Infos — Ceremony

On the one hand, there’s sakura: sweet pink flowers, light and subtle. And on the other hand, you’ve got matcha: the green tea with a rich, earthy scent and taste. So put your hands together for the epic seasonal flavor that is sakura matcha! A flower arrangement (with added grass) that blooms on your tongue You might not think that these two flavours go together at first, but then you’d be pleasantly surprised. Sakura’s soft taste works well in desserts and drinks. It’s noticeable without overpowering the other flavors that it’s mixed with. Don’t expect sakura to taste a lot...

CULTURE, JAPANESE CULTURE As the winter sunshine crept across the tatami, our hostess, tea master Masumi Kirihata, performed the elegant, precise steps of the Omotesenke tea ceremony. It was December 2015, and Kirihata (whose tea name is Koshi Soushin) performed the traditional tea ceremony for our small group there in Kyoto, describing each step and utensil in detail as well as a description of the tea room itself. I had booked the experience through Tea Ceremony Ju-an, and my fellow participants and I also had the chance to perform our own small tea ceremony. We ceremonially cleaned and prepared the chashaku (bamboo tea scoop), whisk and...