Within the Japanese tea subscription box space, you really only have a couple of options that are very much focused on tea and tea leaves. It’s really only the Tomotcha box that gives you a sizeable amount of tea every month. For this reason, I’ve listed them at no.1 on the list – but I suspect the amount of people that are really looking for an only tea-exclusive box is relatively limited.
You also find a much larger range of boxes like Bokksu, Japan Candy Box, Kokoro Care Packages, which include tea as a small add-on to the other items included – usually snacks and sweets.
There are a couple of boxes that just include a bottle of tea.
I’ve also included boxes that focus on coffee. Because, well, tea & coffee are kinda like a set right?
Of the Japanese tea & coffee subscription boxes discussed, for coffee, my pick is Kurasu. Kurasu roast their own beans, provide filter coffee paper and utensils, drippers, coffee bottles, and many more. They give you a coffee cup, which is a nice addition. This means that you are getting fine coffee from a dedicated roaster with a series of their own cafes in Japan, along with everything you need to make the coffee in one convenient package.
Japanese Tea Subscription Boxes Comparison Table
1. Tomotcha
Tomotcha is the only Japanese Tea Subscription Box that is exclusively focused on tea. It is one of the most “simple” options on our list. All they do is send you one different type of tea each month. So this one seems more “functional” or “practical” than many of the more “fun” and “surprise” based products.
To be precise, each month they ship “between 40 and 60 grams of a distinctive Japanese tea, enough for about 35 teacups of 60ml (2oz)”.
Tomotcha focuses on loose leaf green teas (sencha, gyokuro, tamaryokucha…), sometimes roasted (hōjicha, hōjibancha…).
At the very reasonable $15 per month price tag, this one seems pretty good value if you drink a lot of the green stuff. It works out to about 40 cents per cup of tea…
Price: $15 + Shipping per month.
What has been included in previous boxes:
In previous boxes, Tomocha has included Kabusecha and Tamaryokucha tea leaves
Here are a couple of images of what you can expect:
2. Kurasu Japanese Coffee Subscription
Japan isn’t always associated with coffee, but they have a long tradition of brewing the brown stuff. Kurasu is based in Kyoto, home to the famous Kyoto style Japanese Coffee Makers, and is focused more on the domestic market. They do also cater to the international market.
Whether or not ordering roasted coffee from Japan is necessary or not is an open question, but if you’re brewing in a Kyoto Yama device, you might need the authentic beans…
Kurasu offers 3 different types of plans to choose from; a “Partner Roaster Plan” – which gives coffee from a range of Kurasu partner shops across Japan, a “Kurasu Roast Plan”, which gives you just special roasts from Kurasu itself, and “Partner Roaster + Kurasu Roast Plan – Our Best Offer”, which is a mix of both.
Price: $31.00 includes free shipping.
What has been included in previous boxes:
Previously, Kurasu has included special coffee from Colombia and Rwanda.
3. Sakuraco
Sakuraco is a Japanese subscription box that focuses on the luxurious, traditional and more “refined” end of the Japanese snack market, and contains small samples of different teas from Japan.
It’s not a fully dedicated tea box, it really just gives you a small taste of a different tea each month. It contains about enough tea for 2-4 cups.
The Sakuraco box really focuses on Japanese cakes, sweets and savory items. They also include the occasional, somewhat random, “home decor item”. These special items might include things like the “Mt. Fuji” plastic cup pictured above.
If you are after your mainstream Pocky, KitKat and Chocolate Kinoko type fair, this isn’t the box for you. It’s also not for those that are really looking for a dedicated tea-only box. This one caters very much to people that would like a mix of a little bit of tea, and a selection of treats with a refined, “adult” taste. For more details please see our complete review of the Sakuraco box here.
Price: Starts from $37.50 per month
What has been included in previous boxes:
Sakuraco boxes have a consistently high standard of tea, treats and a special item such as plates, chopsticks, bowls etc.
Here are a couple of images of what you can expect:
4. Bokksu
Bokksu is probably one of the most popular Japanese snack boxes. Their box, once again, doesn’t focus on tea only, but does include one offering of a small amount of tea in every box. Here’s an example of the “corn tea” from one of their boxes:
What’s Included:
• 20–24 SNACKS & TEA
• SNACK BOOKLET
• ALLERGEN INFO
There is also an option of gifting bokksu to your family and loved ones. Bokksu offer “corporate boxes”. If you are running a business, you can gift your business partners, clients.
Price: $49.95 per month, or yearly $39.95 per month.
What has been included in previous boxes:
Here are a couple of images of what you can expect:
So, it really depends on what you are after in a Japanese Tea Subscription box as to which one you go with. If you really just want fine teas, and nothing else, Tomotcha is your best bet.
If you love Japanese style coffee, Kurasu is the obvious choice.
If you want a little tea mixed in with a bunch of snacks that go well with tea, Sakuraco or Bokksu are my favorites.
