…an odd green thing caught my eye. It was the size of a muffin, covered in green icing, and it had the label: “Matcha-Steamed Bread”.
Japan Tea Tour – Matcha-Steamed Bread
April 20th, 2010 by Nicolas Michaelides · Discovery, Explore, Food
Shizuoka Tea Market – Opening Day
April 20th, 2010 by Katherine Kern · Discovery, Explore
We were lucky enough to be invited to the opening day of the Shizuoka Tea Market yesterday. Although some of the tea crop was damaged this year by the frost and fewer teas were available on the first day, the area around the market was lively and full of optimism. As usual we were warmly welcomed by our Japanese hosts and tea was served (by the seven gods of happiness) before we entered the building.
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Happoen Garden Japanese Tea Ceremony
April 19th, 2010 by Nicolas Michaelides · Discovery
We were lucky enough today to participate in a Japanese Tea Ceremony in Happoen Garden, Tokyo. Here are some images from the ceremony.
Japan Tea Tour – The Jet Lag Hits
April 18th, 2010 by Nicolas Michaelides · Explore, News
Last night, the jetlag hit. If there’s one thing that can dampen your travel experience, it’s jetlag.
At 1:21am, I was wide awake, having fallen asleep only 90 minutes prior. By 3am, I was resigned to the fact that sleep was just not going to happen. After pottering about in the confines of the room, I decided to be brave and venture out into the world… as far as the vending machine down the hall.
I don’t know what I thought I would find there – a familiar beverage, perhaps – but I stood bemused in front of the drink selection. With no knowledge of the Japanese language, a simple task of choosing a drink had been transformed into splitting the atom. Fortunately, from amongst the unfamiliar characters and funky packaging, a sober ray of light shone through: ROYAL MILK TEA!
A Brit, an American and a Japanese are speaking French over a cup of tea…
April 18th, 2010 by Nicolas Michaelides · Discovery, Explore, Tea Rooms
We arrived in Tokyo a few days early to allow time to adjust to the time-zone (Japan = UK +8hrs, US EST +13hrs) and spend some extra time in this global city.
During a casual stroll one afternoon, we ended up in the area of Kagurazaka, known for its romantic narrow cobbled alleys and ex-pat cafes [...]
Japan Tea Tour
April 18th, 2010 by Nicolas Michaelides · Discovery, Explore, News
We are currently in Japan at the beginning of a tea tour that will take in some choice parts of the main island of Honshu. The tour is run by Dan Robertson of World Tea Tours, a man whose knowledge of tea is even more impressive than his appetite for fresh sashimi, as I found [...]
Top 10 Tea-Making Tips
February 1st, 2010 by Nicolas Michaelides · Discovery
We have been blogging about tea for a while now and I realised that we’ve not covered the basic guidelines for making tea. There must be people out there who are new to tea but do not really know how to proceed. Well, the tea-newbies and other tea-curious out there need fear no more. The [...]
Three Cups of Tea
January 27th, 2010 by Katherine Kern · Discovery
A few years ago, I bought the book Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen and David Oliver Relin solely because of the quote printed on the back. It read:
Here (in Pakistan and Afghanistan), we drink three cups of tea to do business;the first you are a stranger, the second you become a friend, [...]
For your Playlist – Songs featuring Tea
January 25th, 2010 by Nicolas Michaelides · Explore
We blogged about Kula Shaker’s “Drink Tea (For The Love of God)”. That got me thinking about songs that feature “tea”.
There seems to be a real dearth of songs that mention our favourite beverage in some context or other (be it in the lyrics or the title). This is in stark contrast to other popular drinks like coffee or beer which seem to have captured the hearts and minds (and souls?) of creative musical sorts out there.
However, here are a few tea songs:
No sTEAm without TEA!
January 25th, 2010 by Nicolas Michaelides · Explore
I was out and about this week and found myself longing for a hot cup of tea thanks to the penetrating chill of ol’ London Town’s wind and rain.
Once back to the warmth of home, I went about refreshing and reviving myself with the object of my desire (that’s tea, in case you’re wondering). For a moment, I watched the steam rolling up from my cup of Cinnamon Orange Spice and was captivated by its playfulness. Well, truth be known, I’m not sure if I was captivated or still frozen from the elements. What I do know is that there’s something reassuring about a little bit of steam coming off food / drink, like the promise of imminent comfort.
I was inspired to look for images of steaming tea-related goodness and here are my top picks:
