Sep

8

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This is the book that started it all for me. Though it isn’t a book about tea, the daily ritual of tea is woven throughout this memoir. At 19 years old it just captured me and wouldn’t let go. Aside from being a great introduction to Zen Buddhist ideals, it sparked a fascination with Japanese culture, aesthetics, and daily rituals. If you’re between books right now and looking for a new read, I highly recommend this one. After you read it we can share a pot of sencha and talk about our favorite parts of the book! What do you say?

It’s been quite cool here in San Diego for this time of year. Though any weather is tea weather, these cloudy afternoons just put me in the spirit! Time for another pot. Hmm…what will it be?

We hope you’re all well! We’re currently in testing with our website, and it will launch very soon. Keep a lookout!

Thanks very much for checking in.

- James

Sep

2

A Few New Things

September 2, 2010 | Leave a Comment

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Books are back! And we added a couple of new titles to the mix.

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A couple of old favorites with the new Year in Japan postcard set (amazing).

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Yes, Thermos bottles are back in stock. We have both 16 and 26 oz. versions. Get ready for fall, or you can ice your tea and keep it with you all day.

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Mmmm…licorice spice herbal blend is delicious.

Hello! Just wanted to show you a few of the new arrivals at the shop. We have been receiving lots of new teas, teaware, and essentials in anticipation of the web launch and the upcoming fall season. We are excited for the upcoming seasonal changes, and we will continue to feature new items as they arrive. Also, be sure to look for us on Facebook for daily posts, current happenings, etc.

We hope you are all well. We will go back to regular hours beginning next week, September 9th. Until then, you can catch us at the shop Tuesday through Saturday from 11 to 5.

Thanks very much for checking in!

- James

May

11

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Several new teas are due to arrive in the next day or so. Four new Pu’erhs, an incredible Ti Kuan Yin, amazing Chinese black tea…these are some gems you’ll want to keep an eye out for. Feel free to stop in for a taste and we’ll be glad to show you these new selections that we are just too excited about.

The new first-flush Darjeeling is going quickly! If you’re a fan, be sure to stop in and have a look at this current favorite. We are eagerly awaiting the second-flush teas, and may also order another first-flush selection, so stay tuned.

As always, thanks so much for checking in! We really appreciate it.

- James

Mar

4

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1. Featured Tea: Wenshan Baozhong
Minimal processing and very light oxidation yield this larger-leaf Taiwanese oolong. Highly aromatic with fresh floral hints of gardenia and a beautiful light green liquor. Smooth and sweet with a subtle presence that is deceptively complex. An excellent example of finely grown tea and expert craftsmanship.

This is one of our favorite teas to feature. If you haven’t tried it yet, now is the time. Sooo good.

Hope all is well with all of you. Thanks for checkin in!

- James

Aug

8

Happy Saturday! This week we are doing 10% off our latest tea arrivals. Below are a few quick snaps of the featured teas.

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1. Golden Monkey Organic: mildly sweet, rich notes of sweet potato squash

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2. Sungma Supreme Muscatel: clear muscatel flavor, mid body, sweet finish

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3. Cream of Assam Satrupa Estate: sweet honey notes, mild spice notes

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4. Assam Breakfast: hearty single-estate breakfast tea, spice notes

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We are looking into a few more new selections over the next few weeks; we’ll keep you posted.

I hope you’re all enjoying your weekend. It’s a beautiful one here!

Thanks very much for checking in.

- James

Jun

18

Hey all, sorry for the delay in recent posts. It’s time to announce the current specials on a couple of items. As always, featured items are 10% off.

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1. Featured Tea: Dragon Pearl Jasmine Superior
A premium artisan jasmine offering made from tender Fujian tea buds hand-rolled into small pearls and carefully scented over many nights with fresh high-quality summer jasmine blossoms. Yields a light liquor with an exquisite lingering floral aroma. A beautiful warm-weather tea!

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2. Featured Reading: Uruwaza, Secret Everyday Tips & Tricks from Japan
Yep, if it looks familiar it’s because we briefly mentioned this little gem of a book right here. This book is just too much fun. Full of seemingly nutty tips that actually aren’t completely crazy. Seriously, who would have thought using Scotch tape to pull my eyes back slightly towards my temples would relieve computer fatigue in the shoulders and neck? Perhaps they just want to make us look ridiculous, but this worked! Come in, open the book and try out a tip or trick for yourself. You never know, it may be just what you’ve been looking for all this time.

Moving into Friday, hope all is well with all of you. Thanks so much for checking in.

- James

May

31

Featured items are 10% off.

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1. Featured Tea: Salima Orthodox
An excellent large-leaf black tea from Malawi, Fair Trade Certified. Smooth taste, mild bite, with a full rounded body. Great self-drinking tea, can take sweetener if preferred, but really shines without milk. A very unique offering, it quickly became one of our favorites!

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2. Featured Book: Tea, Aromas & Flavors Around the World
I love this book! One of my absolute favorites on the subject, this book is a perfect balance of history, culture, preparation techniques, technical & botanical info., etc. With lots of nice photography, this book really captures the romance of tea in a way that will have you heating the kettle immediately after reading. A joy of a book!

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Cold and drizzly here the past few days. I’ve actually enjoyed it!

