Roji May Newsletter

Hello. (^ ^)/ This is TOMOMI @ roji tea lounge.

May is the busy tea picking season. If you missed cherry blossom Sencha, fresh pick of the year is on its way this month. : )

News1: Charity Concert Donation

The total donation gathered from the concert on Apr 12^th was: $2,695.97. Thank you for coming out to support Japan. It was beautifully done. More info:

http://www.facebook.com/?sk=messages&tid=10150144615346933

News2: Current Specials

Watermelon Bubble Tea, Mango Bubble Tea, lavender Bubble tea and Iced tea specials and more.

News3: Japanese Green Teas

Price has changed due to the USD/JPY exchange rate over the years. Our Genmai-cha and Hoji-cha became now organic.

News4: Local Artist Exhibit and New item

Kristie Hayes www.kristiehayes.weebly.com

Diane Lansing – Paper Baby Crane Earrings. 100% sales goes to Japan Society for Earthquake relief fund.

News5: Point card accomplishments. Congratulations!

Jill Adams (2), Robyn Anclyusyszn, Jessica Cabresadela, Rachelle Clavin, Caitlin Chamberlain, Nicole Dittrich, Lysa Dolin, Barb Francisco, Danielle Farrell, Meghann Hance, Julie Daniel, Ahmed Khater, Sen Lin, Courtney Rile, Nicole Sanford, Brent Spreter, Terry Foster, Mike Voultsios

News6: Blossom Viewing (Hanami) Meetup, Sun May 8^th @Sycamore Hill Garden

Perfect place to take your Mom on Mother’s day. You won’t beleive it’s someone’s back yard!

http://www.meetup.com/japansyracuse/

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=Other services at roji tea lounge=

*Green Tea Letter

This is for someone who wants to know deeper about teas and tips. I have posted previous information I sent on our homepage blog. You can sign up from that page too.

Cha no ma (Space for tea): http://rojitealounge.com/home/blog/

*Free Wi-Fi

*Loose teas from $1.60 from 1/2oz trial size. This way you don’t have to waste it when you don’t like it.

*Takeout orders. You can call us at 428 0844 ahead of time too. (Sorry if we couldn’t get to the phone serving in-house customers. Please try again in few minutes. m(_ _) m)

*Take bubble teas or roji sweets with you to parties*

Bulk discounts are available. Please ask for any other items.

http://www.roji-tealounge.com/Bulk.html

*Vegan cupcake towers with various flavors.

http://picasaweb.google.com/rojitealounge/CupcakeTower3#

*Home-made Adzuki in 1lb Jar $8.50*

Spread on bagels, add onto ice cream, blend into cookies and bread, or with mochi…

*Chocolate Soy mousse or Raspberry sauce $6.75/8oz*

*Tea Ceremony, Tea seminars, Private Tea Parties

*Tomomi’s Oji-san’s Paintings*

Charcoal water painting with his own technique of blending water colors.

http://picasaweb.google.com/rojitealounge/OjiSanSPainting#

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Note:

Watch out for our staff – Azusa’s new label decibel! www.decibeldesign.net

Thanks for reading, : )

Tomomi Y.

Specialty Tea Institute Certified

Japanese Green Tea Certified

www.rojitealounge.com

108 E Washington St, Suite2 Syracuse NY 13202

contact@rojitealounge.com

Feel free to tell/ ask me anything.

Twitter: www.twitter/rojitealounge

Facebook: www.facebook ->roji tea lounge

Jill’s Kyoto tea report

Hi. This is Tomomi from roji tea lounge with the green tea newsletter. (If you like to receive this newsletter along with our store updates, please sign up from right hand side form. )

Sorry for the long absence… again. -_-; I was occupied with Earthquake Charity events and have been working on 2nd location opening in June 2011.

Here is current crop information for first flush if you are concerned about Fukushima Nulclear Plant.

http://rojitealounge.com/japanese-tea-news/

New flush is coming out soon.

