Mellow Monk Releases Two New Green Teas

Mellow Monk Releases Two New Green Teas--"Blissful Buds" and "Shaded Leaf"
(from a press release)

Mellow Monk is proud to announce two new additions to its lineup of family-farm green tea: Blissful Buds and Shaded Leaf.

Blissful Buds is a mecha ("bud tea"), made from only the most tender young buds. This is the same kind of premium tea served at the best sushi restaurants. The full-bodied flavor of Blissful Buds makes it the perfect tea for post-meal palate cleansing ... or for any time of the day.

Shaded Leaf is Mellow Monk's most premium tea ever: Three weeks before harvest, our growers shade these pampered tea plants with special woven covers. By blocking out just enough sunlight, this shading produces a simply exquisite flavor (by stopping the leaves from "baking" in the sun) and also stimulates the leaves to produce even more super-healthful catechins, including EGCG.

These two new teas were discovered during a recent tea-buying trip to rural Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan's four main islands. This expedition was documented by a film crew from Europe's Arte.tv network, which will release a 1-hour feature in January 2009 titled "Kyushu--Wo Japans Grüner Tee Wächst" (Kyushu--Where Japan Grows Its Tea).

Like the rest of Mellow Monk's lineup, both Blissful Buds and Shaded Leaf are single-estate, unblended teas imported directly from family farms on Kyushu. These farms are family owned and operated: The growers own the land they work, and they work the land themselves. All of Mellow Monk's growers are certified eco-friendly under the Japanese government's Eco Farmer Program.

Image: Mellow Monk

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