Myouan Eisai (Myōan Eisai, 明菴栄西) is best known for bringing the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism to Japan. He also played a prominent role in Japanese tea history because...
Obubu Tea Gokou Matcha
I received this tea from Yunomi.life. It’s an authentic matcha from Uji. Kyoto Obubu Tea Farms is one of my favorite tea producers. They are actively involved in spreading...
Cooking with Tea (Book Review)
This tea book by Robert Wemischner and Diana Rosen was published in the year 2000, but the content is still relevant today. A few weeks ago I interviewed Robert...
The Meiryoku Tea Cultivar
Meiryoku (茗緑) is a tea cultivar known for its robustness, in the sense that it’s easy to cultivate and maintain. The character “mei” is often used in Chinese when...
Chiki Tea Sae
I had been in contact for more than a year with Holly and Alexander from Chiki Tea, but somehow we hadn’t talked about a tea review until recently. Besides...
The Yamatomidori Tea Cultivar
Yamatomidori (やまとみどり、大和緑）is a tea cultivar as old as Yabukita. Yamato was originally a region in Nara, and then it became the ancient name of Japan. Now, it’s pretty much...
4 Reasons why your Matcha Doesn’t Foam
I’ve received questions by readers regarding the foam of matcha. First of all I must warn that some schools of the Japanese tea ceremony prefer less foam or not...
Ocha & Co. Organic Sencha
Ocha & Co. is an online tea store that ships worldwide from Japan. The tea for today’s review is an organic sencha from Shizuoka prefecture. It comes vacuum-sealed in...
Green Tea (Book Review)
I bought this book at the World Tea Expo. Kevin Gascoyne, one of the authors, was there and he signed it for me 🙂 This book was originally published...
Podcast 025: Cooking With Tea
In this episode I interview Robert Wemischner, author of Cooking with Tea. Robert is a pastry chef and a culinary educator. His vast knowledge of using tea as an...
The Fuushun Tea Cultivar
The tea cultivar Fuushun (ふうしゅん,富春) means “rich spring”. This cultivar is more resistant to cold weather than Yabukita and has a greater yield, even if using less fertilizer. Normally,...
Cha Doraku Kaori
I received this rare Japanese tea from Cha Doraku, a tea company located in Canada. Kaori is an ichou (sligh withering, also called bihakkou) asamushi (light steamed) sencha from...