Shop our teas

Our table wine of green teas. Earthy and smooth.

Only $11.15 per 100-gram packet (2008 first flush!)

Monk's Choice is a honcha, or traditional green tea, as opposed to other types of tea such as hojicha (roasted tea), genmaicha (tea with roasted rice), or shiraore.

This is our most "standard" green tea, meaning the grower's most popular tea. It's prepared in the most popular style, and is what your typical Aso resident sips all day.

Another term for honcha is "sencha." Our sencha is a type called tamaryokucha ("curly green tea"), the most popular style on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu. Unlike the straight leaves of big-city sencha, country-style tamaryokucha is curled after steaming and drying during the tea-preparation process. These and other subtle differences in the tea-making process give tamaryokucha its distinctive fresh taste and muted astringency. In addition, the rich volcanic soils of the Mt. Aso foothills, where this tea is grown, makes for an exquisitely rich flavor and a hearty aroma, but without the bite that comes from other soil types.

Monk's Choice Green Tea comes vacuum-sealed for freshness in foil packets. Each packet contains 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of tea, enough to make 40–50 cups of brewed tea.

The youngest, topmost leaves. Refined aroma and flavor.

Only $14.75 per 100-gram packet

This is our top-of-the-line honcha, or traditional green tea. Top Leaf tea is specially pampered in its own separate corner of the tea orchard. Not only does this tea receive extra fertilizer (organic, of course) during the growing season, but at harvest time, the growers pick only the top layer of young tea leaves. The result is a distinctive, more subtle, gentler flavor. This tea is always first flush.

You'll taste the TLC (Tender Loving Care) that goes into this special tea. Treat yourself to one of the best green teas in the Aso tea-growing region—Mellow Monk Top Leaf Green Tea.

Top Leaf Green Tea comes vacuum-sealed for freshness in foil packets. Each packet contains 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of tea, enough to make 40 to 50 cups of brewed tea.

Leaves with some stems. Not grassy, but exquisitely mild.

Only $14.75 per 100-gram packet

Shiraore is similar to Top Leaf in that it's made from the topmost layer of the newest, greenest leaves, but with part of the stems included, too. That, plus a slightly different processing technique, produces a completely different tea—a rich, thick flavor and a surprising smoothness. Shiraore is less grassy and astringent than ordinary green tea. Like our Genmaicha and Hojicha, this is a good tea for those who don't like the grassy flavor and aroma normally associated with green tea. This tea is always first flush—made from the first harvest of spring leaves.

In Aso, this tea is often given as gifts on occasions like New Year's or as an ochugen, or summer gift.

Shiraore Green Tea comes vacuum-sealed for freshness in foil packets. Each packet contains 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of tea, enough to make 40 to 50 cups of brewed tea.

Savory, nutty flavor. A great entry-level green.

Only $8.75 per 100-gram packet

Genmaicha is green tea mixed with roasted rice. The rice imparts a nutty, toasty flavor that makes genmaicha one of the most popular types of green tea in America. Unlike some tea growers, our growers roast their own rice, which they buy from local farmers. (During roasting, some of the rice grains pop like popcorn. This popped rice is also included in the mixture to enhance the flavor.)

Mellow Monk Genmaicha has just the right amount of roasted rice to strike a perfect balance between the nutty flavor of the rice and the rich, earthy flavor of the small-farm tea with which it's mixed, so that one flavor doesn't mask the other.

Mellow Monk Genmaicha comes vacuum-sealed for freshness in foil packets. Each packet contains 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of tea, enough to make 40 to 50 cups of brewed tea.

Smoky aroma, rich flavor. Low in caffeine.

Only $10.75 per 100-gram packet

As soon as you open a packet of Mellow Monk Hojicha, its deep, roasted aroma tells you you're in for a totally different green tea experience. After being steamed, dried, sorted, and rolled in the same way as honcha (traditional green tea), hojicha is roasted briefly and therefore has less caffeine than other green teas. Its rich, smoky flavor and aroma make it a nice change of pace from regular green tea. Hojicha is perfect for those who want to drink green tea for lifestyle reasons—but who might not be ready yet for the earthy, grassy aroma of traditional green tea.

