The spring tea forecast—looking good!

Our tea artisans in Aso report that the winter there was a typical one climate-wise, and the tea plants are emerging from their dorman period in excellent condition—healthy, vibrant, and ready to yield up their succulent leaves for us soon.



That's Nekodake in the background.


—Mellow Monk

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99 kettles of tea on the wall ...

Cortney Wagner, who operates the tea blog 99kettles, was kind enough to review our Top Leaf Green Tea.


And speaking of kettles, ChefsChoice makes some nice ones — electric and cordless, and many with other nifty features.


For instance, the 688 SmartKettle not only heats water to within 2 degrees of the temperature you set it to, but also holds the water at that temperature and is twice as energy efficient as heating water in a conventional stovetop kettle.



Click for an extreme close-up of the mellow infusion.


—Mellow Monk

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Kelly reviews our Shaded Leaf

Kelly McGeachie has written a review [Facebook link] of our Shaded Leaf Green Tea.


For those who have trouble accessing her Facebook note, I have pasted the text below, after the photo accompanying her review.



Nice mug, Kelly! (And the tea's not bad, either.)

Mellomonk Green Tea review OCTOBER 2009.

One thing I love and cherish is the opportunity to sit in my armchair in my bedroom with a steaming cup full of tea, a magazine and my teapot sitting right next to me on the table.; ready for a quick top-up.

I've always been an avid black tea drinker, whether it be English Breakfast or some spicy chai; but a couple of years back a friend of mine overseas introduced me to the wonderful world that is 'Green Tea'. I'd tried a couple of brands of tea bags and other loose leafs in the past, as I'd heard so much about the wonderful health benefits of drinking Green Tea. To be honest I really wasn't that fond of it! Can you relate to this yourself?

This friend of mine kept telling me I should try something else when it came to my Green tea. Tea bags are NOT and never are the answer, he told me. He suggested I try this brand called Mellow Monk that he had been buying for a while. 'You gotta get in touch with the monk kel' he'd say to me.

In a surprising bout of generosity my friend sent me some of this Mellow Monk tea to try. When I received it I was instantly drawn to the pretty foil packaging and really couldn't wait to try it. (This stuff is leaf tea by the way). The taste was something out of this world. So much so that since my first packet of Mellow Monk I haven't looked back and I never even touch black tea anymore. Well, unless I'm round a friend’s house and feel the need to be polite in accepting it.

Today, I received a packet of Mellow Monk's latest Green Tea called 'Shaded Leaf’, a Sencha tea which I have yet to try,. As the name connotes the leaves are shaded about 21 days before harvest, blocking out 90% of sunlight, this then stimulates the plant to make more of the super healthy catcheins, that we know are so good for us.

As soon as I open the packet I just know I am in for a treat, instantly you can smell the youthfulness and freshness of the leaves in the packet. Plus, I don't know about you but I'm always drawn to pretty packaging! ;)

To prepare, I grab my teapot and boil some water. I 'walk away' for a while to let the water cool to as close to 75 degrees as possible (The perfect brewing temperature) I then put a level teaspoon of Shaded Leaf into my tea pot and steep it for approximately three minutes.

I strain the leaves and pour the tea into my cup (step by step instructions, very important you see) and voila! The tea is ready!

The strained leaves almost represent a paste after use, they are so moist and fresh I cannot begin to tell you. From a few past brands I had tried from my local health shop the leaves were always so dry. Apparently this is not how your leaves should be.

So for now the taste test:

The Shaded Leaf is soft and sweet, and mild in flavour. In fact if you
let it cool enough you could probably drink it down like water the
taste is so smooth. The taste is so crisp and fresh without a trace of
harshness or bitterness in my mouth. In my opinion if you are a
beginner when it comes to green tea this would be the perfect
elementary tea for you to try! Also, this tea would be suitable for
consumption at any time of the day, particularly a after a meal
(always a nice way to finish off I think)

My rating is honestly 5/5 – This is probably one of my favourite
Mellow Monk teas, probably due to the fact that it has such a smooth
and full-bodied taste.

