It's All About Tea — japanese tea

When sipping koicha, it will slowly but surely proceed to greet you. Meeting you with a brief moment of intense umami and a long-lingering sweetness. Similarly to gongfucha when we intake a concentrate of all the tea’s best qualities all through one tiny cup of brew. (Read more)

Once the rich favorable flavor of your tea begins to fade we immediately think it is time to toss it as it is of no use to us any longer. Yet there are actually plenty of uses for used tea leaves!

The truth is even though the tea leaves no longer have flavor, they still have nutrients. These nutrients can still serve their purpose in many ways. (Read more)

 

Matcha latte? Iced Matcha? Matcha shot? Plain-old brewed matcha?

Matcha, like coffee, has pretty much endless options when it comes to preparation.

We’re all for the traditional stuff, but who doesn’t enjoy a good matcha latte? 

The following recipe is for a Ginger Matcha Latte. Smooth, umami-rich, and with a little healthy spice to it. (Read more)

Japan doesn't leave much time to relax. As soon as the breathtaking cherry blossom season is over, comes the start of a new time of year — Shincha season. 

For many Japanese tea lovers out there May is basically a holy month!

Tea connoisseurs flock to the markets to secure for themselves some of the year’s limited supply of first flush... (Read more)

Overall there are two main types of tea ceremonies in Japan: an informal tea gathering chakai, and a formal tea gathering chaji. Chakai is a more simple tea gathering which will include some sweets and thin tea (usucha). While chaji is much more formal, usually including a full-course kaiseki meal followed by sweets, thick tea (koicha), and thin tea. A chaji is often times around four hours long, with guests taking small breaks to walk around in the garden by the tea hut.

Aside from the two main types of tea ceremonies there are also many other kinds of tea ceremonies which are held in Japan depending on the occasion, season, and time of day. (Read more)