What is tomeishi-stone?

Can you take a look at this picture? Do you find a small stone with black rope banded in front of the bamboo gate? Do you know what this is and why it is there?

Konnichiwa, it’s meヽ(^。^)ノ I found the stone at the corner of the court garden of Shogetsu. The stone is called tomeishi. You can find it at Japanese traditional gardens or tea gardens. Tome means stop and ishi means stone. Stop-stone? Now, can you guess what it is for?

This stone means “do not go any farther than here”. You can call it “keep-out stone”, maybe. For example, if there is a two-way trail in a tea garden, the stone is placed on one way and lead the guests to the other way for the correct trail. Don’t you think this keep-out sign is very modest? It could be ignored. You can easily move it or step over it. Some people may think that you should place a larger sign which says “Keep Out”, a robust barrier made out bamboo or even a yellow “Keep Out” tape in crime scenes. But, can you imagine a yellow “Keep Out” tape in Japanese gardens? Probably not. This implicit sign suits a Japanese garden. I think it’s very Japanese and I like it that way. Jah!



This is a picture of the court garden of Shogetsu from another angle. There is no tomeishi in this photo.

What do you enjoy about greeting tea?

I kind of look forward to greeting drink and snack at ryokan, Japanese hotel. They are nothing special; just ordinary green tea and sweets. But they relieve the weariness of my trip. After a long drive, relishing tea over viewing Japanese garden or flowers at *tokonoma makes me feel relaxed. Woo, I sound like an old man, haha… (^^;;

*tokonoma: alcove in a traditional Japanese room where art or flowers are displayed

Konnichiwa, it’s meヽ(^。^)ノ I went to Gero hot spring resort in Gifu prefecture, again. The ryokan we stayed at this time was Shogetu. After passing through nice-looking gates, we were led to their lobby with a favorable court garden. I was impressed by the cozy space and the view there. Shogetsu is located at uptown of Gero city, so from the lobby you can see a great panoramic view of the city over the garden. We were sitting down while facing to the view. They also have a small inner garden behind where we were seated. It really helps to create a lovely Japanese air. We had the greeting tea there. The confection was good. I don’t quite remember the taste of the tea, but you know what? I remembered the special moment in the great environment and the view. So, I think that enjoying tea is not just only about the tea. At the same time, you also enjoy the atmosphere and savor the special moment with the tea. I have to say that I had an excellent greeting tea at Shogetsu. Jah!

Tasting tea at a tea shop, Chadegozaru

Do you have a tea shop in your neighborhood? Are they good guides for your tea exploring?


The other day, I went to a teashop called “Chadegozaru” in a shopping mall. At the front of the store, the first tea of the year is piled.

They have sample leaves shown next to the packages on the shelves.

They provide tea tasting, as well. These are helpful in assisting customers to find the tea they’re looking for. I actually tasted three different teas and purchase two of them ^^

You can tell the quality of tea by the appearance of the leaves on some level but I’d rather taste it before I make a purchase. So, I prefer tea shops that offer tea tasting. I’m sometimes surprised by the flavors that I’ve tasted. I really enjoy it. I’m excited when I unexpectedly find nice umami in the tea. Sometimes, I’m disappointed with boring flavors or the robust bitterness that the tea has. Also, different preparations by different staff bring out different tastes. I enjoy discovering various teas at those tastings. I hope you have a chance to experience tea tasting.


Chadegozaru webpage (Japanese) >>>
http://store.shopping.yahoo.co.jp/daisan/index.html

Can you evaluate bottled tea?

What if you were working at a bottled tea manufacturing company, what kind of bottled green tea would you make? To produce a great bottled tea, you need to know what customers think of your tea and your competitors’.



Konnichiwa, it’s meヽ(^。^)ノ Again, I’m gonna talk about a thing I learned at the bottled tea workshop. The company that the instructor works for produces bottled tea. They do tests and evaluations for their products and the competitors’. The company use two kinds of evaluation method and one is a scientific evaluation and the other one is a sensory method. At this workshop, we got to try the sensory evaluation. We learned how it is done and actually experienced it.

Here is a view of what we did at the workshop. Let’s say that you were working at a research laboratory in a bottled tea plant. You ought to think about what kind of product you are going to produce next. You needed to evaluate and analyze your bottled sencha and your major competitors’ for this season to find out what is going to make a big hit on the next season.