Another thing I LOVE about this tea (and yet ANOTHER reason why I
choose this brand over anything else) is that it is sourced from
eco-friendly farms, that have minimal environmental impact!

The quality really is fantastic! and did I mention the service yet?
Well If not then rest assured that whenever I have bought my tea from
their online store, the company is very helpful. They usually ship to
me overseas within a week! I thought this would be important to
mention as I know people tend to worry about that when buying offline,
but I can assure you they've always been fast and efficient, and
always answer any questions you may have etc.

If you want to get your hands on some of this then check out the
website at http://www. mellowmonk.com and see what tickles your fancy! There is much variety to choose from.

—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 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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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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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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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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Little storm mountain

In Aso, not too far from where one of our grower's grows his tea, is Shoranzan ("Little Storm Mountain"), so called from its resemblance to a piece of scenery at Kyoto's Arashiyama (Storm Mountain).



Aso's smaller-scale version of Storm Mountain.


—Mellow Monk

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Our tea reviewed on Tea Finely Brewed

Tea Finely Brewed has reviewed our Monk's Bliss green tea.





—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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Chicago Potter reviews our Top Leaf green tea

Chris Chaney, a.k.a. the Chicago Potter, writes the kind of thorough review of one of our teas that only a true tea lover could.


Thanks, Chris.



Our pride and joy. One of them, that is.


—Mellow Monk

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The heart of the Japanese way of tea

Powdered green tea is at the heart of the Japanese way of drinking tea, and you can cook with it, too.



A tasty, healthful, thirst-quenching glass of iced green tea made with powdered green tea.


—Mellow Monk

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World of Tea's review of our genmaicha

World of Tea has posted a review of our genmaicha.





—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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Green tea exposed

This picture shows a Mellow Monk grower uncovering his kabusecha. Once the covers are removed, it's a race against the clock: Too much sun will undo all the catechin-stimulating, flavor-enriching good that the 2 weeks of shade did.


Our Shaded Leaf is just such a tea.


The labor-intensive nature of kabusecha makes a higher price than other senchas pretty much unavoidable. But you will definitely taste the difference in the richness of exquisite aroma and flavor.


Some things, Grasshopper, are worth paying extra for—unlike, say, leather bucket seats.





—Mellow Monk

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Doggone good matcha ice cream

A recent favorite of mine on Cooking with Dog is How to Make Green Tea Ice Cream (Matcha Ice Cream). This recipe calls for matcha ... say, something like this.





—Mellow Monk

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Our tea master feeling like a movie star

Here's a shot that someone from Aso city hall took of a French crew filming a Mellow Monk tea master for a documentary about Kyushu.





—Mellow Monk

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Beautiful sisters

The Japanese word for today is bijin shimai (美人姉妹)—beautiful sisters.


As an example, here are the Nagata Sisters. Miho, on the left, and her husband own, work, and run the Nagata Chaen (Tea Plantation). They are good enough to share their wonderful tamaryokucha-style green tea (guricha) with Mellow Monk.


Thanks so much, ladies!



Cheers!


—Mellow Monk

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Two new teas!

Mellow Monk is mighty proud to announce two new additions to the family — Matcha-Style Powdered Green Tea and Blissful Buds™ Silken Pouches.


Both teas represent a fusion of Japanese tradition and technology. Our matcha is made by tenderly nourishing yabukita plants and gently harvesting the leaves, then using an ultrafine granulation process. The result is a soft, silky green tea powder that dissolves completely even in cold water and won't foam excessively in hot water, like traditional matcha does.


Similarly, Blissful Buds™ Silken Pouches combines our ultra-luscious Blissful Buds™ green tea with ultra-modern nonwoven silken mesh infusion pouches. The optimal mesh size keeps the tea inside while letting the hot water flow in and out freely, so that the leaves can swirl around unfettered in the cleverly engineered pyramidal pouch.


I couldn't be more proud of our two new babies. And it's nice to know that no matter how big they get, they'll never roll their eyes at us on karaoke night.



Sumptuous matcha-style powdered green tea, perfect for brewing hot or cold or for "greening" your everyday cooking.


