“What a pretty color... A kind of goldish-green, with an emerald tint to it... Mmm...! A sweet, gentle, slightly bitter flavor with a soft aftertaste... It's as if a breeze from a mountain stream has just blown through my body... I probably wouldn't have understood this flavor if you had just given it to me the moment I arrived here after walking under the sun. It's all because I drank that hot hōjicha first... Now I get it! You made me walk under the scorching sun so that I'd understand the flavor of this tea... This house... the mild breeze from the rice paddies... the sound of cicadas... the dragonflies... What luxury..." "This gyokuro is the last thing I've prepared for you today." "Ōhara, I'm going to get angry if you give me anything else. I've just had a taste of real Japan. The spirit of Japan. As long as the Japanese do not lose this spirit, they'll be fine. This is that essential ingredient all those expensive feasts were lacking. So what more could I ask for?” Simple PleasuresGreen TeaEssential IngredientJapanese Spirit Book:Japanese Cuisine Source: Japanese Cuisine
“Hōjicha is a variety of tea created by roasting green tea leaves over a charcoal fire. It has less caffeine and a mellower, richer taste than regular green tea.” Green Tea Book:Japanese Cuisine Source: Japanese Cuisine
“Gyokuro is one of the highest quality (and most expensive) green teas in Japan. The major difference between the processes of growing gyokuro and regular green tea is that the gyokuro bushes are shaded with clod or reed screens for several weeks before harvesting, which gives the leaves a sweeter flavor and more intensely green color.” JapanShadeGreenerGreen TeaBushes Book:Japanese Cuisine Source: Japanese Cuisine