Kokura Castle in a cloud of sakura

We just received this — a photo of Kokura Castle, previously misidentified as Kumamoto Castle.





—Mellow Monk

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The wait is over — matcha is back!

We have just received a shipment of our Matcha Style Powdered Green Tea from the grower in Kumamoto.


Our deepest apologies for the wait. We appreciate your queries asking when it would be back in stock and your comments on how much you enjoy the tea. That really filled us all here with good feelings.



Back by popular demand.


—Mellow Monk

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Frost-fighting fan in a tea field

This photo, taken in the orchard of one of our tea artisans, shows a fan that protects the leaves from frost.


The fans rotate slowly, generating only a slight breeze, but that is enough to stop frost from forming on budding leaves.


This is especially important in early spring, when the daytime warmth wakes the plants from their winter slumber, but temperatures can still drop low enough for frost to form in the wee hours.





—Mellow Monk

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Tea fields surrounded by the Mt. Aso caldera

In the background is Gairinzan, which means literally "outer rim mountains," as in the outer rim of a crater. Technically speaking, the Aso valley is a caldera, not a crater. In fact, the area's volcanic soil is one of the secrets of its delicious green tea.


—Mellow Monk

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Jamba Juice to serve "heavenly" tea

The news from Jamba Juice is that its upcoming lineup of hot beverages includes "Heavenly Green Tea," made with matcha green tea, cane sugar, and vanilla.


I look forward to tasting one, although I will probably ask them to hold the cane sugar.


And with a bottle of vanilla extract, we could all make our own Heavenly Green Tea.



A farmhouse and its tea field. (Taken by yours truly in Kumamoto, Japan.)


—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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Sunrise over a tea field

A screen capture from "Kyushu, Where Japan's Green Tea Grows."





—Mellow Monk

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Japan tea trip videos in high resolution and subtitled

I never tire of revisiting the spectacular scenery and the warm, wonderful people I encountered during the filming of "Kyushu, Where Japan's Green Tea Grows."


So posting the re-subtitled first and second segments to Vimeo was a more than adequate excuse to watch them again.


So let us brew up a hot, soothing cup of green tea, sit back, and enjoy the people and places together.








—Mellow Monk

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Green tea made with spring water

The residents of Aso (whence Mellow Monk tea hails) are so proud of their deliciously health natural spring water that the city installed public drinking fountains dispensing this natural spring water, free for locals and visitors alike.


In the picture below, we made some cold-brewed matcha using this water, an empty soda bottle, and some of our powdered green tea.


It was, needless to say, delectable . . . and so easy to make: Just add matcha powder and water, then put on the cap, shake vigorously and—voilà—a bottle of delicious, healthy, thirst-quenchingly cool matcha.



This fountain is named "Katarai no Shizuku," which can mean "murmuring drops" (a reference to the water's sound) but can also mean "water for talking" (referring to how a drinking fountain brings people together) or even "lover's vow water" (which would play well with honeymooners visiting the town).


—Mellow Monk

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Mellow Monk's tea-buying trip to Japan: grand finale

Here it is, the final segment of "Kyushu, Where Japan's Green Tea Grows," a European documentary in which a Mellow Monk tea procurer is prominently featured. (When watching the video, there will be no doubt as to which one is him.)


We have more videos at YouTube, too. You can also watch this video at Vimeo.





—Mellow Monk

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Interviewing the monk

Here's a photo of the monk featured in Part 2 of our green tea documentary being interviewed by the film crew.


Helping the crew is our tea buyer (lower left), who served as interpreter, guide, travel agent, driver, and interviewer.



caption


—Mellow Monk

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Mellow Monk's Tea-Buying Trip to Japan, Part 5

Following up on yesterday's post, here is Episode 5 of "Kyushu, Where Japan's Green Tea Grows," which features one of our tea buyers making his rounds in Kyushu.


You can also watch the Vimeo version and other videos of ours.




—Mellow Monk

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Mellow Monk's Tea-Buying Trip to Japan, Part 4

Here it is: Part 4 of "Kyushu, Where Japan's Tea is Grown," a documentary filmed for European TV. The film crew followed one of our tea buyers on his rounds through the tea-growing regions of Aso and other Kyushu locales.


You can also watch a slightly higher-resolution version of this episode on Vimeo.


For more videos, please check out our video page.





—Mellow Monk

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The Monk makes the local news in Aso. (Well, his grower does, anyway.)

One of Mellow Monk's growers was featured in Kōhō Aso, the city of Aso's official monthly newsletter.


As you can see from the accompanying photo below, the story describes a visit by a French TV crew to film some footage for a documentary on Japanese green tea.


The director first learned about this grower from a previous European documentary about Japanese green tea, which also featured one of our tea buyers on a trip to the area.



Cover caption: "Tea fields in Sakanashi [a district of Aso City]."



The story (in the middle of the page) reads: "Filming for a documentary, to be shown across Europe and in parts of America, on Japan's green tea was carried out in the tea fields and at the tea mill of Koji Nagata, who runs a tea enterprise in [the] Miyaji [district of Aso City]. The program, which is being produced by France's national TV network, aims to show that the tea that is widely consumed in Japan is not the matcha of tea ceremonies but [ordinary] Japanese green tea."


—Mellow Monk

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Hitchhiking in Japan: almost too easy

Trevor Mott observes that you almost never see hitchhikers in Japan. After an eventful journey starting in Oita, he offers an explanation for this phenomenon.



Lake Kinrin (Kinrinko) in Yufuin, Oita.


—Mellow Monk

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Tea grove on a hill

Taken in Kuma County in southern Kumamoto Prefecture.





—Mellow Monk

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On the banks of the Kuma River

Here's a video we took recently in Hitoyoshi City, on the tranquil banks of the sometimes rapid Kuma River.





—Mellow Monk

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Political reformer, master artist

I'm always trying explain to folks that people in Kumamoto* are different.


Well, here's a good example—Morihiro Hosokawa, a descendent of warlords who served as a reformist governor there, then left politics to become, of all things, an apprentice potter who is now exhibiting his own elegant work along with his family's extensive collection.


The list of politicians who have made this career move must be a short one indeed.


*Kumamoto is the prefecture—equivalent to an American state—that contains the Aso region, home of Mellow Monk tea.



The former gov posing with his works of art.


—Mellow Monk

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Kumamoto Castle

Here's a great shot we took of Kumamoto Castle recently. Isn't she majestic?





—Mellow Monk

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