’s cheapest tin is $1.10 a bowl — better value than its reputation suggests. What to buy and what the US shop costs you.
“Uji Matcha”: What the Place Name Costs You, and What It Legally Means
Putting “Uji” on a tin adds about $2.40 to every bowl. What the name legally guarantees, why Nishio lost its protection, and where the value is.
Matcha Cultivars
Which Names Are Worth Paying For:Naming a Uji cultivar adds $2 a bowl. What Asahi, Samidori, Okumidori and Yabukita actually are, and which is the value pick.