—Mellow Monk

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Pictures of Aso: animated slideshow

Here's an animated slideshow of some photos from our recent tea-buying trip to Aso, Japan. It was so much fun—breathtaking nature, delicious tea, wonderful people.





—Mellow Monk

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Pic of Aso's Onda matsuri

Here's a picture we took recently of this year's Onda matsuri, which is held right after the rice planting to offer prayers and wishes for a bountiful harvest.



Tourists watch a procession of young women known as unari carrying boxes of rice seedlings to Aso Shrine, where they'll offer them up to the gods.


—Mellow Monk

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Gonfugirl reviews our green tea

Gongfugirl has very thoroughly reviewed Mellow Monk's Top Leaf Green Tea.


I am truly humbled to be on the radar of dedicated folks like Gongfugirl.



Our Top Leaf Green Tea being brewed by one of Gongfugirl's tea connoisseurs. (That she is reviewing a Mellow Monk tea proves that she is a connoisseur, yes?)


—Mellow Monk

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Another animated slideshow from my tea-buying trip to Kyushu, Japan

I've created another high-resolution, animated slideshow from pictures from a recent tea-buying trip to Japan.


To watch it in full-screen mode, click on the icon in the lower-right corner of the player, between the "Vimeo" name and the sound bars.





—Mellow Monk

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Mellow Monk featured on European TV—again!

Last year Mellow Monk was featured in a German-French TV network's documentary about green tea in Kyushu.


Well, that show was so well received that this year, a crew from France's TV 5 went to film one of the same growers for a French TV documentary.


Below are some photos taken by the program's director:











—Mellow Monk

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Special offer for blog readers

If you read our blog regularly but haven't tried our tea yet, you are missing out on the full Mellow Monk experience.


So, as an enticement we are making this special offer for blog readers only: free shipping on all orders. When checking out, just enter this code:

freeship_blog

After entering the code, be sure to click the "RECALCULATE" button ... and watch your shipping charges magically disappear.


(Please note that this offer expires in one week. And sorry--this offer is for U.S. orders only.


We look forward to welcoming you to the Mellow Monk community. You'll find we're a very mellow bunch.


—Mellow Monk

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Musical slideshow of tea-buying trip pics: The high-resolution version

Here is a higher-resolution version of the slideshow I posted recently of pictures from my tea-buying trip to Kyushu that was documented for European TV.


You can watch the slideshow in dazzling full-screen mode by clicking the icon next the "Vimeo" name in the lower right corner of the movie player.





—Mellow Monk

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Blissful Buds reviewed at Multiple Infusions

Lewis at the tea blog Multiple Infusions has kindly reviewed our Blissful Buds Green Tea.



Our Blissful Buds Green Tea as brewed by Lewis.


—Mellow Monk

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Blissful Buds reviewed

Wesley Crosswhite, a.k.a. Green Tea Man, has reviewed one of the newest additions to the Mellow Monk family, Blissful Buds Green Tea.



A cup of Blissful Buds that Wes brewed for his review.


—Mellow Monk

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Mellow Monk debuts on European TV

A while back I wrote a series of blog posts entitled "Stringing Tea" about my tea-buying adventures in Kyushu and working with a European film crew that was documenting my journey for Arte.tv's "360° Geo" series.


Well, the show was finally broadcast late last year and I received a copy, a clip of which I humbly present to you here.


The German/French narration is stripped out of this clip. There are no subtitles yet, but in a nutshell, a tea grower is showing off his fields and his tea-processing operation. He explains how he maintains healthy fields through proper soil management and discusses the demanding business of harvesting and processing tea leaves in just the right way to assure the highest quality tea.


Stay tuned for more clips!





—Mellow Monk

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Mellow Monk reviewed on STeaP TV

Over at the STeaP TV vodcast, Joe and Brandice review Mellow Monk's Top Leaf Green Tea. (Click here to watch the video if the embedded version below won't play.)


Their verdict: thumbs up for a very mellow tea.


I'm glad you enjoyed our tea, Joe and Brandice.





—Mellow Monk

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Rave reviews for Mellow Monk's teas

Here are recent reviews of Mellow Monk's green teas at:

• ThisNext — "This tea is absolutely delicious, and is the everyday tea of Japan. If you enjoy truly authentic green tea, then you will love Monk's Choice tea."
  


