Matcha Demonstration at T2

Matcha – finely ground powder of specially grown and processed green tea – is known as one of traditional Japanese tea and I get to see lots of “matcha”  products everywhere in the world such as matcha ice cream, matcha latte (I miss it!!), and matcha cheese cake, just to name a few.  However I don’t think many people actually know what matcha really is and how real matcha tastes like, and especially how to prepare and drink matcha.  Do you?

Well, guess what.  I actually do not know how to prepare matcha (even though I’m Japanese!) in the way it’s supposed to be, and I don’t think many Japanese people do either.  So it was not a surprise for me when I was told that some staff at T2, one of Australia’s largest tea shops, did not know what to prepare and drink matcha.
Nowadays you will need to go to some class to learn sadou (茶道 : the traditional etiquette of preparing and drinking tea) if you’d like to learn how to prepare matcha.

Eisetsu-san, a Japanese tea ceremony instructor who lives here in Perth, approached T2 after seeing 2 jugs of matcha green tea at their tasting counter – one was matcha x lemonnade, and another was matcha with some cut fruits in it.  Well, you probably can drink matcha like this and it could be an “Australian style” or a new way of drinking matcha, but it was far from matcha’s original method of drinking.  Drinking matcha actually involves preparation as well, and Eisetsu-san wanted to introduce Perth people the whole process of matcha making.

Her first matcha demonstration was held on 26th of March this year at T2 in Claremont Quarter, and she served 32 bowls of matcha to guests.  Her demonstration brought more people into the store, and now she is having other matcha demonstrations across Perth.  Her schedule is listed below;

03/May/2015      Hinata Cafe in Bibra Lake @ 10:00AM~4:00PM
07/May/2015      T2 in Claremont Quarter shopping centre @ 3:00PM
16/May/2015      Green Tea House in Subiaco @ 2:00PM

She is also receiving some offers from high schools and university for demonstration.

If you have interest in sadou  (茶道) – Japanese tea ceremony -, please contact her.  She runs classes on occasional bases in Perth (which I’d like to join in future).
eiko2525hiyuli<at>gmail.com

Hinata Cafe 2015

There will be another great Japanese event happening in just few weeks!

This Hinata Cafe, 5th time in Perth, will open at the same location as past years – in Bibra Lake.  This is an unique event as the concept of this event is a “temporary open cafe space to exhibit original craft and art, share experience of self expression”.    There will be Japanese artists selling their gorgeous hand-made works,  as well as food & drink stalls and live music by local and Japanese musicians.  If you love going to flea markets, love wondering your Sunday with some live music, or are looking to get some original hand-made items, you’ll love this one!

I’ve only been to this Hinata Cafe once (they didn’t do last year), and I know there will be this artist Naoko Yamada who paints beautiful arts.  I’m hoping to find a nice painting of her as well as something pretty for my house.

Hinata Cafe Facebook page

Hinata Cafe blog