Having so many teas at my fingertips when at home, you may wonder why I would, on a cold day, leave my house for tea somewhere else. Well, despite my tea stash, there are many teas I have never tried and it is just plain fun to try a new tea in a teahouse with a friend or two. So I met Cheryl in Newburyport and we were suprised to find Alison right in front of us ordering tea to go. She shared a bit of a surprise with us (her surprise to share, but it is a good one) and then agreed to have her tea made to stay and join us. It was a wonderful afternoon talking knitting, politics, movies, television and tea.
Ordering my tea I had decided to try a different to me variety of Japanese green tea and asked for a recommendation. The tea breweress (shouldn't they have a name, like baristas do? Maybe they do-anyone know?) recommended a tea that I had heard of but never tried, Matcha. I was a little hesitant as I sort of had in mind a nice leafy brew, but decided this was the best way to try it as you need special accessories and I don't own them. Matcha is different from your usual brews as the tea leaves are ground into a bright green powder and dissolved in hot water, so you are essentially drinking the leaves. Using the bamboo scoop, the perfect amount of Matcha is measured into a special bowl, then a bamboo whisk is used to dissolve the tea and create a thin to thick liquid with a froth on the top. This results in a tea with more of a texture than brewing leaves does. The taste has been described as sweet and bitter in the places I have read, but I think Alison, Cheryl and I nailed it best. "Grassy, earthy, seaweedy, fresh cut lawn," were among our observations. I would love to experiment with different strengths of the tea, I really did love it. So much so that when I went to make tea earlier I was a little dissatisfied with my own choices. Of course, with the paraphenalia involved, Matcha is not an inexpensive treat. The tea itself is on the pricier side and then you need the utensils and bowl to make it. More tea stuff. Pete will love that.
You are probably picturing us, sipping tea, eating sweets and knitting our little fingers off. Not a single stitch. What is with that!?
Three hundred fifty-three to go. Tomorrow, scarf. Really.
Having seen you order tea, I know you make it a science!
Posted by: Carole | January 13, 2008 at 07:59 AM
We had a Japanese store here in SLC that had tea ceremonies and served matcha regularly, too. It is earthy and 'green' tasting...a lovely reminder of spring.
Posted by: margene | January 13, 2008 at 09:05 AM
How fun to keep learning new things and have new experiences with something that you are so passionate about! And thanks for the link -- I'm not sure I'd be into "thick" tea!
Posted by: Kathy | January 13, 2008 at 09:19 AM
Very nice! That outing sounds fun! Something I'd be willing to try and maybe like. The consensus on the flavor made me crack up!
Posted by: Manise | January 13, 2008 at 09:34 AM
What a FUN outing! You being all matcha-matcha and all. Heh. It seems for many of us the meetups are becoming more about the people and less about the knitting or the blogging. I think this is way nice. I bet that tea is packed FULL of antioxidants, too. Mmmmm.
Posted by: norma | January 13, 2008 at 09:39 AM
Chortling at Norma's comment. Sounds like a great afternoon indeed. Hey, would you please stop posting so I can catch up?
Posted by: Lucia | January 13, 2008 at 04:21 PM
I think her name is Heidi. unless you had Bil's wife. Her name is Megan.
I'm liking the milk oolong myself over there, when they have it.
Posted by: julia fc | January 13, 2008 at 04:35 PM
I've been "studying" Japanese tea ceremony for more than 3 years now so I know all about matcha! Although it is an acquired taste, I definitely recommend trying thick tea. I hated it at first but I definitely love it now! Just make sure you get your hands on some Japanese sweets to drink with that tea. :)
Posted by: molly! | January 14, 2008 at 03:12 AM