December 26, 2013

Matcha: Taste is Everything 4



 We are now on week four and the conclusion to our taste experiment. The Fourth  in series of matcha tastings to see if taste, location and price equal up to a good quality tea. Kohei from Tales of Japanese Tea wrote  matcha is not about price or origin , which made me want to do this little experiment. The previous three posts can be found here, here and here. It's Christmas so let's have some tea (by the way the Doctor Who Christmas Special is on~)!

     


     This weeks tea is very unique. Maiko Tea was introduced to me during my Tea Sommelier classes earlier this year. Shortly after I was talking to Dr.Ralph Faerber who taught me many new things about matcha and  Japanese Teas. 

        This matcha I bought is called "Kyo Mukashi". The package depicts a Maiko on the box and tin with a double lid.  Maiko Tea is located in Uji, Kyoto, Japan. The cost was about $13.72 CDN, very decent cost for much a tea.
     
   It had a creamy thick foam sweet, Very smooth lingering taste. I did find a  slight sweet lemon taste behind it all, quite a pleasant surprise. Very vivid green and a tea that held together very well. 
   
   This tea was very different as it had a low cost, great taste and was from Uji. After these four experiments, I feel that you can find something that has a great taste for a low cost. You just need to try different ones to find it. Over all I feel that this tea is my favourite out of the four we tried together, but I still will be looking for new ones to try. After all there are so many different teas in the world and so little time to experience them all. 


Which matcha is your "go to" matcha and why?
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December 23, 2013

Japanese Tea Books

Japanese Tea Books curated collection by Katherine Bellman

   I have always loved a good book as I sip my tea. The books I would love to introduce you all to are all Japanese Tea themed in nature. Japanese tea and literature has always given me the feeling of a meditation, calmness and serenity. I hope these books give you the same peace as it does for me.
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Japanese Tea Books curated collection by Katherine BellmanThe Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura- Written in 1906, I found Okakura enlightening and gave a unique perspective of the time. He was brought up in Japan then was given a thorough Western education as opposed to the traditions of his own culture.  He then connects with the traditions and allows us to see and understand the traditions and his opinion of the changes in Japan at the time. Western education had become a priority households and traditions were left behind, this reminds me of  the many cultures around us. I am a big history fan, especially with tea and Japan, this book was very moving when he connects the development of tea to the development of art. Two of my favourite things in life together.                                                                                                                                                                                                     Tea Life , Tea Mind is written by the former Iemoto of Urasenke. Iemoto is like a father or head teacher of the tea school. He inspired me through his words in this book. He urges us to not only learn about tea but to live it through our daily life. By recalling memories from his life and tales from the life of Sen Rikyu's Grandson, Sen Soutan. With these stories he breaks them down from their Zen parable like wording to make the reader feel on the same level as him. This book inspired me to focus on the four virtues of Sen Rikyu. Wa (Harmony), Ka(Respect), Sei (Purty) and Jaku (Tranquility). I plan to get each character written down my back as I understand them through tea.                                                                                                                                                                                               The Simplest way of Japanese Tea Ceremony- Japanese Tea Ceremony can seem overwhelming but it does not need to be. This book comes with a DVD video to help you see the steps to making matcha in a very simple way. It takes the bare bones and allows anyone to prepare matcha in no time. I added this one to my collection as it is written in both Japanese and English for all text, it helps me recognize which kanji are for tea and learn Japanese from a unique angle.                                                                                                                                     The One Taste of Truth caught my eye while looking through the Philosophy section at Chapters. One could say that it should have been in the religion section as it deconstructs Dao and Zen proverbs throughout history. As both followings are very philosophical and dense, I will admit it is hard for me to follow the most of the stories with in the book. Although I hope that returning to it again after gaining some wisdom through life will allow me to read it with a new perspective in the future.


 Most books can be purchased through Chapters or Amazon, with exception of  The Simplest Way of Japanese Tea Ceremony. This one I obtained from Karen Hartwick of Stratford Tea Leaves. 
   All books are my own and were purchased to further my education of Tea and the traditions behind it.
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December 20, 2013

Matcha Tea Whisks: The Types


  Matcha whisks (Chasen) vary from school to school in some instances. I am going to focus in on Urasenke as I do not know much about the other schools.  For this school they keep to the classic bamboo colour as seen in these pictures, but can you spot the difference between them?

    First off the handle (jiku) thickness varies. I have small hands so I prefer the one with a smaller Jiku, but these are hard to find. The other difference is the thicker Jiku Chasen is made in China. You can get Japanese made ones but here in Toronto they are next to impossible to find, I have two Japanese ones and I still feel I need to stock up on more.


