https://steepteahq.com/ The independent reference for tea regions, processing, and honest reviews. Sun, 02 Aug 2026 05:01:43 GMT https://steepteahq.com/journal/matcha-shortage-2026-explained/ Japan's tencha supply has been tight since late 2024, prices are still elevated through 2026, and the gap is being filled with product that isn't what its label says. https://steepteahq.com/journal/matcha-shortage-2026-explained/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/darjeeling/ Muscatel-noted black tea, orthodox processed, called the 'Champagne of teas.' https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/darjeeling/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/assam/ Malty, full-bodied black tea from the Brahmaputra valley; largest tea-growing region on earth. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/assam/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/nilgiri/ Brisk, fragrant black tea from South India's 'Blue Mountains.' https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/nilgiri/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/uva/ Ceylon black tea known for a distinctive winey, menthol-like edge. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/uva/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/nuwara-eliya/ Sri Lanka's highest-grown tea; light, delicate, called 'Champagne of Ceylon.' https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/nuwara-eliya/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/wuyi-mountains/ Rock oolongs (yancha) grown in mineral-rich cliffs; home of Da Hong Pao. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/wuyi-mountains/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/anxi/ Birthplace of Tie Guan Yin, a floral, lightly oxidized oolong. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/anxi/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/west-lake-hangzhou/ Home of Longjing (Dragon Well), China's most famous pan-fired green tea. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/west-lake-hangzhou/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/yunnan/ Ancient tea-tree region; birthplace of pu-erh and large-leaf black tea (dianhong). https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/yunnan/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/huangshan/ Home of Huangshan Maofeng green tea and Keemun black tea's smoky-sweet profile. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/huangshan/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/uji/ Japan's most prestigious tea district; shade-grown matcha and gyokuro. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/uji/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/shizuoka/ Japan's largest producing region; sencha heartland. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/shizuoka/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/kagoshima/ Volcanic soil, warm climate — Japan's earliest and fastest-growing sencha region. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/kagoshima/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/alishan/ High-mountain (gaoshan) oolong prized for a creamy, floral cup. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/alishan/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/boseong/ Korea's largest green tea region, terraced hillsides along the coast. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/boseong/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/mount-kenya-region/ Africa's largest producer; bright, brisk CTC black teas built for blending. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/mount-kenya-region/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/rize/ Black Sea coast; nearly all Turkish tea (world's 5th-largest producer) grows here. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/rize/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/guria/ Historic Soviet-era tea region seeing a modern artisanal revival. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/guria/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/m-c-ch-u/ Cool highland plateau producing green and increasingly specialty oolong tea. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/m-c-ch-u/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/cameron-highlands/ Cool-climate anomaly in the tropics; British colonial-era black tea gardens. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/cameron-highlands/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/fuding/ White tea's true home — where Bai Hao Yin Zhen and Bai Mu Dan are grown, not just processed. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/fuding/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/liu-bao-wuzhou/ Dark tea aged in humid cellars; Liu Bao's earthy, betel-nut character predates pu-erh's fame in export markets. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/liu-bao-wuzhou/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/mengding-mountain/ Legendary origin of Mengding Ganlu, one of China's oldest recorded green teas, grown on mist-covered peaks. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/mengding-mountain/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/duyun/ High-altitude green tea region behind Duyun Maojian, prized for its fine downy tips. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/duyun/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/enshi/ Rare steamed green tea region (Enshi Yulu) — one of the few places still using ancient steam-fixing. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/enshi/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/anhua/ Dark tea region famous for Fu brick tea and its distinctive 'golden flower' fungus fermentation. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/anhua/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/lushan/ Misty mountain green tea region producing Lushan Yunwu, grown above the cloud line. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/lushan/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/fenghuang-phoenix/ Home of Phoenix Dancong oolong — ancient single-bush trees prized for naturally fruit- and floral-mimicking aromas. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/fenghuang-phoenix/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/sun-moon-lake/ Taiwan's black tea region, built around Assam and Ruby #18 cultivars with a distinct minty-cinnamon note. