The tea-tabulous Tsutomo Iwasaki; flashback to Kagoshima 2009; of catechins, monks and samurais; a long story; An Innocent Man; Sam-san the barista-in-training

One Wednesday afternoon in July, after a light bite of lunch at Cranked in the buzzy inner city suburb of Leederville, my new friend Debbie Uller drove me to the Green Tea House (www.greenteahouse.com.au). (Find it at Shop 17, 375 Hay Street in Subiaco; call +618 9388 7425).

On the other side of its unassuming door, self-styled Japanese Green Tea Advisor Tsutomo Iwasaki treats all newcomers to an educational tea-tasting session. It’s free, but if you like tea at all you’ll probably want to buy one or more packets of the gorgeous green stuff from him.

In one of the videos that you’ll find on his Facebook page, Tsutomo-san explains that he opened shop in 2005. He was the first to introduce the “real and authentic” Japanese tea culture to the people of Perth and WA.

He is clearly proud of the high quality of teas that he imports directly from Japan – mostly from Kyoto, home of Japanese green tea, where tea-growing started over a thousand years ago. Some of his tea comes from Kagoshima, in the southern part of Japan – which is, incidentally, a sister city to Perth.

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Flashback to Kagoshima, 2009

When Roy and I went to Kagoshima in 2009 as part of a once-in-a-lifetime cruise on Cruise West’s 100-passenger ship Spirit of Oceanus, we visited a green tea plantation and factory:

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Here’s an easy link to my Expat Living Singapore article on that fabulous cruise: Japan Cruise October 2009

And if you enjoyed that, you can read about our 2011 trip to Kyoto, here: Japan Kyoto 2011

Tasting Notes

Black tea and green tea come from the same plant, camellia senensis; the difference is that black tea is allowed to ferment and oxidise.

There are seven or eight major types of Japanese green tea, as this illustration from the Green Tea House shows:

We’re going to be tasting three of these green teas, starting with: #1, the new season Sencha from Kyoto – Sencha is the most popular type of green tea, says our guide, and it’s harvested in spring. In Kyoto, springtime is April or May, so this is really fresh. It’s high in catechins; a catechin is a flavan-3-ol that’s a natural phenol and antioxidant.

So as to enhance its green and grassy character, he first cools the boiled water down to around 80 degrees Centigrade. You could use a variable temperature kettle, but he believes that proper boiling helps to remove any chlorine that hasn’t been seen off by his water filter.

Into the pot, he adds up to a teaspoon of tea – two to three grams – and allows the leaves to steep for a minute. Then he serves it between our two cups, all the way to the last drop – “the last drop is the yummiest,” he adds. Note: When serving green tea, make sure to leave no water in the pot. That way, you may brew green tea a few times from the same leaves, generally increasing the heat of the water for subsequent brewings.

#2 is Genmaicha with matcha (alternative spelling maccha) Genmaicha is roasted brown rice grains with Sencha leaves, and this product comes with a matcha powder coating. You should brew it with boiling water to release the nutty flavour of the rice. This also adds a hint of sweetness, as Debbie notes – and what’s great about matcha is that it’s ground up, so you’re ingesting the whole leaves.

It is delicious; and when I make it for myself at home later, I eat the softened rice grains straight from the pot. [Yes this is odd  behaviour, but I am odd. I drink the brine of both canned asparagus and salmon right out of the tin, and I slurp live mussels straight off the rocks.]

#3 is Gyokuro, which Tsutomo-san declares to be the Rolls-Royce or Mercedes-Benz of teas. (Its rareness and exclusivity is reflected in its price.) It’s grown in the shade with no direct sunlight, thereby reducing any potential bitterness from tannins or astringency from its catechins. This produces a clean, umami and sweet flavour. It too is harvested in Spring,  and the shop took delivery of it in June, says Tsutomo. Brew it at 60 degrees Celsius for two minutes.

Of Monks and Samurai

From the 9th century, Japanese Buddhist monks studying in China would bring tea back home to Japan. In the 12th century, the first Zen master in Japan introduced the practice of Rinzai Zen and the art of cha-do: whisking powdered green tea and hot water together in a bowl. Initially, only the upper classes had access to matcha tea ceremonies, but monks did try to educate ordinary people about the health benefits of green tea, says Tsutomo-san.

Benefits of green tea include: lowering levels of LDL cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure and reducing your risk of cancer and heart disease. It’s rich in B vitamins; and, though vitamin C is generally lost in the production of black tea, green tea retains a lot of this vital nutrient.

The amino acid theanine that’s found in green tea makes your mind alert but relaxed. (For this reason, samurai warriors would go to a tea ceremony before going into battle.)

Matcha is made from ground Gyokuro leaves. The Green Tea House sometimes holds tea ceremonies,“presided over by a  professional lady,” says our host. “Maybe we’ll have one again in September,” he promises. (If so, it will be announced in advance on his Facebook page; the cost is $15 a head.)

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A Long Story

What brought a Tokyo-ite like Tsutomo-san to  Perth? It’s a long story, he replies, “but I have always liked to mingle with Westerners, ever since I studied as a young man in San Jose, California.” (At this point he breaks into  Dionne Warwick’s 1968 hit, and Debbie and I join in with more enthusiasm than accuracy.)

“After that, I joined a Japanese aid organisation, travelling and working in many different countries.” Australia was always his favourite country, he says – Canada being too cold, and England too rainy – and so he migrated here with his wife and family in 1991.

An Innocent Man

During our tasting we were joined by Joel, a 20-something American who is here in Perth to do his Ph.D in Media. Debbie recognised him from a previous visit to the Green Tea House. Joel was mystified when we sang “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?”: he’d never heard of the song, nor even of Dionne Warwick. (To my relief, he had heard of Billy Joel.)

After a good 90 minutes in The Green Tea House, Debbie and I emerged mildly euphoric into a suburban Subiaco car park, our beings in a state of Zen-like calm and yet our brains strangely alert. In my clutches, a packet of the organic Sencha and another of the Genmaicha with matcha.

Once home, I manage to unearth from the back of a cupboard  two beautiful blue Japanese ceramic mugs, probably acquired during our travels in Japan.

Days later, Roy surprised me with this lovely little teapot (from T2 in Lakeside Joondalup) with a laser-cut strainer – just perfect for my new morning green tea ritual.

Footnote: Sam-san, barista in training

Let’s face it, though: Australia is coffee country – and neither man nor woman can be expected to live by tea alone. Fortunately, Samuel John Cartwright (aged 2½) is quickly becoming expert in the preparation of macchiatos for his Granddad and me.

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