Okoshi (おこし) is a type of traditional Japanese sweet (wagashi). It’s also called okoshigome (おこし米). While it’s often made with processed rice, it can be made with other grains...

Yunomi (湯呑) literally means “hot water drinking”. It’s an abbreviation of yunomi jawan (湯吞茶碗), where the word chawan means “tea bowl”. Note that in Japan, the word chawan used...

There are more than a hundred tea cultivars in Japan, with new ones appearing every year. But only a few are used extensively. I looked at the data of...

Okuyutaka (おくゆたか) is a cultivar that makes a good quality sencha. Its name comes from Yutakamidori, and from the fact that it is a late budding cultivar. History of...

A Japanese friend told me that people are preparing coffee in their kyusu. I never would have thought of doing that. Apparently, the resulting coffee tastes well. This way,...

Kintsuba (きんつば) is a traditional Japanese sweet (wagashi) that is fairly common, although not as popular as others. In essence, it’s a yōkan with an outer crust. Nowadays, most...