Thank you to all of our customers for your support, without which there would be no tea for us to enter in the championship. This is an award for all of us.
—Mellow Monk
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Saturday, May 19, 2012
Another 1st place win at North American Tea Championship
Thank you to all of our customers for your support, without which there would be no tea for us to enter in the championship. This is an award for all of us.
—Mellow Monk
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Wherein a centenarian woodpecker teaches us about tealike mindfulness
Here is another work from the Zencha no Kokoro ("Spirit of Zen and Tea") collection.
"Scene of Cherry Blossoms and a Small Bird" (Ohka Shokin-zu 桜花小禽図) by Oda Kaizen (小田海僊, 1785–1862) shows a woodpecker perched in a blossoming cherry tree.
Like a haiku or the tea ceremony, this work focuses on a specific moment in time — that point in the beginning of the cherry blossom cycle when some of the flowers are finally in full bloom, others still barely opening buds, leaves still outnumbering blossoms.
In this state, the leaves provide dark color against which the white cherry blossoms contrast. This suggests another of the work's themes: balance. Balance can also be seen between blossom-carrying branches and the branch-bearing trunk, between occupied space and empty space, between the woodpecker's own dark and light colors, and between an immobile tree and a bird that has alighted there only briefly.
Tea ceremony strives for balance between giving and receiving tea, between guest and host. (In Oda's sumie painting, the tree is also playing host to the bird.) Through the tea, guest and host mindfully savor each moment. Likewise, a cup of tea by oneself is a mini-tea ceremony, an opportunity to savor the moment — before it flutters away.
—Mellow Monk
"Scene of Cherry Blossoms and a Small Bird" (Ohka Shokin-zu 桜花小禽図) by Oda Kaizen (小田海僊, 1785–1862) shows a woodpecker perched in a blossoming cherry tree.
Like a haiku or the tea ceremony, this work focuses on a specific moment in time — that point in the beginning of the cherry blossom cycle when some of the flowers are finally in full bloom, others still barely opening buds, leaves still outnumbering blossoms.
In this state, the leaves provide dark color against which the white cherry blossoms contrast. This suggests another of the work's themes: balance. Balance can also be seen between blossom-carrying branches and the branch-bearing trunk, between occupied space and empty space, between the woodpecker's own dark and light colors, and between an immobile tree and a bird that has alighted there only briefly.
Tea ceremony strives for balance between giving and receiving tea, between guest and host. (In Oda's sumie painting, the tree is also playing host to the bird.) Through the tea, guest and host mindfully savor each moment. Likewise, a cup of tea by oneself is a mini-tea ceremony, an opportunity to savor the moment — before it flutters away.
—Mellow Monk
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Saturday, May 05, 2012
SoftBrew teapot
Sowden offers coffee pots with a stainless steel photo-etched filter so fine that you can "steep" coffee the way you would tea
. (Although the coffee needs to be ground coarsely.)
The same SoftBrew lineup includes teapots with the same ultra-fine filters
.
The ceramic teapots keep tea warm for a long time, and as you can see below, are stylish indeed.
—Mellow Monk
. (Although the coffee needs to be ground coarsely.)The same SoftBrew lineup includes teapots with the same ultra-fine filters
.The ceramic teapots keep tea warm for a long time, and as you can see below, are stylish indeed.
—Mellow Monk
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Monday, April 30, 2012
Kiva loan #26
—Mellow Monk
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Saturday, April 21, 2012
New — yuzu green tea
Mellow Monk® presents a new addition to our lineup: Yuzu Dream™, a blend of artisinal green tea and sun-dried yuzu peel.
The sublime flavor and fragrance of yuzu are well known in the culinary world and also blend spectacularly well with green tea in the form of yuzu ryokucha ("yuzu green tea").
One of our grower–artisans in Kumamoto, Japan, pairs sun-dried yuzu peel with his award-winning green tea. The yuzu is specially prepared to capture all of its tasty essence and blended in just the right proportion with the tea by the grower–artisan himself. The result is an exquisite experience that must be brewed to be believed.