This is a relative evaluation. The white marked tea is the control tea, which is your product. The red and blue marked teas are the samples which are the products from competitors. (Water is just for washing your mouth.) The panelists drink these teas and compare how different they are from the control. They check seven aspects.

Aroma
1. dynamics of aroma
2. green aroma
3. roasted aroma
Taste
4. sweetness and umami
5. bitterness
Flavor
6. green flavor
7. roasted flavor

The point is not if you like it. The panelists need to compare the dynamics on each aspect. They taste the teas and complete the survey. The paper partially shown in the picture is the survey sheet.

I actually tasted them as a panelist. The amount of samples was not so much, so I tied to alternately sip little of each tea. But I noticed that it tastes different when I sip plenty amount. I learned that I can tell correct flavors with plenty mount. Anyway, the Smple Red had more roasted aroma and flavor than the control. The Sample Blue had less aroma, but more umami and green flavor. (These samples were major brands from different companies made and sold in Japan.)

So, if you launch your own bottled tea plant, don’t evaluate teas by your preference but with dynamics on the each aspect. Haha^^  Jah!

Tasting the first tea of 2011

Do people feel delight for any first harvest or products of the year in your country? Beaujolais Nouveau, perhaps? Somehow, we Japanese appreciate firstlings. There is even an old saying, “If you eat firstling, your life will be extend 75 days longer.” Hahaha^^



Konnichiwa, it’s meヽ(^。^)ノ Now it is the season for first harvest of tea this year in Japan! Yaaay! Now, tea is being harvested and sold in stores. Farmers say that this year’s picking season is about one week later than the usual years’ because of the climate change. Geographically, the season starts from southern regions and move up to northern areas.

I had a chance to taste the first tea of 2011 at the workshop I joined last week. It was still the beginning of the season so the teas were from Kagoshima, southern prefecture of Japan. We had two kinds of fukamushi-sencha (deeps-teamed sencha). One was made of Yutakamidor breed and the other one was made of Saemidori breed.

Left: Saemidori, Right:Yutakamidori

Yutakamidori
We brewed it at 63degC (145F) in 50ml of water for 1 min.
The aroma was very natural and rounded. As I sip it, the flavor made me smile. It had a nice sweetness.

Saemidori
We brewed it at (65degC 149F) in 50ml of water for 40sec.
This tea had greener aroma than Yutakamidori but despite of the aroma I found more umami in this tea. All I can say was “Wow!” It had a rich and mellow flavor.

Both teas had rich umami and did not have much bitterness. These senchas are covered by screen to avoid direct sunlight for a few days before picking. Some of you might notice that they aren’t considered as kabusecha. Yes, these senchas are made like kabusecha, but the covering period is shorter than kabuse. That’s why these are sold as sencha. *I believe there is no clear definition of the covering period to distinguish sencha, kabusecha and gyokuro. Anyway these senchashad good umami like kabusecha. I actually loved both of them. I very much enjoyed the first tea with kuzu confection and the tea time with other participants. I guess I am one of the people who feel delight for firstlings, hehe^^ Jah!

*Note
Basically, sencha is not covered with screen. Some farmers cover sencha for a very short period to make mild sencha.

What is the difference between brewed tea and bottled tea?

At the previous post, I said that bottled teas are real tea. But, are they really the same as brewed tea at home?

We even have a very small bottle of green tea.

Konnichiwa, it’s meヽ(^。^)ノ Today, I’d like to talk about what is the similarity and difference between bottled tea and brewed tea.


One thing they have in common is that they are both extracted from tea leaves, which is the most important element for tea drink. Since the bottled tea is made in that way, I consider them real tea.


On the other hand, the difference is that bottled tea is made with all kinds of efforts for a long preservation. The followings are the ingenuities.

Filtering
Naturally brewed tea has floating substances. Manufacturers filter the brewed tea in order to take them out for a long preservation. Also, those substances have natural tendencies to group together and subside at the bottom of the bottle. The grounds don’t look good and can be a cause of complaints from customers.

Adding vitamin C
Oxidization is an enemy for a long preservation. Adding vitamin C can prevent oxidization. The instructor said that vitamin C looks like whitish granule and it tastes sour. I haven’t tasted the sourness in bottled tea, so I guess the added amount is extremely little. (Or manufacturers may have some special techniques to hide the sourness??)

Sterilization
The bottled-tea manufacturer where the instructor works uses heat-sterilization method. Each manufacturer has slightly different method for sterilization.

