Garden Bowl With Sencha

This bowl is both refreshing and grounding, thanks to blanched vegetables, nori, brown rice and a clean, delicate sencha broth.

Kagoshima First Flush Sencha

Kagoshima Prefecture is located at the southwest tip of Kyushu (the third largest island of Japan). Kagoshima Prefecture corresponds to the ancient Japanese provinces Osumi and Satsuma.

Ode to Sencha: How to Taste the Nuances of Terroir, Cultivar & Craft

Everyone is talking about matcha, but did you know that the spring of 2025 produced one of the highest quality harvests of Japanese sencha in recent memory? We are absolutely enamored with the single-origin sencha selections in our Garden Direct program this year. Today we’d like to take you deeper into our range of 2025 sencha offerings, providing you with a framework to compare and contrast them. We’ll explore how different geographic regions of origin, tea bush cultivars, and processing details all influence the ultimate taste experience.

Tokoname: The Ancient Ceramic City That Shaped Sencha Brewing

Tokoname has a rich ceramic heritage that traces back to the Heian period (794–1185). Recognized as one of Japan’s Six Ancient Kilns—a group of historic pottery centers that are still active today—Tokoname is famous for its finely crafted kyusu teapots and traditional ceramic shrine statuary. Beckoning cat figures, or maneki-neko, are a signature sight throughout the city and are thought to bring good fortune to all who cross their path.

Hon Yama: Shincha from Japan’s ‘Shizuoka Alps’

The Hon Yama tea growing region is located along the streams and valleys of the Abe and Warashina Rivers at the base of Shizuoka’s Southern Alps. It is a renowned terroir for sencha aficionados with natural micro-climates that are exclusive to the remote inner reaches of the Shizuoka Prefecture.

What is Green Tea?

Green Tea is the least oxidized of the six tea types. Green teas are crafted with the application of heat in a step called firing. This heat denatures the enzymes that cause tea leaves to change in color...

Maker Spotlight: The Nishi Family

The Nishi family is celebrated throughout Japan for their exquisite quality teas and recognized for their dedication to organic tea farming. Rishi has partnered with the Nishi family since 2005. 

Bartender's Guide to Tea

Rishi has recipes and inspiration photos for any type of cocktail creation. Tea and botanicals can easily be infused into spirits or made as a strong brew to be the base of delicious beverages, either spirits-based or alcohol-free.