Ko Kie Cha comes from Japan, and its name gives away how it's made: producers grind raw leaves and stems to powder, mix it with water, and push it through a mesh to form strands. That process puts it somewhere between gyokuro and sencha in character — low in caffeine, high in flavour. Expect nutty, grassy notes over an earthy, vegetal base, with hints of rice, and a mustard-yellow liquor that's light in tone. Lemon and honey show up too, either as brewed-in notes or as things worth stirring in at the cup.
Green tea reached Japan by way of Buddhism, carried from China by the monks Saicho and Kukai. It took another four centuries to catch on widely, until the monk Eisai wrote "Kissa Yojoki – How to Stay Healthy by Drinking Tea" in 1211, calling tea "the ultimate mental and medicinal remedy" for a fuller life. That text is often credited with cementing tea's place in Japanese culture, a role it still holds today most visibly through the Japanese tea ceremony. Traditionally, green teas like this one have been drunk as an aid to digestion and mental clarity, though that's folk use rather than proven medicine.
To brew it, use water around 75-80°C and infuse for one to three minutes — err short rather than risk scorching the leaf. Some drinkers add honey or a twist of lemon; others prefer it plain, to let the rice and grass notes come through unmasked. Tea & Coffee packs this one fresh to order at its factory in Pluckley, Kent.