• The Greater Green — "I spent three years in the Gunma region of Japan and during that time came to love green tea, the taste and the health and the art of it all. . . . It has been a struggle to find authentic green tea here in America. When I first drank Mellow Monk's teas it was like being transported back across the seas."
  


• Yelp — "I lived in Japan for a long time, and I can tell you this tea is the real deal - better even than a lot of the stuff sold in supermarkets in Japan."


• The Green Tea Review — "The scent from the brew is mellow and slightly earthy. Upon tasting, the slight tang presents itself to the palate. The tea at first tastes very clean and mellow with some earthiness, and is followed by a soft bite of tang characteristic of guricha."
  


• Cooking Little — "For some [reviewers] this tea was reminiscent of tea they drank on visits to Japan and never since."


• Multiple Infusions — "Dropped into a heated kyusu, 3.5 grams of leaf had a strong and complex–nearly holographic–marine aroma, all the smells of the ocean at once. After a 60 second steep at 174°F, the tide receded to reveal a mellower tea than the seaside odor suggested. Not quite as delicate as gyokuro, and not bold like sencha, this tamaryokucha takes up a nice position in the middle, with a steamy, clean earthiness and mildly vegetal sweetness . . . ."

Thanks, everyone, for taking the time to review our humble tea.



Top Leaf Green Tea, as brewed by the folks at Multiple Infusions.


—Mellow Monk

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The world-famous water of Aso

Located in the heart of Kyushu, the mountains of Aso are the bounteous source of pure, tasty water for the rest of the island. Many towns get all of their drinking and farming water from the springs of Aso.


The city of Kumamoto is the biggest in the world to have its water needs met entirely by natural underground springs, all of it from Aso. The clear water has also fueled a national drinking craze, as Kumamoto uses this water to produce high-quality shochu, a spirit distilled from sweet potatoes. Recent health studies found that a shochu enzyme helps reduce blood clots, and Kumamoto shochu has been flying off shelves nationwide ever since.


The mineral-rich spring water of Aso also does wonders for green tea, allowing the people there to gain an appreciation of truly great tea. In short, the natural spring water of Aso is an important reason that the people of Aso are famous for such high standards when it comes to green tea.



The Shirakawa headspring, one of the sources of the delicious spring water that Mt. Aso provides to many areas of Kyushu.


—Mellow Monk

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Our review in "The Green Tea Review"

The blog "Green Tea Review" has reviewed our Monk's Choice Green Tea. It's quite a flattering review, if I do say so myself.

The aroma of the dry leaf is mild and mellow, but carries with it the tantalizing tang noted in the previous post. This tang smell is exclusive to the leaf of guricha. The leaf is in amazing shape compared to the usual broken up sencha leaf. This shows that care really did go into the processing of this tea.

—Mellow Monk

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Tamaryokucha = guricha

Mellow Monk's green tea is a type of sencha known as tamaryokucha (玉緑茶), which literally means "curly green tea." Tamaryokucha is grown and harvested the same way as straight-leaf sencha, and it's processed the same way, except for the very end of the teamaking process, where the leaves are rolled to make them curly.


Tamaryokucha, which is appreciated for its less-astringent flavor compared to Tokyo-style straight-leaf sencha, is made primarily on the island of Kyushu, where Mellow Monk tea also comes from.


I've seen some discussions on the 'Net asking whether tamaryokucha is the same thing as "guricha." The answer—doubled-checked and verified by our growers—is a most definite "yes": the two terms refer to the same tea.


The name "guricha" also means "curly tea," with "guri" being the name of a curly design pattern seen in traditional Japanese architecture and crafts (see the bottom photo below).



A close-up of the curly leaves of Monk's Choice Green Tea, a typical tamaryokucha (or "guricha").



A guri design carved into a wooden box.


—Mellow Monk

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Japan's Riyo Mori crowned Miss Universe

Riyo Mori, a 20-year-old dance instructor from Japan, has been crowned Miss Universe 2007.

