Jill Cataldo


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I finally found something worth buying at Costco: Ito En green tea!

By: 24 Comments

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My regular readers know I’m not a big fan of warehouse clubs. Nothing against them — many people love them. I just haven’t really found much value in shopping at Sam’s Club or Costco versus playing the sales-and-coupons game at traditional grocery stores and drugstores. Warehouse clubs sell bulk under the illusion of savings, and many times, the per-unit, per-pound or per-ounce prices of what you’re buying are actually higher at the clubs than at traditional retailers.

However, when Costco had that dirt-cheap Living Social membership deal last year, I signed up. After all of the bonuses and freebies, that deal ended up costing $5.53 for a one-year Costco membership, so I figured… what the heck?

I activated my membership in May of 2014, and I could count on one hand the number of times I’ve gone in this year. One time I went to look for organic cotton pajamas based on a reader’s tip. Another time I went to price video cameras (then found the camera cheaper at Best Buy.) You get the idea.

However, I recently discovered a product at Costco that will have me returning to buy more in the near future: Ito En green tea.

Let me back up a bit. I like green tea and drink a lot of it, but I’ve really been on a quest lately to find the right green tea. By that, I mean the kind that is served in most sushi bars. I will be the first to admit that I am not a tea connoisseur — I’m aware of tea specialty shops like Teavana and Tea Gschwendner that sell loose teas. I’m not looking for anything terribly fancy — just the kind of tea that’s commonly is served in Japanese restaurants and sushi bars.

I’ve tried plenty of grocery-store brand green teas, but nothing comes close to the flavor of sushi-bar green tea. What kind of tea is it? I have even tried asking my favorite local sushi places what kind of tea they serve, which is usually met with a smile and a reply: “Green.”

As it turns out, I’m not alone in wondering where one can find this seemingly-common tea. Searching the web revealed numerous people raving about a Japanese brand of green tea, Ito En, being sold at Costco co-branded with their house label, Kirkland. Indeed, another web search revealed this Coscto-labeled Ito En Matcha Blend Japanese Green Tea being sold on Amazon by a third-party seller. Skimming the reviews? More than 400 positive reviews with 4 1/2 stars. People love this green tea and are raving about it, saying it’s the exact kind of tea (a sencha/matcha blend) served in Japanese restaurants.

I headed over to Costco, where I found Ito En green tea sold in a box of 100 tea bags for $12.99. Through March 2015, Costco has $3.00 instant savings on this item, dropping it to $9.99 (limit 1.) I bought my box of tea, enduring a joke from my cashier, who remarked that he couldn’t remember the last time a customer bought just one item in his checkout lane. I headed home and heated up some water…


I started getting excited. Could this be the tea I’ve been looking for?
The tea instructs to steep the bag for 30 seconds, then pour the matcha powder from the outer tea bag into the tea.
Now I was really getting excited. Look at that color! Many grocery-store green teas (Lipton, I’m talking to you… and another one called “Dynasty Sushi Bar Style Tea” that decidedly wasn’t) brew up brown, not green. It smelled right too — which of course made me think about sushi. And tempura.
After I removed the tea bag, I poured the matcha from the outer bag into my tea…
Yes! This is exactly what I’ve been looking for. My husband, a fan of sushi-bar iced green tea, was delighted that the box also included instructions for cold-brewing this as an iced green tea too. (Guess I have to share my new tea find with him!)

I’ll definitely be buying more of this tea — and if there isn’t another good Costco membership deal this Spring, I’ll be stocking up before my membership runs out in May. While Amazon sells it, it’s twice the price versus buying it at Costco.

Anyway, I thought I’d share in case there were other sushi-bar-tea lovers out there looking for something similar. (Now I’m wondering if there’s anything else I should check out at Costco too…)


Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Read full Disclosure Policy.

Comments

  1. Sometimes it is the only thing I buy there, I have to have 2 cartons in the house for my coffee. Now that I do not drink Diet Coke I rely on my extra cup of coffee during the day and only use Horizon half and half. It is 4. something (used to be 3.89 for longest time) but still well worth it for the half gallon. I also love the “Sweet Kale” Vegetable Salad. It comes with a dressing and cranberries. Unexpectedly yummy! Also get our water softener salt there as well as Naked green machine in the big container. I think that is about it for the regulars. On occasion Kcups. I am going to stop and pickup some of this tea though. I really miss my Diet Coke but I am splurging on the Coke Life until I can find some yellow cap Cokes.

    Reply

  2. Hi- To get good green tea, you need to hit an Asian supermarket. If you ever get to Arlington Heights, I would recommend Mitsuwa, which I have not been too, but I’ve heard it is wonderful, and similar to HMart, which I have been too.

    I belong to Sam’s Club, and I get gas there all the time, and I also use their pharmacy. Last year I got a battery for my car and tires there too. I don’t buy a lot of food there. I used to get Thomas WW muffins there until they stopped carrying them. You got 18 of them for under $5.

    Costco is known for their optical department, which always receives high marks at Consumer Reports, and their olive oil. Most of the super cheap olive oil sold in grocery stores is major adulterated, whereas the olive oil sold at Costco is supposed to be pure. Costco’s customer service department is supposed to be fantastic too. I know somebody who was waiting in line once post Thanksgiving, at a Costco store customer service department, and somebody in front of her brought in a turkey carcass, and had her money refunded, with no problem. Try doing that at Jewel.