More here.
—Mellow Monk
The sublime flavor and fragrance of yuzu are well known in the culinary world and also blend spectacularly well with green tea in the form of yuzu ryokucha ("yuzu green tea").
One of our grower–artisans in Kumamoto, Japan, pairs sun-dried yuzu peel with his award-winning green tea. The yuzu is specially prepared to capture all of its tasty essence and blended in just the right proportion with the tea by the grower–artisan himself. The result is an exquisite experience that must be brewed to be believed.
More here.
—Mellow Monk
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Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Mesh tea baskets for easy, inexpensive brewing
Teavana offers stainless steel mesh strainers in a wide range of sizes. The largest size is 77 mm (3.1 in.), which would give you tea leaves plenty of room to bloom. These items are apparently meant as replacement tea strainer baskets for teapots Teavana sells, but there is no reason you cannot drop one into your favorite teacup or mug. And the same kind of mesh baskets sold as stand-alone tea infusers are usually much more expensive.
I like actual mesh better than perforated steel, as the wet leaves plop out easily, whereas they can stick tenaciously to the perforated kind.
One caveat, however, is that there isn't a lot of leeway in width, as the rim isn't very wide. So you should measure the size of the mug/cup with which you plan to use the strainer so it doesn't fall entirely into your cup or get crushed when inserted into a too-small cup.
Happy steeping,
—Mellow Monk
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A butler for your tea
Breville is famous for its high-end kitchen appliances, and a recent tea-related entry from the company is the Breville One-Touch Tea Maker
.
As the name suggests, this kettle/teapot does nearly the work for you: simply put in the water and the tea, tell the teamaker which kind of tea you have (green, oolong, black?), and press the button. The Breville heats the water to the right temperature and dunks in the tea leaves for the appropriate amount of time, then raises the leaf basket out of the water, which is key to preventing oversteeping.
This would make a wonderful holiday gift for a tea-lover on your list — but you'd better start saving up now.
—Mellow Monk
.As the name suggests, this kettle/teapot does nearly the work for you: simply put in the water and the tea, tell the teamaker which kind of tea you have (green, oolong, black?), and press the button. The Breville heats the water to the right temperature and dunks in the tea leaves for the appropriate amount of time, then raises the leaf basket out of the water, which is key to preventing oversteeping.
This would make a wonderful holiday gift for a tea-lover on your list — but you'd better start saving up now.
—Mellow Monk
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Wednesday, April 04, 2012
New 50-gram sizes
This is in addition to our usual 100-gram sizes.
We had been getting requests for smaller sizes for some time, and we have finally got them in stock — thanks to our patient, understanding growers.
And thank you to all of you who were waiting patiently for these smaller-sized packets.
—Mellow Monk
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Thursday, March 29, 2012
Sagaci-tea reviews Crimson Grove
Kate at Sagaci-tea really likes our Crimson Grove, black tea made from green tea cultivars.
Says Kate: "The liquor is deep ruby with a gentle aroma of fresh cut wood, nutmeg, orchids, and citrus. It's vaguely reminiscent of a high-grown Ceylon."
—Mellow Monk
Says Kate: "The liquor is deep ruby with a gentle aroma of fresh cut wood, nutmeg, orchids, and citrus. It's vaguely reminiscent of a high-grown Ceylon."
—Mellow Monk
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Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Top Leaf for me, please
Nicole Martin of Tea for Me Please has reviewed our award-winning Top Leaf Green Tea.
We're glad you liked the tea, Nicole.
—Mellow Monk
We're glad you liked the tea, Nicole.
—Mellow Monk
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Monday, March 19, 2012
Shincha when?
I received an inquiry today asking if we had shincha yet, so I thought I'd share my reply with all of you.
—Mellow Monk
Thank you for your inquiry and for your interest in our tea.
Harvest time for our grower-artisans in Kumamoto Prefecture doesn't start until late May or so. (It depends on the weather patterns -- they judge when it's time for harvest by how the leaves develop, so we never know until the day itself).
