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.)
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.
I have seen this ForLife infuser (which comes with a mug) at my local Pete's Coffee and Teas. It feels very sturdy and well-built, which is important when dislodging sticky wet leaves that have yielded all of their goodness and need replacing.
I also like this infuser: The extended handle means it should fit across all but the largest of mugs, and it comes with a nice little ceramic drip-catching dish.
Which is important when keeping green tea's wholesome goodness off of your desk.
In the case of green tea, science had long known that catechins such as EGCG have the ability to fight various afflictions. What was unclear, however, was how much of those green tea catechins actually made it into the body to fight those ailments.
Therein lies the significance of this study: Now we have even more proof that compounds like EGCG really do survive the trip into our bodies.
They are, after all, such hearty compounds. (Pun intended.)
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.
GIA doesn't say how big the market is now — you have to buy the full report to find that out — but any way you slice it (or steam it or roll it), 1.2 million tons is a lot of tea.
I took this photo last summer at the estate of one of our growers in Kumamoto.
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.
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."
Not only are quality greens available for much less [hint, hint], but green tea's free-radical-fighting catechins begin breaking down soon after brewing, which is why freshly brewed tea is so much healthier for you.
(Bottled teas that tout their high EGCG content, for instance, have boosted the catechin artificially.)
Billed as "the green tea you enjoy in a wine glass."
Destress with green tea, suggests college columnist
Over at the University of Wisconsin–River Falls, columnist Laura Krawczyk suggests that her fellow students studying for finals add green tea to their stress-busting arsenal.
Speaking of green tea and stress, here's a video from the last Calm-a-Sutra contest:
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.
The recipe for green tea shortbread that I posted recently proved popular among us foodies, so here's another yummy-sounding one—for green tea biscotti.
This article in Canada's National Postgives us three tea recipes, including one for yummy-sounding green tea shortbread made with matcha:
GREEN TEA SHORTBREAD
Green tea turns these cookies an elegant shade of green and the sparkling sugar makes them glitter. For more green tea flavour, use up to 2 tbsp (30 mL) powdered green tea.
- 1 cup (250 mL) butter
- ½ cup (125 mL) granulated sugar
- 2 cups (500 mL) all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp (15 mL) powdered green tea (matcha)
- ½ tsp (2 mL) salt
- ¼ cup (50 mL) coarse sparkling sugar (optional)
1. Cream butter with granulated sugar until light.
2. Combine flour, green tea powder and salt in a bowl and add to butter mixture. Mix only until combined. Divide into two parts, flatten slightly, wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.
3. Roll out each piece of dough on a floured surface, ¼-inch (5 mm) thick. Cut out with your fave cookie cutter. Place on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with sparkling sugar and press in slightly. Bake 12 to 15 minutes in a preheated 325°F (160°C) oven. Do not let cookies brown. Cool on racks. Makes 36 to 40 cookies
As always, the Monk is willing to sample the results of your culinary experimentations—especially sweet ones.
Click the pic to see another scrumptious green tea shortbread recipe.
What I really like about the Aladdin Tea Infuser Mug is that it's equipped with a means of removing your tea leaves from the water (to stop infusion and prevent oversteeping): You simply turn the lever near the lid (see the picture below) to lift the built-in tea infuser up and out of the brewed tea inside.
When you finish your first batch of brewed tea, you add more hot water, turn the lever back to the "Brew" position and pretty soon you've got another mug of tasty tea.
Once again, science proves something we already knew—that green tea drinkers are mellower.
To be more specific, a study showed that people who drink at least five cups of green tea per day are less likely to suffer from psychological distress.
This finding, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, is just one of the many results gleaned from the "Ohsaki cohort," a group of over 40 thousand people in Japan whose health was monitored over many years.
A nice mellow grove of bamboo. Photo taken in Aso.
A study to determine the HPV-fighting abilities of green tea
Researchers at the University of Arizona Medical Center are launching a study to see if green tea polyphenols can help fight the human papillomavirus (HPV).
Researchers Sherry Chow and Wade Chew prepare vials for the green tea study.
Folks, it's getting to the point where even I'm having trouble keeping up with all the research results coming out about the health benefits of green tea.
Drinking as little as one cup or less of green tea per day was associated with 41 percent less risk of dying from pneumonia among Japanese women, the investigators found.
The findings, they say, "support the possibility" that green tea contains compounds capable of destroying or inhibiting the growth of viruses and microorganisms.
Yet more recent research points to green tea's cancer-fighting properties.
