About

We are passionate about all things tea! Matcha and beyond . . .

Since the summer of 2019, we have been making matcha for our customers at our cafe in West London as well as selling artisan tea & homeware. 

We have recently rebranded as Tencha and are now focusing solely on Japanese tea, tea-ware and lifestyle goods made by the expert Japanese artisans we admire so much. 

We are members of the Global Japanese Tea Association and want to spread our love for Japanese tea through transparency and traceability with our teas. We also want to promote women working within the usually male dominated tea industry.

Check out the Global Japanese Tea Association YouTube channel here 

What is Tencha? 

Tencha leaves are the high quality shaded tea leaves that are used to create matcha. These leaves are processed in a similar way to gyokuro. They must be shaded for at least 4 weeks to develop the beautiful umami balanced flavour. The leaves are steamed, cooled, dried, de-stemmed and deveined before they can be ground into the green gold we know and love.

Tencha when spelt with the Kanji 碾茶 literally translates to ground tea. We have chosen the kanjji 天茶 for our name. 天 meaning heavenly and 茶 tea. We hope this reflects our love and respect for this wonderful plant and for the hardworking farmers who produce our favourite drink.

 

We are members of the Global Japanese Tea Association and want to spread our love for Japanese tea through transparency and traceability with our teas. We also want to promote women working within the usually male dominated tea industry.

Check out the Global Japanese Tea Association YouTube channel here 

If you would like to learn more about Japanese tea and culture why not check out the GJTA events and courses.