The second difference is the number of tines on the head (hosaki). The China made one has 100  and the Japanese made one has about 90-80, both perfect for Usucha (thin) tea.
   The weight of them is different when using as well. While I can quickly whip up a bowl with the 100 hosaki whisk, with the other one I need a little more time and muscle power.  This is something that I need to work on considering my preference in size and weight.


   I feel for the spring I will gift myself a good chasen. Nara, the place for the best chasen, is a type I would love to have these range in price from 35-60$ depending on where you look, sometimes more. The best advice is to try things out but always keep on hand what you are used to.

What kind of whisk do you have?

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December 18, 2013

Matcha: Taste is Everything 3


If you just joined us today, we are exploring if there is a connection between taste, price and growing region for matcha. The first two parts can be found here  ,and here. The series started after reading a post by Kohei over at Tales of Japanese teas in his post Matcha is not about price, or origin. We are on our third matcha for the month. This one is by Morihan they are located in Uji within Kyoto, Japan.

 This tea is sold as a Tea Ceremony Practice quality, which is also good for baking. It has a good shade of green in the bag and a wonderful quantity of 100g. This one I purchased  for $14 CDN , approximately, on e-bay. Very good price when you consider how much is in it.

     Time to taste it! This one frothed very well and looked very smooth on the surface. It did not have the thickness that I look for in my matcha. Although, it did whisk very well and held together longer than matcha from Teavana.
  When tasteing the tea it had a slight vegetable taste, that most call a "green tea" taste. Along side of it there were notes of dark chocolate that came through the creamy-milky texture of the whole tea.

    Over all it was a great tea but I found a slight dryness that came after. This could be balanced perhaps with a sweet before drinking the tea, how it was originally meant to be enjoyed.

     Next week is the last installment for this series. All matcha teas for this series were purchased by me and all opinions are my own. I highly suggest to try them out as we all taste things differently.

Happy Holidays everyone!

What qualities do you look for in your matcha?
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December 16, 2013

Tea-Shirt Shop Open

 With the holiday season getting closer, I wanted to give back to you for your years of following Tea Journey. My gift to you is designing a selection of  t-shirts. I have been wanting to do this all year and I am glad to finally have these available for you
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     Right now I only have one design in two different colours, all are available on different colour t-shirts. In addition there is some other cute things in the shop right now such as cellphone cases, bandanas and totes.  I will be getting my own t-shirt soon as I love the design.
    The designs I have up right now is tea inspired but has a bit of a twist to the geeky side if you are a Dr.Who fan. "Bigger On the Inside" is just like the Tardis but is very much like all of our teapots. They hold so much tea and keep on giving.

All proceeds will help me continue to run this blog. The money will be used for art supplies, tea, tea shows etc. Everything that will provide me with the chance to write for you. As I come up with new ones I will let you all know.
                                                             Visit My Shop for TEA-shirts



What ideas do you have for TEA-Shirts?
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December 13, 2013

Matcha: Taste is Everything 2

Markyu Koymaen Matcha- Aoarashi, Katherine Bellman


  As part of my matcha taste tests that I mentioned last week, we are on tea #2. I talked to my good friend KingKoh about  different matcha and he brought up that hoarding matcha is not good. The reason for this is after it is open it starts to oxidize and loose its fullness. I try to keep this in mind when I am getting new matcha. With that right now I have three- four open right now and in room temperature. With that said I have been trying to drink them all up. Once they are done I have a closed can of Camillia Sinensis' Matcha Sendo in the freezer waiting. 

Markyu Koymaen Matcha- Aoarashi, Katherine Bellman

    Just a note on keeping matcha a bit longer, put the tin in a zip lock bag or sealed tupperware to protect it from smells. With that said, on to this weeks tea.
 Aoarashi from Ko no en (Marukyu Koymaen), the lowest ceremonial grade they have on their website.  This tin is 40g of delicious matcha. I got this one from e-bay from a seller who lives within Toronto somewhere. 
     I will admit this tea I have been hoarding and it is not in its best state. Even still I can not pass up this tea when given the chance. 

