Kai’s Kitchen- Nothing more appetizing than a good appetizer

Kai’s Kitchen Nothing more appetizing than a good appetizer         Hello all! Welcome back to Kai’s Kitchen. This week we kick things off by leaning a bit into the savory side of things. Japanese Tea is very well known for its insane umami flavor. Umami is a word overused and not very well […]

Tea Ware: Modern Western Tea Wares and Japanese Tea

More and more individuals are becoming enchanted by the Japanese tea room and ceremony service. Chado (the Japanese tea ceremony) searches for finesse in simple movement, and showcases elegance and purity in form. When coming to Japan, it seems as if these qualities are inherently ingrained within the lifestyles of the people. Coming to Japan […]

The 88th Day: Spring tea picking tradition!

Hachijuu-Hachiya, the 88th Day  八十八夜 The 88th day of traditional Japanese calendar, which falls right around May 1st or 2nd, is famous as an important date for farmers, and especially tea farmers. For several hundred years, the 88th day has been considered the best day to start the spring tea harvest. Those tender new shoots […]

What’s in a Name? Part III: Bancha & Hojicha

Are you ready for part 3?! Here come bancha and hojicha!  Bancha  番茶 The character for ban includes the characters for rice and field, and refers to a turn or a number in a series. Bancha is usually translated as coarse or common tea, and is made from mature leaves picked in between the four main harvests […]

What’s in a Name? Part II: Gyokuro & Kukicha

Welcome back to our blog series on tea names! Today, we’ll cover gyokuro and kukicha.   Gyokuro  玉露 Gyokuro, meaning « jewel dew, » conjures up an image of morning dewdrops collected from rare jade, and the tea liquor is a vibrant green color to match. Gyokuro is famous as a luxury tea; it’s harvested just once […]

What’s in a Name? Part I: Matcha, Tencha, and Sencha

Hello everyone! This week’s post is the first section of a series on Japanese tea names. If you’ve ever been curious why a tea is called by a particular name, this is the post for you!   Tea  茶 Perhaps the most important word on this list is cha, or tea. The Japanese character has its […]

6 Reasons Used Tea Leaves are Best Household Helper

In love with your cup of tea but don’t know what to do with loads of brewed tea leaves? Instead of disposing them, Japanese like to dry and re-use these tea leaves (also called chagara) in many ways, be it beauty care or household maintenance. Here’s how chagara can be used to enhance our household […]

Japanese Tea Workshops in the Hague – 3rd-4th October, 2015

The Hague is one of our favorite places to visit on the Euro Tour, as here we can simply talk the language of tea and need no translation. Our events in The Hague are hosted by the International Tea and Coffee Academy, that teaches the new generation of tea and coffee professionals, who have an […]

Matcha Workshop in Barcelona – 1st October, 2015

We visited Barcelona last year and having been invited by young tea enthusiasts Matteo and Sandra form the Tea Lovers Project we had another chance to come to Barcelona this year. To tell the truth Matteo and Sandra have already been working with our tea and before the event they event took us to a […]