[rjzzleep]

When I went to Japan last time I asked about tea places and people would tell me "we don't drink tea outside, we drink it at home". I also remember an article a few years ago about dying Japanese tea tradition, somewhat related to the proliferation of instant tea dispersal machines and those 7-11 tea walls.

What I would like to know is why contrary to Japan, there are Tea farms of all sizes everywhere. There are dozens of tea shops opening, and if you walk through Taipei you will see plenty of tea shops, tea places in every corner of the city.

Why is that? Is it just the result of marketing and consumerism?

[resolutebat]

Tea shops in Taiwan mostly sell bubble/boba tea, which is drenched in syrup and artificial flavors and the actual leaves themselves are an afterthought at best. The latest wave of higher-end places like Chicha San Chen are placing the focus back on good quality tea and proper brewing, but these are still a minority and it's still far, far away from the austere world of Japanese tea ceremony.

https://chichasanchennorcal.com/

[rjzzleep]

That is absolutely not true. It's hard to describe just how wrong your assessment of Taiwan's tea situation. The only way I can imagine you coming to that conclusion is that your experience with Taiwan tea is walking through the Ximen night market, but you just walk around random neighbourhoods in Taipei you'll find dozens of Tea shops. If you spend a little time driving through Taiwan's mountains you'll find plenty of Tea plantations, some of them with tea shops attached to them and others not.

[paradiseluck]

Could very well be because of the popularity of coffee in Japan, as it's seen trendier than the old fashioned tea, which alao tends to take extra care and time to brew.

S. Koreans also tend to drink coffee way more than tea, but this might have to do with the extreme poverty coming out of korean war, and coffee being less expensive.

[adrianN]

Tabelog was a good source for finding tea rooms the last time I visited Japan.