    Reply

  3. I buy heavy cream there, sour cream, gas, birthday cakes (normally I bake them myself, but for big parties, there’s nothing better)…
    And also, I check every month, for whatever is on sale with their Qs. There’s usually something that’s a very good deal then. I also like to get things like socks or shirts there sometimes.
    Pillows, kitchen towels, tortillas, 100% juice boxes, fish sometimes…
    You can always find a good deal on something.

    Reply

  4. Hi- If you bake a lot of bread, the yeast that you get in bags at Sam’s Club and Costco, is way cheaper. I think at Sam’s Club you get two huge bags of yeast for $4

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  5. Jill, I’m curious- in the description it says to steep for only 20-30 seconds. Also other people say that the amount is really for a small size Japanese tea cup, so that for our big mugs, you’d need 2 tea bags.
    True?

    Reply

    • I leave it in for 4-5 minutes – I find it too weak if I only steep it for 30 seconds. I also use a regular size coffee cup (whatever that might be – 8 ounces?) and have no problem. It’s good! :)

      Reply

  6. I used to be annoyed that both Costco & Sam’s Club would not take my MasterCards & Visas as Credit…debit only!

    I could get around that problem, by going to Walmart, buying a gift card with my credit card, and then use that gift card at Sam’s Club.

    It was a pain, but at least I’d get my cash back rewards by doing that.

    Then, not too long ago, Sam’s Club started taking MasterCards & Visas as credit & not just as debit.

    Then a couple of weeks ago it was announced that beginning April 2016, Costco will end it’s crazy relationship with American Express.

    They will finally begin taking Visa cards as credit…still no MasterCards as credit for the foreseeable future.

    As for what do I buy?

    Gas, maybe 2x-3x a year at Costco.

    I don’t get rewards at Costco using debit cards.

    So I usually can either get to Thorntons (with rewards card -10 cents a gallon) or Sam’s Club for the same price if not cheaper.

    The Costco gas station on Randall Rd. is always crazy busy when I drive past…

    We also purchase the mega size items for church when we donate dinner.

    And… we do like the free samples on weekends.

    We usually don’t by more than 1 – 2 items in a trip to Costco.

    It’s usually cheaper to buy them on sale elsewhere.

    Plus we have no kids, so with just the two of us, just no point to buying a super size of anything.

    -Mark

    Reply

  7. And my son and I both really like! Thanks for the head’s up, it is something I wouldn’t have tried since I have a lot of tea from deals, but this is quite lovely. I can see going through this box in a few months at the rate we are going just this weekend.

    Reply

  8. I lived in Japan for 12 years and drank Ito-en brand all the time. It was consistently good. Not a premium brand there, but good. Nice to see I can get it here in the states.

    Reply

  9. Whats the taste of this tea? Today is my first day trying this, and also how do i drink this? Is it 1 ever day and how often should i drink it?

    Reply

  10. I had the same experience as you. I was on a search for a good green tea. Tried everything. Asked the sushi Restaurant what type they use. Same response that you received. I thought it was some hidden secret. I found this tea a Costco and was so excited. This is it!!!! This is the tea they serve at the restaurant. I had to laugh when I read your story because I can’t believe you had the same thing happen to you. I do love Costco. They pick the best items and this tea is another example of their high quality. Great customer service and return policy.

    Reply

  11. What I get at Costco: Kerrygold butter from grass fed cows, olive oil, coconut oil, Victoria white linen marinara sauce, 1.5 lbs bags of kale, naked green machine juice, Kirkland peanut butter, Kirkland branded clothing, Kirkland batteries, flash frozen seafoods and fish, AND the Kirkland Ito en green tea, of course. And so much more.

    I’ll tell you this much, the Kirkland branded products are absolutely top quality. Costco buyers are very good at sourcing, experts in their respective commodities and they only accept the best quality. Take the Kirkland raw nuts, for example…they are US #1 Fancy: almonds, pecans, pistachios, etc.

    One more story…I bought a couple of Kirkland pullover, zip sweaters for about $16.99 ea. several years ago. I could tell by the feel, weight of the cotton and stitching that these were quality. Sometime later my boss commented that he like my Tommy Bahama sweater. Of course I told him what brand my sweater actually was, and asked him to bring his to work so we could compare. Well, the cotton, stitching, brass eyelet breathing holes…everything was the same. Only differences were the TB brass zip logo (vs. no logo) and the TB logo embroidered on the inside (vs. Kirkland tag). Oh, and his TB was like $140.00 retail! :) There’s little doubt that our two sweaters came off the same production line, just different run times.

    Reply

  12. Yummy Green Tea in a nylon (petroleum-based) tea-bag.

    I love the fact that nylon’s polymer structure degrades when exposed to water, especially hot water.

    Looking forward to my next cup of anti-oxidizing oil & water!

    You’d think Costco’s “superb” product testing would have caught this.

    Sip on that!

    Reply

  14. I loved this green tea from Costco and have purchased it several times. I just bought another box off 100 tea bags and it is NOT the same tea!!! No Macha at all and the tea doesn’t even look green in the bag. Taking the box back and asking for a refund. Very disappointed that Costco felt the need to change the tea. Will be going to Asian stores to buy from now on.

    Reply

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jillcataldoheadshotI'm Jill Cataldo, founder of Super-Couponing® workshops and author of the nationally-syndicated newspaper column and video series "Super-Couponing Tips" enjoyed by over 20 million people each week.

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