Geo answer

A good cup of tea could help you solve today’s Geo Quiz. Not just any tea, though. Green tea. Matcha green tea.

It’s a finely ground, powdered tea that’s been part of traditional Zen Buddhist tea ceremonies for centuries. We’re looking for a Japanese city that’s famous for its macha green tea plantations.

The city is in the central Japanese prefecture of Aichi. It’s just an hour and half by train from Nagoya, the capital of Aichi.

Right now its harvest time in this city. Tea leaves will be hand-picked, dried, cut and and frozen to preserve their freshness.

So name this green tea city if you can…where an American tea producer is harvesting the green.

One last clue… it’s located on the main Japanese island of Honshū along the Pacific coast.

The annual green tea harvest is underway in the Japanese city we asked you about in our Geo Quiz today.

Nishio is the answer.

It’s located in Aichi, a Japanese prefecture located along the Pacific coast on the main Japanese island of Honshū.

Listen to our interview with Jon Baumgardner, Director of Marketing for the green tea company, AIYA America. He’s in in Nishio for the annual green tea harvest now underway.

From Aiya-America’s website:

“4 weeks before the annual harvest, the tea plantations of the famed Nishio region are covered with tarp shading. By cutting out 90% of the natural light, the tea plant compensates for the loss of light by increasing the chlorophyll content in its leaves. At this time, only the best, hand picked tea leaves are picked. The Nishio region has a heritage of tea cultivation stretching over 800 years. The craftspeople at the factory together with 1300 bespoke granite grinding wheels, produce Matcha green tea to a scale and quality incomparable in the industry. We are the only Organic Beverage Tea supplier certified by the USDA, IMO Europe, JONA Japan to ensure global organic status… Matcha is used in everything from Ice Cream to Energy Bars and Smoothies.

Matcha green tea delivers the highest concentration of green tea antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and fibers. It also contains high amounts of theanines, a unique set of amino acids found almost exclusively in green tea. In conjunction with the tea caffeine, theophylline, the two naturally occurring ingredients are thought to work together to help provide mental clarity and energy. “