Special Focus on Shizuoka: A matcha cafe in the countryside

Traditionally, matcha is associated with the image of a serious tea ceremony that has to follow all the formalities, depending on the various tea ceremony schools. To the uninitiated, it would have appeared to be a daunting experience. Thanks to the matcha boom across the globe, casual cafes are now offering matcha or even specialising …

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Gochisochaji – a film about Japanese tea

I've finally received my copy of the Japanese tea documentary titled Gochisōchaji ごちそう茶事 yesterday afternoon. There's no official English translation, but I'd like to translate it liberally as 'a feast of tea'. Heh. It was officially released on May 1 this year, on Hachijuuhachi-ya (88th night), an important date in the tea harvesting calendar. Gochisōchaji …

Tea tasting: Bodai Kancha 2021

It is generally known that the first tea harvest of the year is in the spring months. But did you know in Japan there is a type of tea that's harvested as early as January or February during the cold, harsh winter months? Well, you could look at it as the earliest harvest of the …

Salt is a game changer… even in tea?

I tried this experiment after re-reading this book by American food developer Barb Stuckey that I had purchased some years ago. I was looking for some info in the section on Smell, but ended up re-reading the whole book. Being someone with a hospitality background (but non-practicing), I have several reference books on food and …

One River Tea’s Enshi Yulu sample and survey

Earlier this year, I participated in a blind tasting and survey conducted by One River Tea for a type of Chinese green tea known as Enshi Yulu (恩施玉露 or Enshi Jade Dew), which originates from Enshi region of Hubei province. It is processed using steam method entirely, making it the only Chinese tea that resembles …