Please help me ID this...
 

Can anyone read this and tell me what the brand is or who makes it? I want to buy more online but I have no idea what to search for. It's Japanese green tea I got in Tokyo at a department store.

It's called "Hozon Koujyukuchya". Spelling might vary, like "cha" instead of "chya" (that's the part that means "tea"). It expires on July 31st, 2010. Don't know anything else about it, unfortunately.

It`s produced by this company;
http://www.nagatachamise.com/

I don`t see it being sold online anywhere.

It`s sencha, so you can probably try another brand of sencha (煎茶) and find something similar in flavor. There are literally thousands of small tea producers in Japan - my guess is that this tea isn`t anything amazingly special.

Thanks very much to both of you. This is very helpful.

I'm aware it isn't a special sencha... however I have bought some green tea in the states and online that doesn't have the taste or color that I expected (either tasted grassy or steeped to a yellow color). So I was hoping to simply find this same brand again since it was good and typical of japanese green tea.

I will try to find another brand... but this is very good to know and satisfies my curiosity!

Jon

保存 = keep(ing), reserve(ed)
酵 = ferment(ation)
熟 = age(d)
茶 = tea

Generally, greentea is not fermented. So this name sounds strange for me.

Anyway, you might not know how to brew greentea with good taste.
Yellow color might be sign of "too high temperature" and be bitter.
For the first brewing, 70 degree C is the best for common grade greentea.
(For high class tea like Gyokuro or Fukamushi, it is 50 or 60 degree C)
At first pour boiling water to "cups" for cooling it down, put tea in the pot, then pour the water of the cups to the pot.(Brewing time: 40 or 50 seconds)

For the second or third brewing, boiling water and 20 seconds would be good.

Thanks, I am quite familiar with it actually. I use a water boiler/warmer to keep the temp well below boiling for green tea. I also don't steep green tea for a very long time.

The other green teas I have tried from the asian grocery here and ordered online just didn't taste like the tea I had at most japanese restaurants in Japan. The tea I bought in Japan, which I made the same way as the others, did taste like it.

Maybe I've just had bad luck buying tea so far. I'll try some more brands.

Yeah, I really hate tea, unless it's iced. I tried to like green tea, but it was blech. However, since finding green tea flavored Coca Cola on jlist, I'll give it a try. Peter(one of jlist's employees who usually reviews some of the products), said it didn't really taste like green tea, but it's supposed to have the same healthy properties as the tea, and that's what I'm after. I just wish that the tea's taste be more tolerable. If the coke's good, I should be fine(if it really works!). It might be good for my diabetes.

Alright. If you are in North America, how about is this site.
http://www.itoen.com/estore/index.cfm

It's nice that you were considerate and put that link in your post, but the site says that the server is too busy, or the connection has timed out:o .

Tea shop in Japan that can ship for overseas.
I do not know about quality or taste of them.

OBUBU USA - Japanese Green Tea
Japanese green tea's KABURAGIEN