Happy Valley Craft Fair

I'll be selling pottery on Saturday 12/1/2012 at the

 Happy Valley Grange in Redmond, Washington from 10 AM - 5 PM. 

Come on by if you are in the area.  I've got lots of new items and some fun sgraffito ornaments.

Opps!

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words! 

Matcha Green Tea

Matcha tea in a Japanese style tea bowl-waiting for the water to cool to 175* F before adding it to the tea and whisking it up.

 I recently tried MATCHA TEA for the first time.  I'm in love.  It's amazing!  Matcha is a fine ground, powdered, high quality green tea.  The traditional tea ceremony in Japan centers on the preperation, serving and drinking of matcha.

I've been making Japanese tea bowls for matcha tea. 

To make matcha measure a heaping teaspoon of ground matcha through a small fine wire mesh sieve to break up clumps.  Sieve it directly in the ceramic tea bowl and add hot water (approximately 175°F).  Whisk the mixture to a uniform consistency, using a bamboo whisk called a chasen. Whisk it until there fine bubbles form on the top of the tea.  Make sure there are no lumps left in the liquid and no ground tea should remain on the sides of the bowl.  Don't linger - drink it quickly before the matcha settles too much.  It will make you feel amazing. 

A "chasen" - a bamboo whisk

I drank it up so fast, I almost forgot to take a photo of it before it was gone.  Yum! 

We get our organic matcha tea from Remedy Teas on Capital Hill in Seattle.  They sell the tea and supplies online and in their cafe - store.  They have a great offering of items that are made with matcha.   If you can, stop by and sit a spell.