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/sun-moon-lake/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/ilam/ Himalayan foothill region bordering Darjeeling, producing increasingly acclaimed orthodox black and oolong teas. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/ilam/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/west-java-puncak/ Colonial-era Dutch tea estates on volcanic soil, mostly producing black tea for export blends. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/west-java-puncak/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/north-sumatra/ Volcanic highland tea gardens near Lake Toba, largely CTC black tea for domestic and regional markets. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/north-sumatra/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/doi-mae-salong/ Founded by Yunnanese émigrés; produces oolong in the Taiwanese high-mountain style at Thai-Myanmar border altitude. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/doi-mae-salong/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/phongsaly/ Home to some of the world's oldest wild tea trees, some estimated over 1,000 years old. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/phongsaly/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/shan-state/ Ancient tea-growing region where leaf is as often fermented into laphet (pickled tea salad) as it is brewed. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/shan-state/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/nyungwe/ High-altitude rainforest-edge estates producing bright, brisk CTC black tea for the global blending market. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/nyungwe/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/mulanje/ Africa's oldest commercial tea region (planted 1878), still mostly CTC black tea at the base of Mount Mulanje. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/mulanje/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/njombe/ Southern highlands region increasingly producing orthodox and purple-leaf specialty teas alongside bulk CTC. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/njombe/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/kigezi/ Terraced hillside gardens near the Rwanda border, mostly CTC black tea for export blending. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/kigezi/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/chipinge/ Eastern Highlands tea estates, historically one of southern Africa's largest black tea producers. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/chipinge/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/misiones/ South America's main black tea region, mechanically harvested for the international tea-bag blending market. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/misiones/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/registro-vale-do-ribeira/ Brazil's historic tea district, settled by Japanese immigrants who brought sencha cultivation with them. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/registro-vale-do-ribeira/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/lankaran/ Caucasus tea region on the Caspian coast, Azerbaijan's answer to neighboring Georgia's tea gardens. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/lankaran/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/lahijan-gilan/ Iran's tea heartland since the 1900s, when tea was first smuggled out of India by Prince Kashef os-Saltaneh. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/lahijan-gilan/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/s-o-miguel-azores/ Europe's only tea plantations — Gorreana and Porto Formoso — growing on volcanic Atlantic soil since the 1880s. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/s-o-miguel-azores/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/tregothnan/ The first tea ever commercially grown in England, on a Cornish estate using cultivars bred for cooler climates. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/tregothnan/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/big-island/ Volcanic soil and consistent rainfall make Hawaii the only significant tea-growing region in the continental/insular US. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/big-island/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/charleston/ Home of the largest tea garden in North America, descended from 19th-century experimental plantings. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/charleston/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/temi/ India's only tea garden in Sikkim, a single organic estate producing delicate high-altitude orthodox black tea. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/temi/ https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/kangra/ Himalayan foothill region with its own muscatel-adjacent character and GI-protected status, often overshadowed by Darjeeling. https://steepteahq.com/tea-regions/kangra/ https://steepteahq.com/learn/white-tea/ The least processed tea: just withered and dried. Delicate, hay-like, subtly sweet. https://steepteahq.com/learn/white-tea/ https://steepteahq.com/learn/green-tea/ Heat-fixed immediately after plucking to stop oxidation entirely, preserving a vegetal, grassy profile. https://steepteahq.com/learn/green-tea/ https://steepteahq.com/learn/yellow-tea/ Rare and labor-intensive: an extra 'sealed yellowing' step mellows the grassy edge of green tea. https://steepteahq.com/learn/yellow-tea/ https://steepteahq.com/learn/oolong-tea/ The widest range of any category — partially oxidized, bruised at the edges then fixed, spanning floral-light to dark-roasted. https://steepteahq.com/learn/oolong-tea/ https://steepteahq.com/learn/black-tea/ Fully oxidized until the leaf turns dark and the flavor turns malty, brisk, or fruity depending on origin. https://steepteahq.com/learn/black-tea/ https://steepteahq.com/learn/puerh-dark-tea/ Aged and fermented by microbes rather than simply oxidized — flavor deepens and changes for years, even decades. https://steepteahq.com/learn/puerh-dark-tea/ https://steepteahq.com/is-my-matcha-real/ A free tool to check your ceremonial-grade matcha against common signs of mislabeling during the 2026 tencha shortage. https://steepteahq.com/is-my-matcha-real/