Tea that actually tastes like something.
A reference catalog of 26 specialty tea brands, 24 origin regions, 24 cultivars, 12 processing methods, and 10 brewing techniques. From Japanese deep-steamed sencha to Yunnan sheng pu-erh.
The encyclopedia
Six interconnected reference sections. Pick a brand, trace its origins; pick a process, see what makes a tea what it is.
Specialty tea brands
26 brands worth your money. Japanese specialists, Chinese pu-erh dealers, Taiwanese oolong masters, and the modern wave of loose-leaf retailers. Filtered by tea-type focus.
26 brandsTea origins
24 tea-producing regions across China, Japan, Taiwan, India, Sri Lanka, Korea, and beyond. Terroir, climate, dominant cultivars, regional traditions.
24 originsTea cultivars
24 Camellia sinensis cultivars. From the sinensis-sinensis (Chinese variety) to sinensis-assamica (Indian) and the Japanese yabukita, plus the rare specialty cultivars.
24 cultivarsTea processing
12 processing methods. What makes green tea green, black tea black, white tea white, oolong oolong, pu-erh sheng vs shou. Steamed, pan-fired, withered, fermented.
12 processesBrewing methods
10 brewing techniques. Gongfu, sencha kyusu, matcha whisking, grandpa style, cold brew. The traditional methods plus the modern adaptations.
10 methodsTea cities
14 tea cities. Kyoto, Hangzhou, Taipei, Darjeeling, Boseong, Istanbul. The cities where the tea cultures live.
14 citiesThe guides
6 long-form deep dives on the questions specialty drinkers actually ask. Matcha grades, gongfu fundamentals, why pu-erh ages, water temperature by tea type, Japanese vs Chinese green tea.
Cold brew tea techniques
Gongfu brewing fundamentals
Japanese vs Chinese green tea
Matcha grades demystified
Water temperature by tea type
Why pu-erh ages
What this site is
- An editorial reference Researched, opinionated, and updated. Not a marketplace, not affiliate-spam. Affiliate links are marked when present.
- Interconnected Pages cross-link in every direction. A brand page links to its origins; an origin page lists the brands known for sourcing from it.
- Specialty-focused The inclusion bar is "do specialty tea people respect this." Mass-market tea bag brands are not in the directory.
- Globally curious Treats East Asian traditions (Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean) as primary, not exotic. Western tea drinking has its place but isn't the center of gravity.