Tea Adventures

My favorite Japanese actors all in these Sapporo posters. Well,…

My favorite Japanese actors all in these Sapporo posters. Well, Fukuyama ( shown with ocha/tea beer) is an accomplished singer and at best J pop actor, while Mifune and Yamazaki are acting gods in universes reserved just for them.
Actors and actresses have been enlisted to help sell tea too in China, particularly for Tieguanyin and other prestigious teas that have brand names. Attempting to make a brand of tea is difficult- most are brands of teashops in China. In Japan, because vending machines rule, and teas are in PET bottles, and celebrities endorsement still mean something, even serious actors are enlisted for promotions.
A curatorship brand like Teance- I wonder…. There’s always Hello Kitty?

Beer adventure today. Have to visit the Sapporo Beer Museum of…

Beer adventure today. Have to visit the Sapporo Beer Museum of course, the first beer company in Japan and hailing back to the 1870s. Had a beer ice cream, and a flight of 3 beers. The water here is very crisp and cold, and the hops have the intense bitter aroma. Love those old bottles and graphics.

There’s no good tea in this town- just some bottled tea in ubiquitous vending machines, or hot Sencha with powdered matcha to give it the green powdery color, but in reality, Sencha is yellowish. Or that it’s neither Sencha nor Matcha but cheapest hojicha. The problem with Asia is that free tea is everywhere so people think Sencha should be served boiling hot like these restaurants do. In Uji, one should be hitting Sencha at 50-60 C or the tea police will ambush.
Sapporo Beer is an everyday beer that hits the spot after a long day of walking. And matcha/Sencha free tea goes down well if it’s free, but any China beer other than Tsingtao is undrinkable, and any perfumed scented tea is also undrinkable…..says my palate. Perhaps other professionals might agree.

Continuing my adventures- in food, possibly beer and sake. At…

Continuing my adventures- in food, possibly beer and sake. At Sapporo today where sake and beer are the replacements for tea. It’s usually so cold here people consume a lot of sake. It was a great comfort to end up in an AirBNB that was a modern traditional Japanese house where we can make tea. Out came my travel tea kit complete with fine porcelain cups, Baochong oolong, and an outrageous cheese mousse tart completes the day. My stomach has been stretched to the max.

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