Jun.1998 / A Tea Tour of Japan
Introduction: 　As I flew into Tokyo airport on March 23, I knew that I was going to be drinking a lot of tea during the next 10 days, but I had no idea how varied and fascinating my tea experiences were going to be. I had been invited to give presentation and hold seminars about black tea drinking in the U.K. for a variety of audiences in four cities, and throughout my stay - with their usual overwhelming generosity and hospitality - my Japanese hosts arranged for me to discover more about their own traditional green tea culture as well as the recently developed interest in black tea. Japan's green tea consumption: 　Because of an increasing knowledge of teaﾕs health benefits, it seems that the Japanese are drinking even more green tea than in recent years and the beverage plays a prominent role in everyday life. I was taken to a number of different restaurants at different times of the day, and once we had removed our shoes and settled into the private room that had been reserved for us, kneeling in traditional style or seated at floor level (but with a welcome hollow for our legs under the table) , the first item to appear was always a pot of green tea. Sometimes this was Gyokuro, the very best grade, whole deep rich green leaves give an unbelievably sweet aromatic liquor. 　Sometimes our bowls were filled with Sencha, the high quality tea that is most commonly served; or our thirst was quenched with Houjicha, the roasted tea that offers a slightly barley - like flavor and a more golden liquor than Sencha, or Genmaicha, a lower grade leaf mixed with toasted popped rice that gives a sweetness to the pungent brew. More tea appeared throughout every meal and was always the final drink to cleanse the mouth and body after indulgent samplings of sake, local beers, and the red wines that are now so popular in Japan (a result of the news story about the anti - oxi - dant properties of red wine). 　Tea rooms also offer a range of Japanese green teas, and even those people who are confirmed black tea addicts and who regularly indulge in British - style 'afternoon tea' still drink a great deal of green tea throughout the day. And the equivalent of the Westﾕs canned soft drink and mineral waters are various types of tea - based beverages that often also contain a wide variety of beneficial herbs, no sugar, no artificial additives, and have the advantage of being prepared with Japanﾕs wonderful water ﾐ after drinking London water for most of my life, it is a real joy to drink such pure sweet water. Trolleys on train, in grocery stores, and in machines on street corners and stations all offer a range of these types of drinks. 　It is rare to be invited into a Japanese home, but I was honored and thrilled to be taken to visit Mr. Hyohzoh Fukynaga, founder in the 1930s of the now - famous chain of Lipton tea rooms, in home just north of Kyoto. As part of the gracious and generous welcome by his wife and himself, the customary little tea ﾐ time sweets (sweetened soy bean paste that had been colored a delicate pale green and decorated with little yellow flowers) were served with Sencha, and this was followed, five minutes later, by larger bowls of Matcha, the powdered green tea that is whisked into hot water in a large bowl and which I had previously thought was only served as part of the Japanese tea ceremony. This was by no means the only time I was offered Matcha; I drank it several times at various tea venues such as museums, tea companies, and tea research centers, as well as in restaurants and tea rooms. And, as I shall explain in an article in next monthﾕs edition, Matcha (along with other types of tea) is now being more widely used in cooking and in the preparation of iced drinks and desserts.
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