Great with or without sweetener. Nice taste and strong!
I had this matcha when I was in New York and it was so good I had to buy it
1. MATCHA
Matcha is perfect for the autumn and winter seasons as it contains enough nutrients to keep you energized and healthy. Ryokucha and matcha are among the teas of choice for Otsukimi (お月見) or ‘moon viewing.’ festivals that honour the autumn moon. On the modern solar calendar, these celebrations take place in September and October.
2. HOJICHA
Another popular autumn tea is Hojicha which is produced by roasting bancha. This results in a fresh tea with minimal bitterness. Unlike the majority of Japanese teas, Hojicha is reddish and/or sometimes brown in colour. It is also lower in caffeine, making it perfect as an after-dinner tea. For those autumn nights you want to curl up in bed with a good book and a steaming hot cup of tea – we recommend you pick Hojicha.
3. GENMAICHA
Genmaicha is a blend of bancha with well toasted brown rice (genmai). The toasted brown rice is what gives genmaicha its nutty flavour. It is also low in caffeine.
4. SENCHA
It’s a loose leaf green tea that’s grown under full sunlight, producing leaves that are darker in color with a more astringent flavor.
Whole tea leaves are steeped in hot water to produce a clear brew that’s ideally greenish golden in color, with a rich, balanced flavor — neither too bitter nor too sweet. And unlike Chinese green teas, where the leaves are pan-fired in the production process, sencha (and other ryokucha) leaves are steamed instead, giving it a sweet, vegetal flavor similar to seaweed.
When you drink matcha you receive an incredibly HIGH LEVEL of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals as well as a LONG and STEADY release of caffeine.
The caffeine is absorbed and released SLOWLY by the body over a period of 6-8 hours.
This means that matcha provides a sustainable energy boost without the rapid 30-minute spike, energy slump, sleepless nights and the “Jitters” associated with coffee.
Matcha caffeine can take more than three to four hours to be distributed throughout the body. Because matcha is a finely ground green tea powder, the consumer is actually drinking the matcha leaves—unlike straining them in a normal green tea. The caffeine process is much SLOWER than something like a cold brew, where the caffeine hits all at once.
What's more, because matcha is high in ANTIOXIDANTS (specifically L-theanine), brain functionality gradually increases. In other words, caffeine is consumed slowly, which negates the feeling of a crash or experiencing jitters as you might from other sources. Plus, matcha is an alkaline; coffee is an acid. Therefore, matcha is much easier to digest and less likely to cause an upset stomach.
The beginning is called “drawing of the water”.
1. The tea is prepared carefully by obtaining water from the Uji river.
2. Second, a chosen disciple brings the tea jar, a pot is purified with a feather duster, and the seal is severed. The disciple empties the weaker tea and fills it with the first harvest tea leaves.
3. The tea leaves are then stone ground in a mortar.
4. The disciple then carries the matcha, that was made with the Uji river water, carefully to the minister, who then accepts the tea and carefully brews the tea. The tea is then brought to the chief and placed by the Buddha.
5. Finally, a prayer of thankfulness is said for the used tea whisks and a wish made that the Uji tea will prosper.
6. The tea leaves are now MATCHA and the matcha is carefully placed in the tea jar and is ready to present to the minister.
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The former capital of Japan, Kyoto, surprises with its surrounding mountains, stunning nature, countless temples, colorful shrines, excellent gardens, and bustling traditions.
Kyoto has more than a thousand years old history to tell – it is still the center of the traditional Japanese culture. The city located in the central part of Honshu Island is one of the most interesting and attractive cities in the whole world which should be on your bucket list if you love history and traditions.
1. Kyoto preserves much of its historical charm and beauty in its many temples and shrines, its parks and gardens, and its old wooden houses with their gray tile roofs.
2. Kyoto has several hundred Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, a castle, three palaces, beautiful parks and gardens, numerous museums, and more than 30 colleges and universities.
3. Kyoto also has many picturesque and historically interesting sites in the environs. These include Arashiyama with its river and temples, the tea-growing district around Uji, Mt. Hiei with the historic Enryaku Monastery, and Lake Biwa with its beautiful views.
4. Some of Kyoto's Buddhist temples are considered among the finest in all Japan.
5. The original name of Kyoto was Heiankyo, or Capital of Peace, but the city came to be called Kyoto, meaning the Capital. Although it now ranks only sixth in population among Japanese urban centers, it was for many centuries the largest city in the country and one of the most populous in the world. It is estimated to have had a half-million people by the 16th century, when few cities in Europe were that large.
6. Kyoto is Largely untouched by War because the city was excluded by the American war plans. The Americans were planning to drop the atom bomb of Nagasaki here in Kyoto, but after considering the fact that Kyoto has some of the most important historical buildings in Japan they left the city without bombing it!
A ritual is defined by psychologists as:
"A predefined sequence of symbolic actins often characterized by formality and repetition that lacks direct instrumental purpose".
Studies show that the anxiety-reducing effect of rituals can apply to almost any high-pressure endeavor.
There are also some indications that rituals can help us cope with some of the most challenging periods of our lives too, such as grieving.
