The Big Debate - Chado Tea House Newsletter June 2024

Iced Cold Gyokuro.

It's iced tea time here in Vancouver.

The big debate - Hot or cold tea in summer- is what people are debating today, not that other one on CNN.

Over the last few years in Vancouver, various attempts have been made to install vending machines in many locations. We are still determining what drives this, but it is not catching on. Just by walking around, we see new machines come and go every couple of months. Even though some seem very sophisticated and whizz-bang, able to take all forms of payment, serve hot, cold, and warm, and dispense snacks and all sorts of gadgets, they do not resonate with the population here.

It’s a different story in Japan, where vending machines are everywhere. You can get just about anything in a vending machine, but one of the most popular items is bottled tea.

The tea in vending machines is cold, but some machines can heat the drink if requested.

There are three common ways to make cold or iced tea in Japan.

• The most straightforward method, and one suitable for all tea types, is to brew tea in the usual way with hot water and then let it cool. Most bottled tea in Japan, whether it be Sencha, Hojicha, Genmaicha or anything else, is usually produced this way.
• The second method is to cold brew the tea. This involves taking the tea—usually sencha or Hojicha—and brewing it in cold water for longer.
• The third method is iced brewing, usually used with more expensive teas like Gyokuro. In this method, the tea is placed in a container, covered with ice cubes and allowed to steep very slowly, usually overnight.

At Chado, we are happy to offer a diverse range of teas, all suitable for the first method of making iced tea. We also have a selection of teas that are specially crafted for cold brewing. One of our favorites, especially during the summer, is the iced method of enjoying Gyokuro.

Gyokuro brewed in ice for a special treat.

Some Teas to Try This Summer

We are happy to let you know that we got a new stock of Organic Sencha Sae-Midori.

This is a lovely, premium, single-cultivar organic sencha.

This tea quickly sold out last year, so for the new 2024 harvest, we made sure to reserve a good supply that should last us well into the year.

As we near the end of June, most of the Sencha teas we have in stock, not just the Sae-Midori, are from the 2024 harvest.

The 2024 versions of Matcha and Gyokuro will not be available for a few months yet because their flavors are left to develop during the processing steps.

Organic Sencha E SaeMidori is Back!

A green tea cultivar, Sae-Midori means “clear green,” and it has come to be greatly appreciated by tea lovers. Its liquor is a gorgeous green, and its flavor is deep and pleasant. Full of sweetness, the taste lingers in the mouth.

The enduring sweetness, the subdued color, and the fresh aroma all combine to leave you with a satisfying lingering taste.

We have had many requests to return this tea after selling out last year. Sae-Midori is a less common cultivar than Yabukita, and because of its sweet, crisp taste, it is also being used as an ingredient in blended teas to impart its special flavor. This makes it hard to come by, especially in organic form, but we have secured a good supply of this single cultivar, organic tea for you.

This is one of our star organic green teas and comes to you from Kagoshima. This tea is classed as Chumushi or medium steamed. Lots of teas now are deeply steamed, so here is an opportunity to try a tea processed in a slightly different way.

Cold Brew Green Tea Bags Premium Large bag for pot

We like this high-quality tea in a versatile large tea bag format.

These large tea bags are great for quickly brewing a jug of tea that will infuse its flavor slowly while the jug is stored in the refrigerator.

Tea made with this large tea bag provides a rich and deep taste. The first flush tea is deeply steamed fukamushi, which has been cut into smaller pieces to aid brewing in cold water.

To enjoy this tea, put one tea bag into a pitcher, fill it with 500 - 800 ml of cold water, lightly stir and store in the refrigerator for a few hours. The tea bag can be left in the water or taken about after about 2 hours; the longer the bag remains in the water, the deeper the green color becomes.

Brewing in cold water reduces the amount of caffeine and tannin released, so even in a cold-brew tea, one gets that umami-rich, tasty green tea taste.

Ujicha

Japan seems to be the place to visit at the moment. We had a friend come back from a two-week stay in Kyoto, and they said they had never seen it so busy.

Kyoto is a must-visit if you are visiting Japan for the first time. Kyoto is home to many fine teas—they even have a name for them: Ujicha. The city boasts some wonderful tea shops and cafes. The oldest of them all, in fact, Japan's oldest, is the Tsuen Tea Shop, which has been selling and serving tea since 1160.

Depending on how much activity you can do in the summer, one of the main attractions of Kyoto is the Fushimi Inari Shrine. This is a Shinto Shrine, and you can enjoy it as a short walk to enjoy the first of thousands of vermillion-colored Torii Gates, or you can walk the entire route up into the mountains; this is about a 2-3-hour walk and in the summer heat, can be a challenge but is worth the effort, the Torii gates are present up the trails, and the views over Kyoto are fantastic from some of the viewpoints up in the mountain.

If you are considering visiting Japan, now may be the time to go. Some Japanese establishments, whether restaurants, sightseeing destinations or other attractions, are considering two-tiered pricing models. As foreign tourists, you may pay a surcharge to visit a popular restaurant or other attraction. We noticed the last time that we were in Kyoto that even the buses were packed, and many locals were having a hard time getting where they needed to go. so we suspected something was going to be done. This potential change in pricing is something to be aware of, but it shouldn't deter you from experiencing the beauty of Japan..

Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine in Kyoto. Photo by Basile Morin