Markyu Koymaen Matcha- Aoarashi,Chawan by Kingkoh.  Katherine Bellman

 The taste in the mouth and lingering after taste were the similar , just a touch weaker. Notes of dark chocolate  develop after tea has been swallowed. The taste reminds me of the dry sweets that go with Japanese tea, higashi. 
   As you can see it would not whisk properly. This is a good reason not to let matcha sit around for too long. Although unlike our previous tea from Teavana, this one held together very well. This means it mixed well but just could not create a froth.
  Ko no En's tea is from Uji, Kyoto. Ko no en is a distributor of Marukyu Koymaen tea here in Toronto. I am lead to believe that the e-bay seller may be part of Ko no En, but they do not say so.  
    With Kohei's post in mind, I still prefer Uji matcha. The taste is far more complex in the mouth and lingers for a long time. This tea although is fairly cheep on e-bay, it goes for $16.00CDN. Going back to Kohei's post price does not determine quality. This one has similar notes to Yugen from the same company but is much easier on my wallet.  Let's see what our next tea has to offer, join me next week for part three. 

                                                            How do you store your matcha ?
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December 11, 2013

Seasonal Depression: Tea Solutions


     
    Every year around this time of year there is a percentage of us that suffer from Seasonal Depression. I will admit I am one of them. It's hard to tell as I will be all smiles around people but when I am alone, with my cat, its hard to think of anything to do or even find the energy.
   I decided to let you all know this because I feel that tea helps me get through by pushing through these feelings.  I will admit to laying on my bed for long periods of time but those moments I get up to make a cup of tea just help push through down moments..
    The teas that help the most are those with a good amount of caffeine. I feel that the reason behind this is due to it giving you energy to move and also l-Theanine calming effect.
    For this reason I like to have a nice warm bowl of matcha to keep me going and focused. My favourite Matchas are:
-Yugen from Kono-En
-Kan no Shiro from Ippodo
-Matcha Sendo- Camellia Sinensis

Drink up and stay healthy!
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December 6, 2013

Secret Teatime:Tea Bowl Making


       In October I went over to Secret Teatime's studio in Scarborough. I had signed up for their fall Chawan workshop and was eager to try my had my ceramics. We started with an overview of the history of tea ceremony up till present day and covered the shapes of a tea bowl. Helen treated us to seeing her perform
       It was another great Saturday with Secret Teatime. Our group each made a chawan (tea bowl) the first day. Before we met the next Saturday, Helen and Sorlie glazed and fired the works. They were then presented to us during tea ceremony.
      For the first section we had usucha (thin tea). It was very interesting to see the difference between Urasenke and Omotesenke, the latter being what Helen was using. The biggest for me is the "snapping" of the fukusa before folding. The whole style was beautiful and had little intentional sounds that were absent from Urasenke.
        Back to our bowls, I was very pleased with how my chawan turned out with the glaze I choose. I depicted a buddhist flame on the shoumen (front of the bowl) and a fox inside it. I choose these two symbols as I find them together in images from shrines in Japan. Also, Inari's symbol is a fox. To me these fit together and worked very well as a piece.
       As Sado is a life long learning process and I have been enjoying practice with the new piece. I enjoyed my time at the studio and the company of Helen, and Sorlie.


       If you were to make a chawan what would it look like? Would you use any imagery? There are so many possibilities out there, What would you do? -KAT
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December 4, 2013

Matcha: Taste is Everything 1

 What is your favorite tea?  Mine is matcha, I first tried it in 2010 when I got a can of Kono-En Kirin Matcha from David's Tea. They had a small amount which went fairly quickly. Now they have their own brand of Matcha.

 In September Kohei over at Tales of Japanese Tea posted about how matcha is not about price or origin. Which you can check out by clicking the link in the previous sentence. After reading his post it made me think about how I was trained to think that Uji matcha is the best. After some thought I started to try a few differnt matcha's. Once a week  for the month of December I will be sharing my notes on various matchas I have encountered. 
  For my first subject, I will be tasting Teavana's Matcha. This one is from  Nishio, Aichi Prefecture, Japan tea. They carry two sizes, 40g and 80g. The latter is the size I have on hand.


    After warming my winter tea bowl (Chawan), its time to whisk! This tea whisks well with a nice foamy froth.The colour is a beautiful vivid green that stands out well from the interior of the chawan.

 Time to taste! The taste makes my mouth salivate and moves the taste throughout my mouth. I am surprised to find that there is a slight citrus fruit taste, that dissipates in to a light vegetal flavour. The typical chocolate taste is barely there. the final lingering taste is sweet. it reminds me of mandarin oranges.

  Over all its a great tea. I found out that this tea was from Nishio, a few months after acquiring it. This initially prevented me from drinking it, but after Kohei's post I am glad I gave it another chance. My only problem with this tea is that you need to remember to drink it quickly. The reason is this tea likes to separate on you.  Other than that, this tea is actually really great for daily use or even Sado practice. 
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 Have you tried this matcha before? Please feel free to comment below with your experience. I would love to hear from you~ 
Till next time- Kat

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