The closest I’ve come to a Japanese Tea Ceremony, after a week in Japan, is still just a quick scene in a movie years ago.  My memory of it was a quiet, respectful preparation of tea by women in beautiful kimonos.

One description I read said that it was the choreographic ritual of preparing, serving and drinking Japanese Green Tea called Matcha and sweet pastries to balance the bitterness of the tea. The ritual is intended to elevate the everyday act of making tea to an art form.  The hope is that you leave such a ceremony feeling more awareness of your everyday routines and having a desire to make every moment more meaningful.

I was expecting to seeing tea houses in Japan; instead, I saw coffee shops on almost every street corner and usually several in between.  The big chains like Doutor Coffee, Starbucks, and Excelsior Caffe are everywhere.

They all offer Matcha tea as well.  It supposedly gives a caffeine kick that is lifting but more calming and easier on the nerves than coffee because the caffeine is released slowly preventing coffee’s typical insulin and adrenaline spikes.

Dana Velden describes it this way:  “The caffeine hit of an espresso can be a bit like having an express train screaming through the middle of your body; a deep, powerful, jittery roar.  I find the effects of matcha to be just as stimulating but in a more delicate, refined way, as if a thousand butterflies have descended on my body; beating their wings until I’m lifted, gently but resolutely, a few inches off the ground.  (Seriously)”  Wow!  That’s a great description.  Doesn’t it make you want to try some right away?!!!

I’ve noticed Matcha Tea on the menus of many US coffee shops, even our local Jamba Juice store.  Goggle “matcha recipes” and join in on the latest health craze to sweep the internet.  Besides smoothies, you’ll find tiramisu, cupcakes, pancakes, yogurt popsicles, etc.

Matcha tea is stronger than regular green teas because it’s a powder that includes the leaves.  Most green teas have you steep the leaves, strain them and then throw them out. That’s a good reason right there to search out organic matcha from Japan.

Smaller, independent coffee shops are thriving too.  They have a more limited selection of beans, but their coffee is stronger.  In fact, in many places American coffee is listed on their menu…..it’s much weaker than the Japanese prefer. They offer a slower pace.  You are greeted at the door and if there is a table, you are invited in.  If not, you must go.  Yes, that’s right. Go. There’s no standing room and no take-out.

Of, course, there are so many coffee shops, just go down the street two or three doors and the next one will probably have a table for you.  The cups are porcelain and the pastry and cakes wonderful.  French bakeries are everywhere.  It’s so easy to fall in love with Japan.