I took a quick snapshot of this sign……somewhere deep in rural China. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the museum, but I had a real chuckle when I recently re-discovered this priceless image taken with an old point & shoot camera.
OOPS….I guess I dis-obeyed Rule #1
But I did obey all the rest of the rules, particularly Rule #7.
lush leaf growth in a Japanese tea garden
Among our customers some concern has been raised about our Japanese tea and where it comes from.
First of all, the Japanese tea that we are selling now is from the 2010 harvest, which means that it was grown, harvested, and manufactured pre-earthquake and pre-tsunami. These teas are still drinking very, very well. And this is the reason why.
In Japan, most tea companies create their signature green teas by blending together various batches of fresh leaf that will contribute certain taste and aroma characteristics to the mix. These characteristics give each tea the signature style and flavor profile that the tea must have, and which their customers expect.
In the tea factory, some of that fresh leaf is processed into new tea to sell right away. But much of it is semi-processed into aracha ( crude tea ), a stable or ‘half-made’ tea that is put into storage for use later.
appearance of a typical batch of aracha
Once aracha is made, it is vacuum-packed, and placed in high-tech refrigerators under very cold storage conditions in the tea factory until it is needed. Small tea companies who do not own tea gardens will purchase various batches of aracha at wholesale tea markets, or from private tea growers, and they will create their signature teas by blending together various aracha.
batches of aracha for sale at a wholesale tea market in Japan
Once in deep, cold storage, aracha can keep for very long periods of time, years, actually. So, during the course of the year when the tea factory needs a batch of a certain type of tea, the aracha needed for a particular tea is removed from storage, and carefully ‘refined’. It is during refining that aracha becomes tea, and acquires its characteristic flavor, aroma, color, needle shape and glossy surface. After refining, the tea is, well, Japanese tea as we know it.
It is because of this unique method of tea manufacture in Japan ( for example, Chinese green teas are not made this way ) that our 2010 green tea from Japan is still holding so well and drinking beautifully. (To read about Japanese tea manufacture, please refer to our book, The Story of Tea: A Cultural History and Drinking Guide, Ten Speed Press, 2007, pages 172-175).
In spring 2011, leaf plucking and the manufacture of both new teas and aracha began in early May, depending on the tea growing region and the location of the tea gardens.
But, discrepancies are starting to appear in reports and the media about the safety of Japanese tea from the 2011 harvest. Initial, early reports indicated that most tea production regions of Japan were far from the path of possible radiation contamination, and posed no cause for concern.
But as the 2011 teas come to market and are tested, reports are beginning to show varying traces of contamination in many of the new teas, and in some cases, these levels appear to be substantially above allowable limits.
Accordingly, we at Tea Trekker will refrain from placing orders for 2011 Japanese teas until more certainty is known. Our inventory of 2010 tea is plentiful and teas are still getting the ‘thumbs-up’ from our Japanese tea customers. Click here to see our listing of 2010 Japanese green teas: http://www.teatrekker.com/shop/green/japan/
We make this decision with a heavy heart as we are staunch supporters of Japanese tea growers and producers, and look forward to returning again to Japan to learn more about tea and tea culture from our colleagues in this fascinating and beguiling country. This turn of events is a devastating situation for tea farmers, tea factories and all lovers of Japanese tea, and we do not make our decision lightly.
Donate to Mercy Corps
Help us support those affected by the recent earthquake and tsunami. Tea Trekker has teamed with MERCY CORPS, our long-standing charitable fund, to collect donations for the relief effort underway in Japan. Mercy Corps is always among the first groups with ‘feet-on-the-ground’ after a disaster, and specializes in sustainable agricultural assistance worldwide. Please click here to read more about Mercy Corp or to donate to their relief efforts.
It’s nearly mid-June and the fireflies have returned to the meadows in my neighborhood. On warm, still, cloud-less nights I sit behind my house when darkness has settled in to enjoy one of my favorite moments of summer – the juxtaposition of the heavenly glow of the stars in the sky and the tiny, twinkling lights of the fireflies hovering over the hay fields. With a little imagination, one could believe that the blinking lights are the frantic efforts of stars that have fallen from the sky to rise up and return to their celestial domain.
Ricefield-Fireflies wood block print by artist David Stone
But fireflies are real creatures – they are members of the beetle family who have a marvelous, bioluminescent ability to emit light from their abdomen which they use to attract mates. When I was a kid we called them lightening bugs, and we tried our darnedest to capture a few each June and keep them in a jar for a few hours for closer examination.
artwork by Mike Lowery, argyleacademy.com
Fireflies are a phenomenon in Japan, too, during the month of June. Firefly ‘viewings’ or ‘gatherings’ along streams and fields are a popular way for many in Japan to venture outdoors and appreciate the natural world. For tea lovers, this also offers the opportunity to enjoy tea in a tranquil, outdoor setting, combining an appreciation of life’s fleeting moments (an awareness that every tea ceremony gathering carries with it is the notion of ‘ichi go ichi e’, meaning, one chance in one’s lifetime, or, the knowledge that such a gathering of guests will never gather again at that monent, on that day, in that year, in their lifetime) with a delicious bowl of fragrant tea.
I recently discovered charming piece on firefly viewing that emphasizes the importance of pure water for both the health of the natural world and for tea preparation and drinking, and which also cleverly contains subtle references to principles of Chado, or the Way of Tea.
The piece was written by Dr. Genshitsu Sen, Hounsai Daisosho, and posted on the Urasenke.org website under Essays on Tea, Firefly Light. I wonder if others familiar with Chado will recognize within his words the nod to the principles or temae (etiquette) of Chanoyu, the Japanese tea ceremony, that I think I see in this piece: wa (harmony – applied here as harmony with the surroundings), kei (respect- applied here as our respect for the environment), sei (purity- applied here as purity of water and nature), and jaku (tranquility- applied here for the ability of nature to calm and refresh us).
This is what he wrote:
” Speaking of fireflies, each year in June a Firefly Light Tea Gathering is held on the grounds of Tadasu no Mori, a wooded site within the Shimogamo Shrine renowned from ancient times in Kyoto. The gathering is hosted jointly by the Tadasuno Mori Kenshô Foundation and Urasenke Konnichian. The gatherings are part of an effort to re-establish fireflies along the Mitarashi Stream that flows through the shrine precincts and to reclaim the purity of the stream. The fruition of these efforts over the past five or six years occurs at dusk in the sixth month. Here and there fireflies wing about. Yearly the number of persons who come to view them increases. Starting from around six o’clock in the evening, the Firefly Light Gathering attracts not only firefly aficionados but also many who come seeking a few moments of tranquility.
In the same way that fireflies cannot live without the flow of beautifully pure water, tea that elicits gratitude from the heart’s depth cannot be partaken of if there are no sources of crystal pure water. For the task of ensuring the purity of flowing water, each individual must expend his or her energy. Let us join together in creating a world environment that encourages gazing upon the light of fireflies and sharing a delicious bowl of tea.” Translated from Tankô Magazine by Christy A. Bartlett.
For those interested in celebrating the Japanese idea of nodate ( open air tea ceremony ) or preparing matcha outdoors, this traveling bamboo and silk tea basket is designed to carry the necessary supplies. The basket contains a tiny whisk, a folding matcha scoop, and room for a small chawan ( matcha tea bowl).
So, please join me on some moonless night during June, in the backyard, or beside a meadow along a darkened country lane, with cup of tea in hand, and salute the presence of twinkling fireflies, and the joy of partaking of a cup of tea with other kindred spirits.
