2014/02/20

With or Without??

I had long taken it for granted that Japanese tea is drunk without sugar and milk.

Being in London about 20 years ago, I saw an Italian friend going to put some sugar into green tea. I just said to her right away. “No, no!!  Adding sugar to green tea is anathema!! Don’t do that!!” She replied, “Why? This is tea, right? Some add milk and sugar to English tea.” I was not open-minded enough to say “Enjoy green tea as you like!”. Instead, I replied that this is how we drink Japanese tea.

Back then, I strongly believed green tea “has to be” drunk without milk and sugar. Now, sweetened Matcha or Hojicha are seen here and there as Matcha au lait, Hojicha latte etc. It is not “has to be” anymore.

Hojicha Latte by Lipton  -T-

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