Looking forward to a performance of the Camera Lucida chamber music series tomorrow evening, June 1st, at UCSD. One of our favorite customers, Charles Curtis will be performing with fellow musicians at the Conrad Prebys Concert Hall, 8 pm on the UCSD campus. They will perform Schoenberg: Pierrot Lunaire (1912) and Schubert: Quintet for Strings in C Major (1828). If you haven’t been to any performances, the UCSD Music Department always seems to have something interesting happening.

As always, thanks for checking in!

- James

May

28

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Come in and see them up close. Better yet, come in for a taste!

Sorry for the quick photo, but we are really excited about these new teas. We are also expecting more new teas tomorrow, and even more over the next few weeks. Several of the teas are top tier grades of selections our customers have already fallen in love with. The teas pictured above are in stock, and many of you have already purchased them. I’ve already talked about the Darjeelings, but I thought a quick overview was in order. So, starting with the teas shown above (L to R):
1. Silver Needle Reserve Grade
Exceptionally clean, crisp body, fruit notes with a lingering smooth sweetness.

2. Dragonwell Early Harvest
We have a small amount left of this first batch. Excellent example of a perennial favorite with buttery smooth body, mild nuttiness and sweet finish.

3. New Harvest Sencha Shan Izumi
This is our favorite Japanese green, the same we carry throughout the year, but this new batch incorporates the early harvest Shincha. The result is an incredible Spring-green freshness with a more pronounced crispness.

4. 1st Flush Darjeelings: Margaret’s Hope and Puttabong Queen
I mentioned these in prior posts, but they are worth listing here. Incredibly floral, top tier offerings. For more on these, check here and here.

Coming Soon:

New crop Huang Shan Mao Feng
Have you had this yet? Clean, subtle sweetness, lingering mouthfeel.

Tung Ting winter harvest
Formosa Oolong, even lovelier than the Spring version

Jade Tikuanyin Special Reserve
Anxi Oolong, handcrafted gem

Iron Goddess of Mercy Special Reserve
Anxi Tikuanyin, it doesn’t get better than this

New Dragon Pearl Jasmine
Incredibly aromatic, less astringent than our prior offering. Handcrafted heaven for Jasmine lovers.

Stay tuned, there’s more to come. Thank you all for checking in!

- James

May

18

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More Darjeeling has arrived! We have re-stocked the 1st-Flush Margaret’s Hope after completely selling out of it. In addition, we ordered a small quantity of phenomenal 1st-Flush Puttabong Queen Organic. This tea is very green with an abundance of unbroken silver tips (from the tender leaf buds). The aroma of the infused leaf is exceptionally fresh, clean and bright. The flavor is crisp and light on the tongue with pronounced fruit notes and little to no astringency. The aftertaste just lingers on with a hint of sweetness at the back of the mouth. When you nail the perfect infusion…oh man it is incredible. You’ll have to come in for a taste to believe it. If you like the Margaret’s Hope, you will love this very fine limited offering.

We look forward to the second-flush Darjeelings and will keep you all posted as details develop. Starting this week we will have a very limited amount of new crop Dragonwell along with the 2009 Japanese teas. Full of anticipation, this is indeed our favorite tea time of year!

A bit cold and cloudy with fog here at home today. Time to put the kettle on.

Thanks for checking in!

- James

May

7

Featured teas and teaware are always 10% off.

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1. Featured Tea: Nilgiri Glendale Extra Special
I have really been enjoying this Indian black tea lately. I tend to get into different modes at the shop, and once in a while I re-discover a tea I haven’t had in a while. I have been drinking this tea consistently during the past couple of weeks. It is an interesting combination of light and mellow, yet mildly rich with a nice round body to it. Excellent with my favorite tea biscuits.

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2. Featured Teaware: Tenmon Dot Teapot
This elegant Japanese porcelain pot is excellent for get-togethers, tea parties, book clubs, or for those who just like a larger teapot. Its 30 oz. capacity makes tea for up to six people. It features a built-in strainer at the spout to block the loose leaves from spilling into your cup. The raised dot pattern adds a lovely tactile quality that gives dimension to the radiant white surface. Made by Saikai Japan.

It has been a wonderful time here at the shop. We were honored to take part in the recent Taste of the Nation event held at the San Diego Museum of Art’s sculpture garden. Alchemy, the wonderful restaurant across the street from us, tasked us with creating a beverage using Japanese yuzu juice.  We came up with a really nice iced tea blended with yuzu juice, Ceylon Venture black tea, and agave. We worked with the Alchemy mixologists to refine the proportions and the result was sooo good! We had people coming back for seconds, thirds, fourths. And this was at an event with lots of free beer, wine, mojitos, etc. The drink paired perfectly with Alchemy’s ceviche and plantain chips. It was a blast to work the event and share a table with Ron, Ricardo, and Naomi. If you haven’t yet been to Alchemy, make it a point to check them out soon.

More Darjeeling to come. We are nearly sold out of our First Flush Margaret’s Hope. It proved to be even more popular than anticipated. With a limited supply of excellent first harvest Darjeelings this year, we are happy to have more of this tea on the way. We also have another first harvest offering coming with it. We’ll tell you more when it arrives, but we are excited to say the least.

Thanks so much for checking in!

- James

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