Today’s topic:

Tea shops in Kyoto

If you missed the last newsletter of my favorite tea treasure spots in Kyoto, here is the list.

http://rojitealounge.com/my-favorite-tea-places-in-kyoto/

This is even better. Blog of our customer Jill (She won the roji customer of the year couple years back!). I gave her the list before she went to Japan and she has made an awesome report on those places! You definitely feel that you are there reading her stories… ^~^ She was very kind to give me approval to share with you all.

=Here is what Jill wrote=

Here’s the one when we went to Fukujuen Kyoto and Ippodo on my big birthday tea day (the day starts out at Fushimi Inari taisha, so you have to skip past that): http://jadamstravelog.wordpress.com/2010/11/10/day-8-sep-17-kyoto-2nd-day/

And here’s when we went to Nagatake once we returned to Kyoto (it comes up a few times, both in the “what we did” section and in more detail in the later “what we ate” section): http://jadamstravelog.wordpress.com/2010/12/18/day-17-sep-26-hiroshima-to-kyoto-again/

And here’s a quick shout-out to your green tea cake (it’s buried in the post somewhere, sorry): http://jadamstravelog.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/day-4-sep-13-nakasendo-day-2-to-narai-juku/

And here’s where I reflect on how important tea was to me during the trip: http://jadamstravelog.wordpress.com/2011/01/23/thoughts-on-the-trip-part-two/

Finally, you might be amused by the day I have affectionately called The Great Shizuoka Fail, when we did not see the Tea Museum around Shizuoka but did still see the giant Gundam (does Kai like giant robots?): http://jadamstravelog.wordpress.com/2010/12/29/day-19-sep-28-kyoto-2-3-day-trip-to-shizuoka/

=End of What Jill wrote=

Gundam is a fun extra page.

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[After Note]

So… yes. New location is opening soon. I feel so great about this place too that we have been connecting with so many people who care to offer natural ingredients in different field in this modern time. It seems like we are all magnets that like minded people find each other. It’s been an amazing ride so far. If you know anyone who is interested in working there for at least a year (not just summer help please…), please send me an email.

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Thank you for reading.

Sincerely,

–Tomomi at roji tea lounge

Specialty Tea Institute Certified

Japanese Tea Certified

Japanese Tea News

Thank you for coming out to the Charity concert. It was done so amazingly. Also, thank you for your kind concern asking if my family and friends were ok in Japan after the Earthquake. They are doing fine.

Currently, all our Japanese green teas are from 2010 crop, since new harvest will be picked around beginning of May. Luckily, tea growing regions are southern half of Japan, south from Tokyo and Fukushima Nuclear Plant is located up North. So far, no reports say that southern region’s food, water etc are affected, however we will keep close eye on the scientific results as we are here to promote health through tea and if we see any little risks, we would rather not continue serving them until things stabilized.

Even new harvest period hits in coming May, we just bought bulk teas couple weeks ago as our stock was running low, and they were already in US warehouse before the earthquake and picked in 2010 so there is zero contamination risk. They all come in air vacuumed sealed bags.

No report shows that China has been affected so our Chinese teas are all good as well.

Thank you for your continues support and we pray that we can live with nature in harmony one day.

April Specials

http://rojitealounge.com/services/specials/

Charity Concert Info

Fundraising Charity Concert details is set!

If you have facebook page, please invite your friends and spread the word!

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=197603086927064

In collaboration with the Syracuse Japanese Language and Culture Meetup Group, ASIA (Le Moyne College), ESF, Syracuse University, and concerned citizens in Syracuse and Rochester, we present the Charity Concert for Earthquake and Tsunami Victims in Japan!

Earthquake Fundraising concert

Hope everyone was safe after the earthquake. Thank you for your concerns. Our staff’s families and friends are safe. We pray that everyone will be rescued safely and sending condolences to people who has lost their families and sympathy to people who are still going though tough times there.