Results published in the American Journal of Epidemiology show that drinking 5 cups or more per day reduced the risk of leukemia and other blood cancers by one half compared to participants in the over 40,000-person-strong cohort who drank one cup or less per day.
For more information about green tea and leukemia, you can read previous postings in this blog.
A blogger called Dr. Zit writes about how simply drinking green tea — not using creams containing green tea, or taking a green tea extract pill — has dramatically improved his skin.
Taken from the shore of a small island in the Kuma River. This is the same spot where we took a recently posted video.
When I first heard about an on-the-go infuser mug called the Perfect Steeper, I thought, Well their marketing department isn't shy. But upon examining how this steeper works, I realize the name may be far more objective than I had suspected.
Here's how it works: After filling the mug—see the photo below—with hot water, you place your loose-leaf tea into the tea receptacle, which contains a permanent filter and sits atop and screws into the mug. You then screw on the receptacle's top and turn the whole thing upside-down, allowing the hot water to flow from the mug down into the tea receptacle. The leaves swirl around in the hot water, yielding their wonderful essence. A brew is born.
As you can see, when steeping is done you simply turn the steeper back over. The brewed tea flows out of the tea receptacle, stopping the infusion process. The tea leaves are now high and dry, ready for another steeping later on.
This is an oh-so-elegant solution to an ancient issue in the world of tea-brewing contraptions—how to remove the leaves from the hot water/tea to prevent oversteeping. (This teapot also uses gravity to do the trick.)
Another feature I like is that to drink your freshly brewed tea, you remove the permanent filter and set it down upside down—no dripping, and no need for a separate drip-catcher. Another big plus: the mug consists of a glass liner—because who wants to drink out of plastic?—with a polycarbonate shell to protect against dropping and other unforeseen incidents.
It really does sound like the perfect steeper. I can't wait to give one a test drive.
Vitamin C boosts absorption of green tea antioxidants: study
Cathy Wong at About.com has already done an exemplary job of summarizing a study indicating that vitamin C helps your body absorb more antioxidants from your green tea, so I won't reinvent the wheel.
I will point out, however, that this study is one in a long line of research pointing to this complementarity between green tea and citrus fruits.
I would also be remiss if didn't remind the unfamiliar that there exists an age-old tradition of adding a piece of, say, dried orange or mikan peel to a pot of tea.
Yet more evidence that the ancient ones knew just what they were doing.
As if you needed another reason to drink green tea: Japanese women, but not Japanese men, who regularly drink 5 or more cups daily appear about 20 percent less likely to develop stomach cancer, study findings hint.
The findings were published in a paper in the journal Gut.
The global economic crisis may have damped the appetite for high-end goods, but one small daily luxury — gourmet tea — has been posting surprisingly strong sales [. . .]
Green tea could strengthen your bones and help prevent osteoporosis and other bone diseases that afflict so many, according to a recent study.
Publishing in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, researchers found that certain green tea polyphenols promote bone formation by boosting the activity of a bone growth enzyme, but without any toxic effects to bone-producing cells.
Promoting the good without introducing the bad—that is truly the ultimate goal of all healing.
Who would guess that such a soft, gentle liquid could be so good for toughening our bones—and our teeth, too.
In which Dolly Parton mindfulness breaks the cycle of stress
Naturally rich in theanine, green tea helps promote mellowness.
When incorporated into your daily routine, a green tea break—your own personal tea ceremony—is also a great way to practice mindfulness, which can also help break the viscous cycle of stress.
But did you realize that everything you needed to know about mindfulness you can learn from Dolly Parton?
If I told you there was a way to transfer tea from a teapot to a teacup without using your hands, and without even lifting the cup or pot, would you believe me?
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.
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.
World Tea News has run a story about Mellow Monk, focusing on a documentary made for French TV that features our primary supplier, a tea master in beautiful Aso.
The director himself took this shot of Koji, husband of Miho, hard at work at harvest time. (The tea being harvested in this picture awaits you at Mellow Monk.)
Husband-and-wife team The Houston Hill have produced two wonderful entries for the Calm-a-Sutra tea video contest: "The Teacup Tango" and "The Scale of Tea."
Green tea reduces risk of cancer in blood, bone marrow, and lymph nodes
A new study shows that green tea can cut your risk of hematological malignancy—cancer of the blood cells, bone marrow, or lymph nodes—by as much as 50 percent.
The research, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, looked at the health histories and green tea consumption patterns of over 40,000 participants.
The folks who gained this benefit were those who drank 5 cups of green tea or more every day.
In other words, a cup a day just isn't going to cut it—you really have to make green tea a part of your life. The good news, however, is that doing so brings so many other benefits, too.