What is this story doing on this blog, you ask? Why, it's because Ms. Mori is from Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan's leading tea-producing region. Why else?

Speaking of Shizuoka, just because they're the biggest doesn't mean they're the best. Our tea is from the Aso region of Kumamoto Prefecture, which has everything that quality tea plants need to thrive—high altitude, cool summers, clean air, volcanic soil, natural spring water, and essentially zero industry. It may sound corny to say, but you really can taste the unspoiled nature in every cup. Hmm... That sounds like a good catchphrase.

—Mellow Monk

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More customer feedback: Shiraore Green Tea

Part of an email I received recently:

[T]he Shiraore is tasting great, I'm consciously/unconsciously brewing it right. I always wanted one of those small infrared thermometers for cooking and brewing tea.

Eduardo

And here's my reply:

Dear Eduardo,

I'm glad you like the Shiraore. It's very different from ordinary green teas. For instance, today I accidentally let a batch of Shiraore brew too long -- perhaps 15 or 20 minutes. However, where other green teas might taste very bitter or otherwise unpleasant, the Shiraore tasted great -- not too bitter, thick and rich, but not overly grassy. It's an amazing tea.

An infrared thermometer sounds interesting, but my personal philosophy is that brewing tea is an art, not a science. My overarching rule is Keep It Simple. In other words, we should train ourselves not to rely on thermometers or timers and instead cultivate the ability to intuitively know, for instance, how long to let boiled water stand before pouring into your mug or teapot, and how long to let the tea brew.

For instance, my goof-up in letting the Shiraore overbrew today is all part of my training not to forget a cup of brewing tea!

Thanks again for your feedback, and please don't hesitate to drop me a line again if you have any other comments or suggestions.

Sincerely,

Mellow Monk

As for that brain training, although I eschew watches and timers as a way to remember my brewing tea, I have learned one trick to reduce my chances of forgetting: placing the brewing tea within my field of vision, as opposed to behind me, as I did today.

Live and learn!

—Mellow Monk

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Praise from a very knowledgeable customer

I am not one to toot my own horn. Instead, I prefer it when others do it for me. Here is a recent letter from a customer who does just that:

Hello Mellow Monk,

Its been awhile since I last placed and order with your company, and I must admit that's because I've been shopping around. You see, I am not a rich man. I, like many, have limited resources, and unfortunately this sad reality applies my tea budget as well. Consequently, I have been sampling a variety of less expensive green teas from 100s of other, less reputable sources only to ultimately find disappointment and low quality from these unnamed tea producers. I have yet to find a tea that can, in my opinion, equal the exquisite color, flavor, or aroma of your superlative green tea, and I have determined life is too short to continue looking. Sufficed to say, I'm back and I will never stray again. You have found a follower in me Mellow Monk, and after sampling the competition I will gladly pay the higher price to enjoy your most excellent product.

Sincerely,
Ryan

Thank you so much, Ryan. If there's one thing I have absolute confidence in, it's in the quality of our green tea. This tea is the real deal—authentic Japanese green tea grown by traditional methods on honest-to-goodness family-owned and -operated tea farms in the mountains of Aso, Japan. Of course, all the credit goes to our growers, but I do feel honored to be able to offer this tea outside of Japan for the first time ever. This is a great time for green-tea aficionados like you, Ryan, and I'm excited to be a part of the changes going on—because these changes are enabling aficionados like you to find green tea like ours.

—Mellow Monk

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The champagne of tea, Mellow Monk

This helps explain why the Aso region is so well suited to growing green tea:

Plentiful seasonal rainwater, well-drained soil and fresh-air fog (away from the ocean, where the fog is salty) are the ideal growing conditions for tea. An overly rainy season can flush out the flavor characteristic of tea and make it weak. Too little moisture can make it weak. Too little moisture can take away key flavor nuances or make it harsher than usual. Ideally tea is grown at an altitude of 3,000-5,000 feet on a 45-degree slope, where the water won't pool and foggy mornings keep the leaves and the roots moist.

From "Champagne of Tea," by John and Kerry Laird (www.pacificbaycoffee.com)

By the way, the above is a description of the Darjeeling area of India—explaining why the black tea grown there is widely considered the "champagne of tea"—but it applies word-for-word to the Aso area, where Mellow Monk tea is grown.