I think these processes may take out or change some flavor of original tea. So, some people think bottled tea doesn’t taste as good as brewed tea. If you think that the disadvantage of bottled tea is that they don't taste as good as brewed tea; well, they also have a huge advantage as compared to the latter. You can easily enjoy green tea anytime and anywhere. I think the convenience is a significant advantage of them. It's no exaggeration to say that bottled teas have changed tea lifestyle in Japan. As a matter of fact, some young households don’t have a teapot.



I've learned that the fundamental similarity is that both brewed and bottled tea are extracted from tea leaves. The difference is that bottled tea applied some ingenuities for a long preservation. Another thing I learned is that manufacturers in Japan always keep on improving those preservation techniques to achieve making the same flavor as brewed tea. I’m very delightful for the future of bottled green tea^^  Jah!

Are bottled teas real tea?

Is bottled or canned green tea popular in your country? Have you tried them? The first canned green tea in Japan was released in 1985. Now bottled teas have become widely accepted in contemporary life style. Some young households do not even have a teapot. They don’t prepare tea at home. They just buy brewed ones from supermarkets or at convenience stores.

Konnichiwa, it’s meヽ(^。^)ノ This weekend I joined a workshop for tea instructors and advisers. This time, we learned about canned and bottled green tea.



So, do you think bottled teas are real tea? Are they artificial tea?



Before that, what is real tea?



Yes, maybe the tea prepared with tea leaves and a teapot can be called real tea. Then, do you know how bottled teas are made?



** How bottled tea is made **
1. Extracting tea leaves
2. Filtration
3. Blending (To produce stable quality of bottled teas, tea concentrate is extracted and then it’s diluted)
4. Sterilization
5. Bottling and capping
6. Cooling

After attending the workshop, my understanding of bottled tea is that they are real. It is because bottled tea is made of extracted essence of tea leaves. Have you looked at the ingredients shown on the label of bottled tea? It usually says that the main ingredient is TEA.   There are some things in common and different between bottled teas and brewed teas. I’ll talk about it on the next entry. Jah!

One of the preparations before tea lesson

Can you tell what this utensil (these items are parts of 1 utensil) is? I don’t have it myself. This is my tea master’s and we use it in the preparation room before almost every tea lesson.


Yes, this is a sifter for matcha. I use an ordinary tea strainer at home for sifting matcha. It works fine as well.

My master usually buys 20grams (0.7oz) of matcha for the lesson, which comes in a small plastic sachet. We have a lesson once a week and it takes about 2-3 weeks to consume all. We don’t sift matcha when it’s brand new but on the second or third week we sift it before each lesson. Then we put it into the tea container called natsume for the tea ceremony, and we use it in the lesson.



Putting matcha into the sifter

Sifting

Sifted matcha!　ヽ(^。^)ノ

Transfer the sifted tea from the sifter to the tea container, natsume.

It’s ready to be used for the lesson!

After the lesson, we put the remaining matcha in natsume back to the plastic sachet. We tightly bind the opening of the sachet and put it in an air-tight bin. Then my master keeps it in a freezer.

These steps might be troublesome but if you want to see your guests smiling over your tea, they are worth doing.


Note:
When you store tea in the fridge or freezer, there are two things you need to care about.

1. Odor from other food
Tea easily captures other smells. Please securely keep it in an airtight container.

2. Frost and moisture
Tea gathers frost and moisture when opening a cold tea package from the refrigerator. It is not good for the tea. Therefore, leave the package at room temperature for a while, and then open it.

A tip for smooth matcha

Today, I wanted to show you a not so good matcha with lumps. I tried taking the photos of matcha prepared with sifted and non-sifted powder, but I failed to get the lumps in the matcha that I prepared. During the test, I noticed a significant difference between the two teas. Let’s take a look at how my test went (^_－)－☆

This test was for tea with lumps and without lumps. So, I didn’t use brand new tea. The tea is the one stored at home for a while. I sifted it for one bowl and didn’t for the other. I used about the same amount for both bowls but the sifted tea has more volume.

I added 50ml (1.8oz) hot water into both bowls and whisked them. I realized that the non-sifted tea didn’t get as foamy as the sifted one. The sifted tea got fine silky foam and the non-sifted one got coarse bubbles. I personally think that finer foam looks nicer.

I drank both bowls. I expected having lumps left in the bowl of non-sifted tea but actually I did not get any of them. (Maybe I was too good at whisking, hehehe^^) That means I failed to reach the initial goal. But you know what … I noticed something important thing on the result of sifting.

