In need of a Japanese translation

November 15, 2006 9:14 PM

My girlfriend brought me back some green tea from Japan to which I've become hopelessly addicted to. Please help me identify it so I can continue to feed my habit!

Here's a picture of the bag. Can anyone translate the brand for me so I can find a place to buy it online? Thanks in advance!

posted by saraswati to Food & Drink (18 answers total)

I can't read the characters, but I do recognize that bag. I swear I've seen it in Chinese supermarkets around here (Montreal, Quebec). Maybe you could try checking some supermarkets in your nearest Chinatown?
posted by DrSkrud at 9:25 PM on November 15, 2006

Best answer: For starters, the two big black characters say "green tea."
posted by roomwithaview at 9:40 PM on November 15, 2006

Best answer: for all temperature -> red box.

and I agree with Dr. Skrud, it looks incredibly familiar, and I haven't been to China in about a decade, so it's definitely something I've seen around the eastern Ontario area...
posted by Phire at 9:57 PM on November 15, 2006

I know this sounds dumb, but try taking the bag around to oriental grocery stores and asking them about it.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 10:29 PM on November 15, 2006

Looks like some generic asian green tea (not that your GF is cheap, it's just pretty commonplace). You could try some of the brands available at a local asian food store.
posted by Pollomacho at 10:30 PM on November 15, 2006

If you post a clearer shot of the bottom right, I might be able to translate the katakana.
posted by matkline at 11:04 PM on November 15, 2006

I think the bottom right says "3 g x 20 [or 30] [bags]". It's just a quantity.

Info on the manufacturer will probably be on the back.
posted by mr_roboto at 11:13 PM on November 15, 2006

Best answer: list of green teas from maruwa. Not in there, but chances are anything will be just as good as that.
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 11:37 PM on November 15, 2006

That says ryokucha, aka plain old green tea. I don't see any brand mark on it.
posted by ejoey at 12:28 AM on November 16, 2006

For what it's worth, the bowl looks like the vessel commonly used to serve maccha, a powdered green tea that is excellent and tastes different (better!) than the typical bagged Japanese green tea. I've never seen it in bags, but I haven't looked very hard and it's certainly possible.
posted by rhizome at 12:36 AM on November 16, 2006

get a picture of the back where we can read the product information and then we can tell you what company makes it. it looks like super generic supermarket green tea to me.
posted by Infernarl at 1:14 AM on November 16, 2006

What Infernal said, that is generic supermarket green tea in bags. Your next step is to get an inexpensive teapot and inexpensive loose leaf green tea, and start brewing. You'll be glad you did.
posted by planetkyoto at 1:34 AM on November 16, 2006

Best answer: I don't think this is matcha. It's in teabags (the katakana in the small circle with a teapot and a jug says 'tiibaggu') and matcha wouldn't work very well in teabags. The fact that it's in teabags also suggests (as discussed above) that it's probably a generic brand of Japanese green tea rather than anything special. There is no brand apparent on the bag.

I don't know how familiar you are with the different types of green tea, but if you're having trouble finding something similar it may be because you're trying Chinese green tea instead. The two are quite different; Japanese green tea is not cooked and as a result contains more tea goodness (as I understand). It's an acquired taste, but when I acquired it I couldn't go back to Chinese tea.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 5:23 AM on November 16, 2006

Response by poster: If this is "generic" then I guess I don't really need to identify it, I just need to explore Japanese tea further. I did start with Chinese tea and recently switch but everything I've tried so far (picked up locally) has been swill compared to this. Either way, I have a new quest now. Thanks everyone!
posted by saraswati at 6:00 AM on November 16, 2006

A thousand baited Hooks,

can you recommend some brands of uncooked Japanese Green tea and where I can purchase them online? I've recently gotten into loose leaf tea after graduating from tea bags and the flavor is like going from blended whisky to a single malt.
posted by any major dude at 6:15 AM on November 16, 2006

You might be best off asking people in your neck of the woods how to find something similar, but if you really want the Japanese stuff, I can ask my coworkers tomorrow to identify the tea. Not sure how that will help you unless you want to import the stuff.

And yeah, they don't put real matcha in teabags.

If I were back in Ottawa, I'd take that bag round to several sushi-supply shops. They'll have it or know where to get it.
posted by dreamsign at 8:06 AM on November 16, 2006

any major dude,

You know what? From a bit of research it looks like I was wrong about Japanese green teas being uncooked. Rather they are generally steamed, whereas Chinese green teas are generally roasted. They certainly taste different, though, and I've read in various places that the Japanese method preserves more of the tea's chemicals.

I'm no tea connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination, so I just buy boxes of teabags at my local Asian grocery. My favourite type is Yamamotoyama sencha (made by a US spin-off of a Japanese company; they have a mail-order form under 'shopping'), but then the grocery only carries two brands and I bet you could find something better if you looked around. Good luck!
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 1:09 PM on November 16, 2006

This is my favorite place to puchase loose leaf tea online. They have hundreds of varieties and are reasonably priced. You can even puchase 1/2 oz. samples to experiment. One of the things I appreciate is that you can read customer reviews. My favorite green is their Green Yunan Silver Tips (No.532). It's an excellent Chinese green for the price, i.e. very forgiving related to water temp and steeping time, also not terribly vegetal. However, if your stuck on Japanese greens they have several good varieties.
posted by dudiggy at 10:01 PM on November 16, 2006