If you’re into books about tea, you’ve probably at least heard of The Book of Tea, by Okakura Kakuzō (岡倉覚三), from 1906. Nowadays he is mainly known in the...
Ochauke, Japanese Tea Snacks
Ochauke (お茶請け) is the Japanese word for tea snack. The idea is, on one hand to avoid drinking tea on an empty stomach, since tea contains caffeine and catechins....
Goshisochaji (Documentary Review)
I’ll translate the title, Gochisochaji (ごちそう茶事) as “delicious tea gathering”. The producer, Takatsu Makoto, is a fellow tea lover that is deeply involved in promoting tea. The documentary attempts...
Tea Plant Bonsai
Nowadays it’s fairly easy to find buy a tea plant to keep at home. But I hadn’t heard of a tea plant bonsai until recently. Bonsai (盆栽) is the...
Gyokuro Sauce Recipe
This is a simple sauce using gyokuro that I adapted from the book Cooking with Tea. It’s great for dishes with fish because of the natural umami and marine...
Dealing with Tea Dust
Normal tea bags are usually filled with low quality tea dust. There’s not much you can do to make a tea bag taste better. It results in a bitter...
Rikyu (Movie Review)
This is the third Japanese movie about Rikyū. The other two are Death of a Tea Master, and Ask This of Rikyū. The title in Japanese is 利休. It’s...
Death of a Tea Master (Movie Review)
The name of this movie in Japanese is Sen no Rikyū: Honkakubo’s Literary Remains (千利休 本覺坊遺文), and it was released in 1989. It is the film adaptation of a...
The Sainomidori Tea Cultivar
The Sainomidori (さいのみどり) cultivar is a fairly new cultivar, since it was registered in 2003. It is meant for sencha production and is suitable for cold or mountainous regions....
Tea and Coffee can Coexist
I believe that there’s no need to choose sides. During the day, you will have a chance to drink both tea and coffee. While I really don’t drink coffee,...
How I Pack my Teaware for Events
Although nowadays most of the tea events that I do are virtual, I’ll give you some tips in case that you need to pack your teaware. The basic idea...
Ocha & Co Organic Japanese Black Tea
This year I haven’t reviewed a black tea. Japanese black tea, or wakoucha, is still uncommon in the market. Ocha & Co gave me this sample. It’s organic and...