The grower-artisans are so busy during harvest time that they barely have time to eat, so they don't start shipping shincha right away.
Long story short, we won't start shipping shincha for a while yet, but the tea we have in stock now is kept in bulk in the growers' special cooling rooms and shipped here in small batches, so it's quite fresh, in case you want to give it a try now.
Please let me know if you have any other questions. Thank you again for getting in touch.
Sincerely,
—Mellow Monk
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Thursday, March 08, 2012
We love ramen
Do you love ramen? The people at Hack College do, so they put together this fascinating infographic to share the love:
Created by: Hack College
—Mellow Monk
Created by: Hack College
—Mellow Monk
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Friday, March 02, 2012
Cool tower of tea
Nicole at Tea for Me Please demonstrates using her very cool cold-brew drip tower to cold-brew green tea:
My favorite coffee shop in Aso has a similar setup. The owner cold-brews the coffee overnight (since brewing is drip-by-drip slow) then heats it by the cup when you order it. This may seem inefficient, but the coffee is excellent. Some things are worth waiting for — even by the drop.
—Mellow Monk
My favorite coffee shop in Aso has a similar setup. The owner cold-brews the coffee overnight (since brewing is drip-by-drip slow) then heats it by the cup when you order it. This may seem inefficient, but the coffee is excellent. Some things are worth waiting for — even by the drop.
—Mellow Monk
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Thursday, February 23, 2012
Enter the tea dragon
"Fugaku Toryu Zu" ([富嶽登龍図] Drawing of Dragon Climbing Mt. Fuji) is a calligraphic brush painting by Kano Eigaku. It was commissioned in 1852 by Ii Naosuke, a late-Shogunate-era official who was also an avid practitioner of sado.
This work was featured in a collection I came across called Zencha no Kokoro ("Spirit of Zen and Tea"). Other than its first owner, what is the painting's connection with tea? This work clearly reflects the turbulent times in which it was painted. But is the mighty dragon being engulfed by the storm around him, even as his eyes are fixed determinedly on the mountain's peak? Or is he emerging from the storm's grasp? Perhaps that is the point: the ending of the dragon's quest has not yet been written.
—Mellow Monk
This work was featured in a collection I came across called Zencha no Kokoro ("Spirit of Zen and Tea"). Other than its first owner, what is the painting's connection with tea? This work clearly reflects the turbulent times in which it was painted. But is the mighty dragon being engulfed by the storm around him, even as his eyes are fixed determinedly on the mountain's peak? Or is he emerging from the storm's grasp? Perhaps that is the point: the ending of the dragon's quest has not yet been written.
—Mellow Monk
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Monday, February 13, 2012
Music to drink green tea by
We all know that the right music can make a green tea break even more relaxing or rejuvenating. But recent research is also showing that music can even affect how your tea — or any food or beverage for that matter — tastes:
Here are a couple of mixes for you to experiment with. Green tea has such a broad range of flavors, and the low, mellow notes in the music complement deliciously the smooth, earthy flavor of tea, while the high, cheery notes perfectly match the tea's sweet, cheery flavor components.
And of course when the mellow vibe of the two come together, the result is copacetic.
But I still think it's the tea that makes the music sound better, not the other way around.
—Mellow Monk
Volunteers rated the toffee eaten during low-pitched music as more bitter than that consumed during the high-pitched rendition. The toffee was, of course, identical. It was the sound that tasted different.
Here are a couple of mixes for you to experiment with. Green tea has such a broad range of flavors, and the low, mellow notes in the music complement deliciously the smooth, earthy flavor of tea, while the high, cheery notes perfectly match the tea's sweet, cheery flavor components.
And of course when the mellow vibe of the two come together, the result is copacetic.
But I still think it's the tea that makes the music sound better, not the other way around.
—Mellow Monk
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Wednesday, February 08, 2012
A little teapot reviews Mellow Monk
The list of reviews of Mellow Monk tea at Teaviews continues to grow, too.
—Mellow Monk
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