In this episode I interview Joelle and Aldo Bloise from Ikkyu. Ikkyu is an online store that sells Japanese tea from Kyushu, one of the main islands of Japan....
Senbird Tea Moriki Fukamushicha
Lately I’ve been drinking more sencha than any other tea. It has become a habit. And I’m often drinking fukamushi sencha, like this one from Senbird Tea. Moriki Fukamushicha...
Matcha Affogato
Affogato means “drowned” in Italian, and it consists of gelatto (or just a normal ice cream nowadays) and espresso. A modern version of this is the matcha affogato. It’s...
The Shuntarou Tea Cultivar
Shuntarou (しゅんたろう) is as far as I know the earliest budding cultivar in Japan. This means that it can be harvested before other cultivars, which is an advantage for...
Sugimoto Tea Mizuki Matcha
I have heard many good things about this new product from Sugimoto Tea. It’s the company’s best quality matcha. You can tell by looking at the price. This tea...
Astringency in Green Tea
This term is commonly used in wine, but it also applies to tea. Astringency isn’t a flavor, but rather a sensation in the mouth and throat. It’s often described...
The Kuritawase Tea Cultivar
Kuritawase (栗田早生) is a very early budding cultivar that can be found in Kagoshima prefecture. Since southern Japan is warmer, early budding cultivars offer the advantage of having shincha...
Houjibancha from Okayama
I received this tea in a generic bag from a friend, I don’t know who produced it and my friend doesn’t know either. But basically, this is very similar...
Cha-miso Recipe
I saw this recipe at the theanoholic! blog and decided to give it a try. It contains spent sencha leaves, miso and mirin. Both miso and mirin are basic...
Podcast 042: Tyas Sosen Talks About his Latest Book
In this episode I interview Tyas Sōsen of The Tea Crane. He’s been on this podcast several times before. We talk about his book: The Story of Japanese Tea....
Marushige Shimizu Seicha Kabusecha Saeakari
The last time that I tried a tea from Marushige Shimizu Seicha it was very interesting because of how different it was. I’m excited about this one, because it’s...
Hario Filter-in Bottle
This product is popular among tea enthusiasts in Japan. I had seen it before, but I hadn’t used one until now. It consists of a glass bottle and a...