I reviewed The Book of Japanese Tea some time ago. It’s my favorite book about Japanese tea so far. In this podcast episode Oscar Brekell tells us about how...
Sugimoto Tea Sencha Kanayamidori
Single cultivar sencha is slowly becoming more popular. At least in Japan. I’m very thankful to Sugimoto Tea for giving me this sample, and for making these type of...
Three Teas Umami Seasoning
I received a tea recipe booklet from Sugimoto Tea. This seasoning recipe has three Japanese green teas in it: houjicha, sencha and genmaicha. That’s why I had to try...
The Asanoka Tea Cultivar
Asanoka is one of those Japanese cultivars that are uncommon, but you can manage to buy a sencha made with it outside Japan. It is mostly cultivated in Kagoshima...
Tomizawa Tea Garden Kabusecha Okumidori
This is another interesting tea sample courtesy of Ian Chun from Yunomi. Tomizawa Tea Garden is located in Mashiki town, Kumamoto prefecture. The company was founded in 1930. They...
Basic Matcha Salad Dressing Recipe
Green tea in general pairs well with vegetables, so it is a suitable ingredient for a salad dressing. I’ll share with you a quick and simple recipe. You can...
Kintsugi
Kintsugi (金継ぎ) can be literally translated as “gold mending”. One would imagine that gold is used as the bonding agent in this technique for repairing pottery, but it’s actually...
Smile Tea Organic Matcha
I was quite busy last week. Friday, for example, I had two tea tastings one after another, for six and nine people. As a way to relax, I reviewed...
Chasoba
Soba are a type of Japanese noodles. They are made with buckwheat flour and wheat flour. There are different types of soba, but for this blog the most interesting...
Our Teaware is Already Broken
The Buddhist monk Ajahn Chah talked about seeing a glass as if it was already broken. The concept of impermanence is very important in Buddhism. It’s an inevitable part...
The Tea Crane Organic Nara Native Sencha
There are many interesting Japanese teas at The Tea Crane. Today I review one of them: a sencha grown high up in the mountains. The tea plants used came...
Japanese Names with the Symbol for Tea
I searched online and made a list of Japanese names that have the Chinese symbol for tea: 茶. It’s not an exhaustive list, however. While I haven’t met anyone...