Thank you 2012

Sado (Japanese traditional tea ceremony) is deeply influenced by Zen spirit. In order to learn its spirit, there are many expressions known as “zengo”.

This is the one of them:

 

            * 日日是好日(nichi-nichi-kore-kou-nichi)

 

It refers to “Even if it is a sunny day, rainy day, happy day and even bitter day, every single day is the best day of your life.” In other words, no matter what happens, we should appreciate what I’m here and spending precious life now.

 

Hope every single day in 2013 will be the best day of your life too.

"Yoi-Otoshi-wo" (Have a good year!)

 

- Every day is beautiful - tomo

Festive Tea -Obukucha-

2013 is just around the corner. Do you have special tea for the new year?

In Kyoto, “Obuku-cha” is a new year’s tea. Technically, it is not made from Camellia Sinesis, though.

It is a drink with umeboshi (pickled plum) and kombu (sea vegetable) in it. Because we believe that umeboshi protects us from evil and illness. Kombu is a symbol of happiness.

There are various views about the origin of the name. This is one of them. In 951, an epidemic raged and a lot of people suffered. At that time, a Japanese priest, KUYA gave a tea with a pickled plum to the people. Finally, it was waning. The Emperor then heard about it, having the tea later on. Since the Emperor had the tea, it came to be called “Obuku-cha”, which means “the tea drunk by the Emperor”. Nowadays, we call the same, but use different Kanji character, which literally means “large happiness”.

Hope 2013 will be filled with happiness!

 

Obukucha with umeboshi, kombu and powdered gold  -photo by T-

 

Niroku's Tea

As you may know, Japan produces black tea. But not only that. Some farmers have started to produce Japanese oolong tea, too. The trailblazer is Mr. Niroku Muramats. He is also known as current Japanese black tea's pioneer and has established his black tea. But that was not his goal.



Mr.Niroku MURAMATSU

Now, the 72 year-old man is pursuing his new tea, pouchong tea. His pouching tea is made from “Benifuki”, a hybrid variety. I am fortunate to taste his tea some times. That’s amazing! It has a beautiful golden color, flowery rich aroma and substantial taste. Even only its aroma makes me really happy. His pouching tea hasn’t been on the market yet, but I am sure people will love it once it is.

Amid declining of Japanese tea consumption, those new types of tea would bring new wind in the industry and Japanese tea culture.



 

Let's Do Tea!

Many, especially women, often say "Ocha suru? " when we'd like to take a break while being outside for shopping or so. Then we go the place to drink and take a rest. The expression "Ocha suru?" literally means "Shall we do tea?". But it isn't always the case. Some order coffee or juice.... not tea although we say "do tea". I had never ever thought this is interesting until a friend of mine pointed it out.

For Japanese, "tea" doesn't mean only drink to quench our thirst. It implies the time to relax.  Whether you're a tea-lover or not, whether you prefer coffee or not, let's do tea!

Time to Gargle with Tea

It’s getting chilly in Japan. We have to take preventive measures against cold and flu. In that case, tea does help.

Japanese green tea is said to have a lot of catechin, which has the effect of killing bacteria. Some schools especially at the tea-production areas encourage their students to gargle with tea during winter. Between classes, after PE class, before school lunch…..the all students gurgle with tea. According to those schools, fewer students catch a cold since they have introduced this system.

Coarse tea has more catechin than high-quality tea. Even tasteless tea made from used tea leaves has enough catechin to work for killing bacteria. Tea is not only for drinking, is it?

Milder Black Tea



Ad posters for "Kaga no Kocha"

Generally speaking, the characteristic of black tea is to have bitterness, which makes the tea special. But, that isn’t always the case in terms of Japanese black tea, known as wakocha.

Overall, wakocha has milder and lighter. Why? That’s because of tea variety.  Wakocha is usually made from the Chinese variety (the same as green tea with less tannin) or hybrid crossed with Assam variety which usually produces black tea with substantial bitterness. So, the taste of teas made from the varieties with less tannin is relatively milder. For those who don’t like the bitterness, it is good news. You don’t need to add milk or sugar to make it milder. As you may call it "self-drinker", you can drink without milk and sugar, which is healthier. Don’t get me wrong. I also do love tea with milk! I mean, the more choices, the better. 

"Shimanto RED"


As I mentioned on my last blog, about 400kinds of wakocha are on the market now, and the taste varies depending on the variety and the process. After all, wakocha is not only one. That’s why it is interesting.


Mr. Okamoto, the owner of wakocha shop "Kureha" -tea booth at the summit-

*Pictures are taken at the Japanese black tea summit on Nov 23&24, 2012 by tomo

 

 

Past, Present and Future - Japanese Black Tea -



Ad poster of black tea summit in Takahashi 2012

 A Japanese black tea summit was held in Takahashi city, Okayama prefecture on the 23^rd and 24^th of November, 2012. It was the 11^th time. You may be surprised that Japan produces black tea in addition to green tea. Believe it or not, around 400 kinds of Japanese black tea, known as wakocha (lit: Japanese black tea) or jikocha (lit; local black tea), are on the market now.

Strictly speaking, Japanese black tea is not a newcomer. It was one of Japan’s main export items a long time ago. Its history dates back to 1870’s. Since black tea was more popular than green tea in the world then, the government pushed the production forward. As a result, about 8,525 tons of black tea was produced at peak period, in 1955. (During the wartime, production went down, though.) However, it came to lose its competitiveness in terms of price and quality and the production dropped. In addition, the restriction on the foreign trade of tea was removed in 1971, which made the situation much worse. Finally, the production reduced to only three tons in 1975.

Since the 1990s, black tea began to come back once again. More and more farmers have gradually been working on its production. One of the reasons is a decline of green tea consumption caused by the spread of bottled tea and the change of our diet. A lot of people, especially younger generation, prefer bottled tea than tea from a teapot because of convenience. Westernized dishes, which don’t go well with green tea, are served at our tables more often. In order to break with the status quo, the farmers have started to feel their way through this new challenge.



sampling space

Amid this situation, the summit was first started 11 years ago for the farmers to work hard together for better black tea. At first, the participants were only tea-related people, but in 2012 it was a much larger-scale and more like a festival supported by the municipality. Not only tea people but also a lot of consumers enjoyed a sampling session, a tea café and a tea booth where the customers could buy wakocha from the farmers at the site. For tea people, there were several symposia and seminars by specialists including Mr.Kanzo Sakata (Emeritus Professor of Kyoto University), Mr.Takeshi Isobuchi (Tea specialist) and Mr. Niroku Muramatsu (Leading expert of black tea). Various topics such as production, marketing and the future of wakocha, all of which were really valuable and meaningful, were discussed.

At this point, wakocha is creating a buzz because it’s rare and new. But soon, it will not be purchased just because of its novelty. Its specialty and originality, to say nothing of quality, will be a must for it to survive in the future. Japanese black tea is evolving steadily. The sales are increasing surely. The tea helps revitalize the rural economy, too. Black tea could be the icebreaker of a “Japanese tea Renaissance”.

Tea cafe



                                                                                                                                       special thanks AH