Green tea ice cream—from scratch!

The Hindu gives us a simple recipe for scrumptious green tea ice cream.


The recipe appears in the 2nd half of the article, so if you do not see it above the fold, do not despair — simply scroll down a bit. Trust me — it's worth it!


This recipe calls for matcha, and although our own is currently sold out, the grower has shipped more, so we will be restocked soon.



This home-made ice cream looks blissfully yummy.


—Mellow Monk

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How to find Tokyo's best noodles

Start by checking out this slideshow and the accompanying article.


I am a huge fan of tonkotsu ramen. How about you?



Absolute heaven for a ramen aficionado: a "deep tonkotsu broth with its hint of bonito flavor . . . slices of pork, their edges caramel-sweet . . . the bite of the noodles [and] the egginess of the soft-cooked egg."


—Mellow Monk

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Beautiful lightning and a big red sky

Click on the pics below to mellow out to the magnificent originals.








—Mellow Monk

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Countdown to the Victoria Tea Festival

There are only 9 days left until the Victoria Tea Festival, which bills itself as North America's largest public tea exhibition.



A pic from 2009 festival's image gallery.


—Mellow Monk

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A matcha recipe double feature

Marvelous Girl gives us luscious-looking matcha green tea chocolate truffles, while Serious Eats shows us how to make matcha tea leaf shortbreads.


This, unfortunately, comes too late to use our own matcha, which is currently sold out.


More is on the way, however.



"Daddy's little baby loves shortnin' shortnin'. . ."


—Mellow Monk

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Mellow out to some eye candy

Bestiario's Eye Candy isn't just "weird" or "trippy"; it is downright enthralling and even strangely relaxing. I feel as if I could actually meditate to it.


Use caution, however, if you are prone to visually induced epilepsy.



This screen capture does not do Eye Candy justice. You have to see the moving, changing images to appreciate it fully.


—Mellow Monk

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Green tea and exercise stave off depression in breast cancer patients, study finds

Dr. Xiao Ou Shu, a researcher at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, has found that "[b]reast cancer patients who exercise and drink tea on a regular basis may be less likely to suffer from depression than other patients."


Dr. Shu's study examined 1,399 Chinese women living in Shanghai, and "the type of tea [they] most commonly consumed was green tea."


The importance of avoiding depression is that "[d]epression may reduce a patient’s quality of life, increase the length of hospital stays and affect compliance with cancer therapy."



Vanderbilt's Dr. Shu.


—Mellow Monk

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Mellow Monk ranks high on Martha Stewart radio tea judging

Mellow Monk came in 2nd place out of six teas judged in a live, on-air tea judging on Whole Living, a show on Martha Stewart Living Radio.


The tea tested was our Top Leaf, whose quality truly reflects the dedication and passion of the tea artisans who make it.



Top Leaf, far right, holds his own against the competition and does the Monk proud.


—Mellow Monk

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Green tea creme brulee

Submitted for your approval — a scrumptious-looking recipe for green tea creme brulee.



I think I have one of these propane torches in my shed. Will that do?


—Mellow Monk

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A crime writer's surprisingly uplifting philosophy

Maura McMillan offers an enlightened summary of the Zen-like philosophy of crime writer Charles Willeford:

[W]hile the world is filled with beautiful possibilities, all human endeavor is ultimately futile. His reaction, rather than suicide, was to consciously make himself into a person who despaired less; who forgave human stupidity and cruelty when he could, and examined it in his writing when he could not.

Some may consider this thinking pessimistic, but I find it inspiring and life-affirming that a person whose life experiences included riding the rails during the Great Depression and fighting in the Battle of the Bulge would reach such a conclusion.


—Mellow Monk

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Sayonara, Master's Roast

Many customers have asked why Master's Roast, our roasted green tea, or hojicha, has disappeared from our lineup. Is this change permanent? you have asked.


The unfortunate answer is yes, and the reason, in a word, is consistency.


The grower who had been supplying Master's Roast roasted the tea manually, and he had warned us before that it wouldn't come out exactly the same every time. But after a while, this grower, who is a real stickler, decided that the variation in roast between batches just too great — even if each batch, on its own, was a wonderful brew.


It probably would have been easier to achieve greater consistency if he had roasted the tea heavily, as most tea estates do, but he thought that took away too much flavor and had been striving for a lighter roast, which I and a lot of customers did indeed like, but being the craftsman he is, he said he couldn't in good conscience sell that tea to his customers anymore.


I am sad to see Master's Roast go, but at the same time proud that we can offer teas from such dedicated tea artisans.


And after all, everything in this world is transient — even teas.



Our late, great Master's Roast.


—Mellow Monk

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On location in Kumamoto and Kagoshima

Here are a couple of photos of the director and cameraman filming the green tea documentary — "Kyushu, Where Japan's Green Tea Grows" — that I helped out with and which featured a couple of our tea artisans.


To the see the beautiful scenery and lovely people filmed in this most mellow part of Japan, you can watch the finished documentary online.



In the Kuma district of Kumamoto.



In Chiran, in southern Kagoshima.


—Mellow Monk

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Mellowing at Toji Temple

This photo of Kyoto's Toji Temple — part of an excellent collection — makes me feel as if I am there.



I imagine myself there, sitting on a nice cold rock at the pond's edge, sipping a cup of hot tea, taking in the sights, sounds, and smells of this magnificent place.


—Mellow Monk

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Such a beautiful water lilly

—Mellow Monk

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Green tea health benefits wrap-up

News about the health benefits of green tea just keeps coming, and the flurry has been especially heavy of late.


For instance, recently announced findings show that green tea reduces the risk of getting kidney stones, brain disorders, endometrial cancer (the most common gynecologic cancer), and type 2 diabetes, and is also heart healthy to boot.


Little green tea leaf, you are an amazing and hard-working plant.


—Mellow Monk

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