Time for “Tea Nouveau” –Shincha-

Sakura season has arrived much earlier this year, which means it will finish earlier. Too sad…., but after Sakura, we have tea!

The  season of new tea, known as Shincha generally starts March in Okinawa, the southernmost area of growing tea in Japan, and goes up north, reaching to Kyoto around the beginning of May. Unlike Kyoto, Shizuoka and Kagoshima, Okinawa is not that well-known as a tea-producing area even among Japanese, because it accounts only for less than one percent of Japanese production. Still, tea made in Okinawa is truly “the very earliest season’s tea” in Japan.

Luckily, I got a package of Okinawa shincha. The one I got  is made from a rare varietal “Inzatsu”, which is characterized by containing a lot of catechin and a particular aroma component, producing refreshing aroma like jasmine flowers. It does have a great natural flowery aroma!

Soon, more shincha will be on the market one after another. It is time to celebrate “Tea Nouveau in 2013 ” !!


Fresh from a tea farm -photo by T-

Tea-Scented Toilet Roll??

Today is April Fool's Day! But..... this is not a joking, this is serious. You can enjoy teatime in the bathroom!!

In Japan, tea-scented toilet rolls are on sale today. I hear that two different scented-toilet rolls are available. One, named “Teatime in the tropics”, is pink-colored and tropical fruit tea-scented paper. The other one, “Teatime in Britain”, is light-blue chamomile-scented paper. Each one costs around 300yen per a 12-roll set.

Which would you prefer in the bathroom,  fruit tea or chamomile tea???  I would rather have those in the living room, ha, ha.

- by Nisshinbo Paper Products Inc -

Flower-lovers are Tea-lovers?

An interesting survey was conducted in Shizuoka. It shows that people who love flowers also like tea. Maybe true or maybe doesn’t have to be.

Anyway….followed by the result, a tea company in Shizuoka has begun to work with some local flower shops for limited-period in order to search the possibility of expanding tea’s demand. Some flower shops sell Sencha made of “Shizu7132” variety. Surprisingly, this variety creates a distinctive aroma like Sakura leaves. Of course, the special aroma is not flavored, it’s given by Nature.

Tea with Sakura leaves aroma seemingly goes well with flower shop. It can help develop new market for tea.

-Photo by T-

 

Britain in Japan

Many many years ago, I stayed in Britain about a year. I experienced their lovely tea-life back then, coming to be such a big tea-lover. I still feel excited when it comes to English tea.

There are some English tea rooms in Osaka, and recently I’ve found another one “Torrington Tea Room”, named after a tea clipper. Both inside and outside of the tea house are really British. Most of all the British-styled tea rooms in Japan serve scones, but they don’t. Instead, they have crumpet dishes, Egg Benedict dishes and Irish stew etc. Sounds appetizing!

I had crumpet-Egg Benedict and a pot of Assam tea. In Britain, tea is usually served by a pot, but in Japan, often served by a cup, which is not enough for me. So I was so happy to have their good food with decent amount of tea. What made me happier was the Assam tea I had was great! 

This is a lovely “Britain” in Japan that satisfies my appetite and heart. I'm sure I'll come back again soon, ha, ha.

- photo by T-

Wanna lower risk of stroke?

Enjoy green tea to lower risk of stroke! Coffee does help too!

Check the below to get more details.

*BY “The Atlantic”

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/03/green-tea-and-coffee-both-associated-with-lowered-stroke-risk/274034/

Matcha for St.Patrick

St. Patrick’s Day is coming soon. Are you planning to color something green? Would you like to eat/drink something colored-green?

We don’t celebrate the day in Japan, even many don’t know what the St Patrick’s Day is, I guess. However, there are many things colored green thanks to matcha including matcha cake, chocolate, pancake, latte, snacks or whatever. I’m not sure how you color food/drinks green, but why don’t you use matcha for not only color, but your health.

Matcha snacks  -T-

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Another March 11 is coming.  It was 2:46 PM. I was at the office in Osaka, which is far from the disaster-hit area, but I felt tremor even here. A lot of people including my brother has transferred to the disaster-hit Tohoku areas to work to help their rehabilitation. Since then, two years have passed, but still many are struggling how they live.

There was another big earthquake in Kobe, 5:46 AM on January 17, 1995, leaving more than 6,000 dead. I was in Kobe back then. My place was partial destruction, and I spend a few days at evacuation site. At the site, an old woman next to me gave me one small onigiri (rice ball) and a cup of tea, which were the first meal after the earthquake. I remember that the onigiri was rough-made, but it was really delicious. The tea was not hot enough, but I felt warm enough and relieved.

There is still long long way to go. Hope the day when people in Tohoku area can really enjoy tea and chat will come before long.




image frm web