It is the taste!! The both teas have totally different taste. The tea I used was the same tea. The difference is just the sifting before making. I was so surprised with the result. I didn’t like the non-sifted tea at all. The taste was poor and I got an unpleasant flavor at the center of my tongue. On the other hand, sifted tea was mild and smooth. The flavor filled my mouth. I love it much better.



I had tried both sifted and non-sifted tea before. I sensuously knew the sifted tea is better but today I truly realized their difference by trying and comparing them at the same time. It may not work for brand new tea but I think that it’s really worth to sift old tea even if sifting is troublesome. Please try it if you have old matcha left at home ♪( ´▽｀)

Casual matcha at the Toso Festival

At the festival, we found a tea stall serving matcha with tea bowls made by local artists. It was not a formal tea ceremony and anybody could enjoy matcha casually. Ladies who serve tea were wearing the traditional kimono. We paid and sat on a bench that is covered with red drape. Two ladies were playing Japanese harps there. Sweets were served first. They are from a local confectionary shop, called Takaraya.

Then, matcha was served in a moment. The tea bowls were quite beautiful. The matcha was also from a local shop, Kokaen where I frequently buy tea from. I don’t usually think that matcha tastes good when I eat out, but I’m really satisfied with the taste of matcha served at this event. o(^▽^)o It was nice to relish matcha with clear melody of Japanese harps.

What I was surprised about was the price. This tea set (confection and matcha) was just 300yen. It is a very reasonable price. If you had this kind of tea set at other places, it would cost about bouble. I think this event is very good to try matcha for beginners. Not only because of the price, but also because this event didn’t require any special manners for tea ceremony. You can causally enjoy Japanese harp and good matcha served by the ladies wearing kimono. If you have never tried matcha, you gotta travel to Seto for your first bowl next year!

The Toso Ceramic Festival in Seto, Aichi

Does your home town have any local festival? My city, Seto is famous for ceramic production and some ceramic festivals are held each year. There is a major festival called the Setomono Festival at the end of summer. There is another festival in spring time that is called the Toso Festival. At either festival, there are some stalls of ceramic shops and food at the downtown area. Also, some events take place around the town.

I have been to the Setomono Festival quite often, but not so much to the Toso Festival. This may be because the Toso fest is smaller compared to the Setomono fest when it comes to the scale. The Toso fest was actually held on the last weekend and we went there. Surprisingly, I liked it better than the Setomono Festival! The Setomono fest is at the end of summer so it’s usually hot. Setomono has more shops and more people and it is very crowded. I’m not saying that Setomono Festival is bad. It’s good for people who love big and boisterous festival. It’s kind of tiring for me. The climate was nicer and not too crowded at Toso so I was able to leisurely enjoy it.

The tea workshop I introduced yesterday was also one of the events at Toso Festival. There was also an event where you can experience painting on ceramics. It’s nice to have some local festivals and I would like to come back again by next year.

This is an exhibition of table setting using Seto wares at Toso Festival.

What can you do with the scraps of tea leaves that are left behind after brewing?

Yesterday, I attended a tea workshop held in my city. The workshop was entitled “Japanese Tea for Ladies”. It was a short session which was good for 30 min, only. The instructor lectured about following:
A,) The efficacies of green tea for beautiful skin and diet;
B,) The difference between regular sencha and deep-steamed sencha;
C,) A demonstration of how to brew deep-steamed sencha.

We actually got a chance to try testing both regular and deep-steamed sencha in the workshop.

 

What I was most interested about was eating the scraps of tea leaves that are left behind after brewing. Usually, these scraps are thrown away. But you can also eat the tea leaves after they have been brewed for tea. You put them on a small plate or bowl and put dry tuna flakes as topping. You can eat them with soy-based sauce. It can be enjoyed as a side dish.

I have tried eating the scraps of gyokuro. In addition this instructor also introduced eating scraps of tea leaves out of sencha. Thus, not only tea leaves from gyokuro can be eaten but also those from sencha. The leaves of high-quality tea or the first tea of the season are soft and good for eating. Low-grade tea or late-picked tea is hard and not good for eating. What we had at the workshop was the first sencha of this year from Yakushima. It was lighter in taste than gyokuor’s. I quite liked the sencha scraps. Actually, I prefer sencha rather than gyokuro for eating. I want to try it home sometime.

This tea-leaf dish is similar to a common Japanese dish, which is often made of spinach or rapeseed flowers. It is familiar to us but eating tea leaves may be strange for you (^^;; Wanna try it?