It's All About Tea — tea ceremony

When you want to make your matcha in the traditional Japanese style, it's essential to invest in a proper Japanese tea set. A basic tea set will include a chawan (matcha bowl), chasen (matcha whisk), and chashaku (matcha scoop). If you want a complete Japanese tea set, however, you should also get a furui (tea sift), and a kusenaoshi (chasen holder). By the way, this is only if you want to enjoy matcha at home, casually. If you're going to make matcha as per the ways of Chado, you need much more equipment. So, if you want to make a proper bowl of frothy green matcha, if nothing else, you should always have quality matcha tea powder and a chasen. So how do we take care of the matcha whisk to ensure its longevity for years of umami-rich tea bowls to come? (Read more)

In a couple of our recent posts, we have mentioned these obscure words — Hui Gan. But what does Hui Gan actually mean? Indeed, it’s as elusive as many of our favorite terms in this mysterious world of tea! Hui Gan, Cha Qi, Wabi-Sabi… they are all tricky to describe but really hold what we find is the essence of the tea ceremony. (Read more)

Seeing for the first time tea brewed with a bowl and spoon might come as a surprise to tea enthusiasts who are fans of the Chinese tea ceremony - gong fu cha. It is a popular brewing method in Taiwan, used for brewing green teas and oolongs. (Read more)

Any tea advice blog you turn to will say the same thing. Never use soap to wash your teaware. This is absolutely correct. Soaps and detergents can impart unfavorable flavors on delicate teaware. Usually, a quick rinse with hot water should suffice. However, what about those times that our teaware needs a little extra cleaning? (Read more)

Addiction is one of the most destructive human ailments there is. It can sabotage relationships, jobs, and, most importantly, personal health and well-being. Addiction can be found in alcohol, drugs, gambling, harmful foods, or anything else that we practice excessively, which does not benefit us at large. 

 

Thankfully nowadays, we have plentiful research and natural remedies that we can apply to ourselves to combat our addictions. (Read more)