Tokyo Saryo – World’s first Hand-drip Green Tea Shop

Tokyo Saryo is a unique spot in Tokyo, known for being the first shop to specialize in hand-drip green tea. It’s located in Sangenjaya, a cozy and laid-back part of the city. What makes Tokyo Saryo stand out is how it takes a method usually seen in coffee shops—the hand-drip technique—and applies it to brewing green tea. This approach brings out a whole new level of flavour and aroma from the tea leaves, offering a fresh take on the traditional tea-drinking experience.

I recently went to Tokyo Saryo and booked a spot for their “Compare Two Types of Sencha + Tea Sweets” deal, which costs 1,400 yen, tax included. This cool experience let me pick two different kinds of Sencha green tea, try them at different hotness levels, and also taste them mixed with another type of tea called Genmaicha. My husband came along, and we went just before lunchtime. We each picked different teas so we could really see how they compared.

In this guide, I’m going to tell you all you need to know about Tokyo Saryo. From how to book your visit to what it’s like when you get there—including what the place feels like and what’s on the menu—you’ll have all the info you need for your own trip to Tokyo Saryo. For anyone interested in tea, or just looking for a new experience in Tokyo, it’s definitely worth a visit.

About Tokyo Saryo

Imagine a tea shop like no other, where the focus is on creating a truly unique and immersive experience centred around the world of hand-dripped green tea.

This place is called Saryo, and it’s the world’s first shop to make green tea using a method called “hand-drip.” It’s perfect for people who love tea and want to enjoy it at different temperatures, just like how coffee enthusiasts savour different coffees.

At Tokyo Saryo, the focus is on making tea in a way that’s a bit like making art. They don’t just make tea; they create an experience around it. It’s similar to how some coffee shops treat coffee as a craft.

The people who started all this are Satoshi Aoyagi and Mikito Tanimoto. They wanted to make green tea special by combining tradition with new ideas. Thanks to them, you can now explore the world of green tea in a whole new way, one cup at a time.

Beyond Tokyo Saryo’s immersive tea experience, there is also a sister shop in the neighbourhood of Ginza, known as the Senchado Tokyo Ginza store. While Tokyo Saryo captures the essence of tea appreciation through hand-drip brewing, the Senchado Tokyo Ginza store is dedicated to curating and selling exceptional single origin tea varieties. This allows visitors to take the perfect souvenirs from Japan home with them.

The Experience at Tokyo Saryo

The Tokyo Saryo experience is a really cool way to learn all about Japanese green tea, especially a kind called Sencha. First off, you’ve got to book your spot online and pay ahead of time. This makes the entire thing feel pretty special because you know they’re saving a seat just for you. Even if the website is in Japanese, don’t worry. You can use Google Translate to help you get through the booking part, and they’ll send you an email to confirm you’re all set.

When you show up, the people working there are super friendly and ask if you want to hear about everything in English or Japanese. So, language is not an issue. They give you a chart that lists different kinds of teas and talks about their flavours, like how sweet or bitter they are. This is really handy for figuring out what teas you might want to try. It also feels really fancy as the teas are set on this graph based on aroma, umami, sweetness, and bitterness.

The menu is straightforward. You can choose to taste and compare two kinds of Sencha tea along with some sweet treats for 1,400 yen. Or you can go for just one kind of Sencha and the sweets for 900 yen. Either way, the focus is on making the tea just right.

The first time they make it, they use water that’s at 70℃. This makes the tea taste mild and brings out the aroma. You get to enjoy this with a dessert that’s picked for the season and goes well with the tea. After that, they make the tea again, but this time with hotter water at 80℃. This makes the tea taste stronger and richer. And the colour difference is super obvious too.

Your favourite tea gets a special twist at the end. They mix it with something called genmaicha, which is green tea and roasted brown rice. This gives the tea a warm, nutty flavour that’s really unique.

The whole thing takes about an hour, and you’re welcome to buy some of your favourite tea to take home afterwards. You can buy it right there or go to their main store in another part of Tokyo. All in all, it’s a fun and eye-opening way to learn a lot about Japanese tea.

Final Thoughts

The Tokyo Saryo experience truly stands out as a one-of-a-kind adventure into the world of tea. It’s the first hand-drip tea place I’ve visited, and the attention to detail is phenomenal. The baristas treat tea with the same level of respect and craftsmanship that you often see reserved for coffee. This is refreshing and validates the notion that tea is just as precious and intricate a beverage as coffee. At least this is how I feel, as I truly love tea!

From start to finish, the staff made us feel welcome and included, adding to the overall enjoyment of the experience.

The teas and desserts were spectacular. My husband Greg and I chose different teas to get the full scope of what was on offer, and we were amazed by how each tea had its own unique flavour and aroma. We loved the experience so much that we ended up buying a pack of our favourite tea to relive the experience at home.

We would highly recommend Tokyo Saryo to anyone looking to delve into the complexities of tea or just to have a fun and educational outing. We’re already looking forward to our next visit.