We are planning on fundraising concert at roji soon with all effort combined with SU students, LeMoyne college students, teachers and Japanese violinist from Rochester area who currently plays for Syracuse Symphony Orchestra. We will be sure to let you know once the details are set. Thank you.

Kimono Fashion Show

Ring in the Lunar New Year of the Rabbit at a Kimono Fashion Show. Lovely models will present different types of kimono, from a wedding Kakeshita to the understated Iromuji. A comprehensive presentation will accompany. What a great introduction to the interesting world of traditional Japanese garments! Kimono are considered ‘wearable works of art’, and many are unique and original paintings done on silk.

Where: roji tea lounge

When: 11am to 1pm

My Favorite tea places in Kyoto

Gogumi/Blending vs Pure non Blend

DESCRIPTION

It is a skillful technique to blend teas from different gardens of blending master’s pick of each year to keep the quality of the same brand teas.

Blending:

Merit: Be able to maintain the same quality with blending master’s skill and who/which store has blended.

They are like chef choosing the fresh teas from all over the country at tea merchants market and their skill is to identify each teas’ characteristics to bring out the best of all those teas and cancel negative part of the teas by blending. Firing skill is also important and to know when to stop, to be able to transform the teas to change in aroma and taste they look for before blending. (It’s amazing that blending masters calculate that when they are purchasing teas at the harvest market by just touching and sniffing the leaves to determine the possibility of transformation)

In order for the tea merchants to carry the same quality teas under same label, each year’s tea come out differently (just like wines) so in order to balance it out, they change the balance of blending to adjust it so that consumers will be able to trust the merchant when they buy certain brand name, they know what they are getting.

Non blend:

Merit: Be able to identify which garden it is coming from and who is responsible for the garden.

This is also like wines, that every year, the finish product is not exactly the same as last year. Of cause they use the same varietal of plant (ex. chardonnay, Pinot noir for wines) (ex.Yabukita, Benihuki for Japanese teas), so base tea taste will not change. It is natural due to the weather of that year, who has made it and their skills, etc.

Consumer will taste the bounty of that year from one garden and feel the connection to the garden and farmers. And each garden has unique own characteristics.

History:

Uji Kyoto has developed the one of the best skill in Blending techniques along with the tea culture. It has began not to waste unsold teas and giving birth to fine teas by uniting them.

Conclusion

*It’s not the argument of which is good or bad. This is to know where your tea is coming from and to find the trusted sources that are skilled in both methods.

Fukamushi Sen-cha

DESCRIPTION Fuka (Deep), mushi (Steam). It is steeped longer than regular Sencha and it is easier to steep than Sencha. It contains more broken leaves because of the length of the steaming that cells of leaves are more destroyed.

TASTE

Rich green tea sweetness, mild, less astringency (fresh cut leave taste) less fragrant than Sencha

APPEARANCE Darker Green.

STEEPING INSTRUCTION

2 leveled tea spoons tea leaves   12oz  boiling water

Let the water stand for 1-2 minutes to cool slightly in water cooler (or mug). Place tea leaves in the teapot. Pour in cooled water to the pot and let steep for 1 minute only. Strain, then drink hot. You can re-steep the tea if you wish

History:

Fukamushi-cha was created in one part of Shizuoka region where tea leaves are thicker than other region and it was not popular among consumers because bitterness came out more than sweetness. To solve this problem, farmers have created this idea of steaming 2 to 4 times longer (1.5min to 2min instead of 30sec to 40 sec).

Tips:

*You can use it for cooking (ex. Mix in infused Sencha leaves in tempura batter) to get whole nutrients. *Dry used leaves and wrap in paper towel or in small cotton bag to deodorize shoes or fridge, Etc.

*Do not drink if tea or tea leaves are left out over night. (Word of wisdom in Japan) It is said because it is easily deteriorated over long time.

*Tea leaves are easily broken and you may see small leaves because of the typical steaming process that Sencha go through compare to other teas which do not. (Chinese green, oolong black teas)