—Mellow Monk

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Why our green tea is chock full of antioxidants

If antioxidants are what you're looking for, then you'll get a lot in our green tea. I've witnessed the operations of the Nagata family (our supplier) first-hand, and they only harvest as much tea as they can process that day. As soon as tea leaves are cut, the oxidation process that destroys catechins and other antioxidants begins, so it's important to steam and dry the leaves right after harvest to lock in all the good stuff.

That's exactly what our growers do, since they're a small operation and are able to get the harvested tea from the field to the processing line right away. In the case of a large corporate tea farm, it could take hours and hours before the cut tea leaves are processed. But the Nagatas take in their harvested tea for processing right away. (Here are pictures from last year's harvest.)

—Mellow Monk

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Nitrogen flushing

Someone emailed to ask whether Mellow Monk tea is packaged using nitrogen flushing. I replied "No." This person then asked if I thought that not using nitrogen flushing sacrificed the flavor of the tea. Again, I replied "No."

The reason why the Nagata family, our tea supplier, doesn't use nitrogen flushing is twofold: it's an expensive proposition for a small, family-run farm. And it's not necessary in the first place, because of the speed with which Mellow Monk tea is processed after harvest, packaged, and shipped to the consumer. Here is some of what I wrote in my response:

I honestly doubt that the absence of nitrogen flushing (which didn't exist in the first 2,000 years of tea history) is too much of a detriment to our tea. After all, our tea is vacuum sealed on site and doesn't sit in warehouses as it makes its way from one broker to another. We buy it right from the grower, and so our customers get our tea a lot more quickly after harvest than is the case with most other green tea retailers, I believe.

Nitrogen flushing might make more sense for a large-scale operation in which the tea sits in warehouses for months. But that isn't our operation at all. Great tea bought straight from the source -- that is our secret for freshness!

—Mellow Monk

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How green should my tea be?

Mellow Monk green tea is green. Make no mistake about it. That greenness is a sign that oxidation has not destroyed all of the polyphenols and other anti-oxidants in the tea, as happens in black (or English) tea or oolong tea.

But some of you may notice that Mellow Monk green tea is not as deep a green as some mass-market green teas. Why is that, you ask?

It's because Mellow Monk isn't artificially colored. Believe it or not, many green teas are. Artificial coloring is what makes the infusion of some teas a bright green, so bright it looks like someone left a green highlighter pen in a glass of water.

But that's unnatural. Green tea isn't supposed to be that green. Besides, that artificially bright, deep green color has nothing to do with freshness or how much "punch" the tea packs in terms of antioxidants. It's just coloring.

If you're used to the highlighter green of some green teas, then once you get used to the natural green color of Mellow Monk, you'll probably start to see the artificial colors for what they are: artificial.

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Pictures of a Mellow Monk grower's '04 tea harvest

Here are photos of one of Mellow Monk's growers harvesting this year's crop of tea. Our friends at the Nagata chaen (tea farm), located in Aso, Japan, took these and sent them to us on a CD-ROM along with our most recent green tea shipment.








As you can see, tea growers in today's Japan don't pick the tea by hand—not unless they're growing ultra-premium tea that would cost an arm and a leg. Besides, hand-picking doesn't enhance the flavor anyway. In Japan, hand-picking is a marketing ploy; in a low-wage country, it's because human labor is cheaper than using machines.

What makes a good green tea are the right climate and soil, a good-quality variety of tea plant, proper care during the growing season and the dormant season, how promptly after harvest the tea is processed (the longer it sits around, the more oxidation occurs), how the tea is processed, and how the tea is stored before being shipped out.

For instance, at the Nagata Chaen, the Nagata family harvests on a given day only as much as they can process at the end of the day, so that none of the "raw" tea leaves sit in storage overnight. That's what assures a fresh, earthy taste in the tea, and what protects the disease-fighting antioxidants from oxidation, which begins as soon as the leaves are picked.

We'll talk about the other tea-quality factors over the coming days. Stay tuned!

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