End of life rituals can create stronger connections between the dying and their loved ones. In a 2014 study, researchers found that grief was LOWER among participants who performed PERSONAL RITUALS. When we experience loss, we often feel a loss of control, so it's perhaps not surprising that rituals are used to create some semblance of order to REGAIN CONTROL.
But the benefits of rituals also extend beyond the individual – they're evident in groups of people also.
Ritualistic behavior can improve social bonding.
When we practice it collectively. "Having social networks has frequently been linked to wellbeing, and it is thought that rituals – frequent group gatherings – are particularly good at facilitating such networks," says Valerie van Mulukom, a psychologist at Coventry University in the UK and co-author of a study on the effect of secular rituals on social bonding.
Given that rituals have STRESS-BUSTING QUALITIES, It is advised to adapt pre-performance rituals during stressful situations in your own lives.
Overall, research suggests that whether informal, secular, individual or group-based, rituals can have a positive effect on our wellbeing.
So if you are feeling lost, dont ignore, don't suppress it, don't numb the feeling. EMBRACE it! EXPLORE it! It's time to find who you are and what LIGHTS you up.
Listen to your EMOTIONS, they always have a message for you. They are there to serve you, bring you to your HIGHER SELF!!!
Dear Sorate Friends,
I'm Silvia Mella, founder of Sorate.
In this email I would like to share a personal conversation with my grandmother,
who reached 100 years old just a few days ago.
I was unsure if such a personal conversation was going to be criticized like I'm trying to monetize from my grandmother's personal achievement.
But, my goal here is just to share what I have learned and I hope this can inspire you as much as it has inspired me while listening to her story.
The reason why I have started Sorate is to help people improve their life and health through the tea plant, which is considered a Life's Elixir for Longevity.
My Grandmother did not drink Japanese Green Tea in her early years,
but she is doing so now that I have brought it to her and that is not far away from her usual habits and rituals that brought her to achieve such a life milestone.
I offered her some Genmaicha Tea and then we started talking deeply, as we actually never did before.
Don't forget your roots, remember that they led you where you are now.
With Gratitude,
Silvia
HOW DO YOU THINK YOU REACHED 100 YEARS OLD?
Who me 100? (laughing).
I think my luck comes from what I ate throughout my life.
Healthy food from local producers and farmers, small portions and a half glass of red wine.
During the second world war I was a teenager, apparently teenagers should eat the most to help their growth. But we didn't have that option. Luckily.
Leaving the table with a little bit of hunger is key for the body. We are not pigs, we should not stuff ourselves.
War was right outside our home, and there wasn't the option of supermarkets, restaurants or groceries stores, so what we ate was grown and made inside our home.
WERE YOU SCARED OF THE WAR?
Of course! Especially when we were hearing bombs not too far away from us.
WHAT WERE YOU DOING WHEN YOU WERE HEARING THE BOMBS?
We would run on the opposite side of where the sound came from. And we were singing to keep us uplifted and positive. Singing was the only way we had to try to forget what was happening outside, and cheered us up.
WHAT WERE YOU SINGING?
Anything that came to our mind. But the song "Bella Ciao" was what we were really thinking at those moments.
It's a raw song that says words of hope, also in case someone of us was going to die :
"And every hour that we pass here
oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao
and every hour that we pass here
we lose our youth.
But the day will come when us all
oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao
but the day will come when we all
will work in freedom."
HOW MANY BOMBS DID YOU PERSONALLY HEAR DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR?
I don't know, too many.
DURING WAR YOU GOT TYPHUS, A VERY STRONG VIRUS AND DESEAS, WHICH YOU SURVIVED, BUT MOSTLY DID NOT.
HOW WAS THAT?
It was horrible, I was sick in bed for 6 months. Fever, pain all over.
It was also the first time that my mom called the doctor for me. I was dying so it was necessary.
Doctors always bring bad news, so I never liked them.
BESIDE THAT TIME YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN A DOCTOR BEFORE?
Medicines were expensive and when one of us had a headache or something simple like that, we were using natural remedies, made with herbs or just resting and sleeping.
AFTER THE. WAR, WHAT WAS YOUR LIFESTYLE? WHAT DID YOU DO?
If you are asking me if I was doing Yoga like you do, not at all.
I was keeping myself fit by moving sacks full of cement for the men that were rebuilding everything that was destroyed: bridges, houses, monuments, roads, everything has to be redone. That was my workout.
Also there were no bars and clubs or theaters, everything was destroyed. So we would meet all together and pray. I was never very religious, but churches were an excuse for us young people where we could meet and chat between us. It was our leisure time.
YOU HAD 4 KIDS, WHAT IS THE MAIN THING YOU THINK YOU TAUGHT THEM?
Knowledge for me was always very important.
I wanted to study, but I couldn't, and to not know something or not be prepared to respond or have a conversation about something with someone was always my biggest fear.
When you know things, you have a point of view and you can have opinions.
I feel that people think that there is always time to work, but never to learn. And this is so wrong. You always have to learn, even at 100 years old.