Mellow Monk hojicha differs from the competition in two important ways. First, it's produced from high-quality honcha, whereas most tea producers use lower-quality bancha (the last pickings of the summer). Second, the tea is green in color and produces a green infusion. This is because Mellow Monk hojicha is lightly roasted—just enough to impart a nutty, smoky flavor but without overcooking the leaves. The result is a less smoky flavor than some hojichas but more EGCG and other green tea catechins.

Mellow Monk Hojicha comes vacuum-sealed for freshness in foil packets. Each packet contains 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of tea, enough to make 40 to 50 cups of brewed tea.

A rowdy mix of leaves. Brisk and refreshing.

Only $9.75 per 100-gram packet SOLD OUT

Aracha is unsorted green tea. The tea is steamed and dried like ordinary green tea but then removed from the tea-making process before smaller pieces are sieved out and larger pieces are rolled and broken up. Aracha has a stronger taste and more "bite" than ordinary green tea; there's nothing subtle about it at all. But aracha is preferred by many tea drinkers for just that reason.

Aracha is also bulkier than other green teas because of the larger size of some of the tea leaves. Consequently, a packet of aracha may look fuller than those of our other teas, but it still contains the same 3.5 ounces as they do.

Mellow Monk Aracha comes vacuum-sealed for freshness in foil packets. Each packet contains 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of tea, enough to make 40 to 50 cups of brewed tea.

No boiling necessary. Very cool.

Only $12.95 per 100-gram packet

Available for the first time in America — cold-brewed iced green tea infusers. No boiling is necessary. Simply place a pre-portioned tea-filled silken infuser into a pitcher of chilled or room-temperature water, stir, then place in the refrigerator. In an hour or two you'll have a pitcher full of healthy, thirst-quenching cold green tea.

Quality tea. Mellow Monk Mizudashi contains the same high-quality green tea as our other greens. Like all of our teas, the tea inside is grown on family-owned and -operated tea farms in Aso, Japan.

Quality silken infuser. The infusers are made of a high-quality, ultrafine silken mesh, so as not to interfere with the tea's flavor or aroma. And instead of a flat shape, the silken infusers have a three-dimensional pyramidal shape to allow the tea inside to diffuse and swirl around, for more complete brewing and tastier tea.

Convenience. Mellow Monk Mizudashi is exquisitely easy to make. Simply follow the "2-2-2" rule: Add 2 tea infusers to a 2-quart pitcher of water, stir, then put in your refrigerator for 2 hours. (You can also use an empty 1.5-liter or 2-liter soda bottle.) The tea infusers come in a handy resealable foil packet to keep in freshness.

Value. Each packet of Mellow Monk Mizudashi contains 15 pre-portioned silken infusers of tea—enough to make 15 quarts, or almost 4 gallons, of icy-cold green tea.

A healthy treat. This thirst-quenching brew is great any time of year but is an especially soothing, heat-beating treat in the summertime. To really indulge yourself, add your favorite summer fruit to an icy glass of this green tea. You'll be pampering yourself with a tasty drink that also offers all the same health benefits as hot-brewed green tea.

(The package label is in Japanese, but English instructions are provided.)

A convenient, well-rounded introduction to the world of green tea.

Only $20.35

The Green Tea Starter Kit contains 1 packet of Monk's Choice Green Tea and 1 packet of Mizudashi Cold-Brewed Green Tea Pouches (in the original Japanese packaging).

A $22.70 value for ONLY $20.35 (save over 10%).

The Green Tea Starter Kit also makes a great gift.

Payment

Mellow Monk accepts all major credit cards and PayPal. Both options utilize third-party payment processors equipped with the latest in cyber security. Mellow Monk does not retain your credit card or PayPal information.

Shipping

• FREE shipping for orders of $25.00 or more! (Domestic orders only.)
• Domestic (USA) shipping: Regular shipping is $2.25 on orders up to $15. For orders between $15 and $25.00, shipping is $3.75.
• International shipping: 1 to 4 packets US$11.00, 4 to 8 packets US$22.00, 9 to 12 packets, US$33.00.
• Mellow Monk ships by U.S. Postal Service (USPS) First Class Mail (1 to 3 packets) or Priority Mail (4 packets or more) with free Delivery Confirmation. Upon receipt of your order, we will email the USPS tracking number to you so you can track your order at usps.com.
• International orders ship by U.S. Postal Service Global Priority Mail.
• All orders ship within 24 hours (excepting Saturdays, in which case the tea ships on the following Monday).
• Delivery time is 2 to 5 days for domestic orders and approximately 1 week for international orders.