Green Tea Goes From "Hard To Find" To "At Your Door"

Good green tea, once hard to find, is now available to anyone with a credit card and access to the internet.

Iwaki, Japan (PRWEB) August 7, 2005 -- With evidence emerging from one study after the next suggesting green tea to be good for ones health, its no wonder the green beverage with a slightly bitter edge to it has recently become an in-demand product in the United States and Europe recently. Expect to see green tea drinks at Starbucks and other corner coffee shops soon. The once impossible-to-find beverage has gone through a transformation of sort for those seeking an above average cup. It used to be that finding a good green tea was like finding hens teeth" says Kevin Moore, President of O-Cha.com, of one the internets first online retailers catering to connoisseurs of Japanese green tea. If you managed to find it in a store, it was old, stale, and not even close to being green. Even online, it was, and still can be, slim pickings." According to Moore, Truth be told, the real good stuff is still hard to find. Most of whats out there late harvest material being peddled to the unknowledgeable. People buy that stuff and then wonder why it isnt really green." Moore further adds, This is not a tea that you stick on the shelf for months and forget about; it has a short shelf life and needs to be brewed while it's still fresh." Because of online retailers like O-Cha.com, the word seems to be getting out. Good green tea is now available to anyone with a credit card and access to the internet.

Internet Shops Now the Primary Source for Higher Quality Green Tea

Because of it is processed in a way that prevents oxidization, green tea has a shorter shelf life than other types of teas. Even more critical is the packaging method: expose green tea oxygen and it starts to deteriorate. Where you might be able to store an unopened package of green tea in the refrigerator for up to a year, once you open the package and expose it to oxygen, the clock starts to tick." Moore added. According to Moore, the shelf life of an opened bag of green tea is about two to three months. Because of its limited shelf life, good green teas are still next to impossible to find on grocery store shelves. This is where online shops have found their niche. While most green teas available for purchase in the United States spend weeks or even months in ocean transit, Japan based online shops like O-Cha.com can ship their green teas to the end consumer within 2 weeks of its being packaged at the source.

Japan, Home of the Worlds Best Green Tea
While green tea is produced in numerous countries, Japan is generally credited with having the finest green teas available. The two major green tea growing regions in Japan are in Shizuoka Prefecture and around the small city of Uji, located near Kyoto. The bulk is which is produced in Shizuoka, and the more traditional, smaller, but often superior green teas coming from Uji.

About O-Cha.com
O-Cha.com was started in 1998 in Mesa, Arizona after frequent Japan traveler and long time green tea fan Kevin Moore found the beverage hard to find in the USA. One of the first online shops to offer high quality Japanese green teas directly to the end consumer, O-Cha.com now operates out of Iwaki, Japan, offering a large lineup of loose leaf green teas and matcha from both Shizuoka Prefecture and the famous tea growing district of Uji, Japan.

For more information, press only: Kevin Moore, President, kevinrm at o-cha.com

For more information on O-Cha.com matcha and powdered green tea:
http://www.o-cha.com/powdered-green-tea.htm
http://www.o-cha.com/green-tea/home.php

# # #