103

7/29/09. I experienced Seattle's record-breaking moment. Heatwave hit Seattle and the temperature recorded 103 degree!! Yesterday was the hottest day in Seattle's history.

In Shizuoka, where our teas come from, rainy season isn't over yet, so it's hot and humid. The temperature is about 95 degree and humidity is about 80%. During this season, temperature inside of our tea factory gets very high if the roasting process is in progress. It will be 115 degree or sometimes more. My father and brother bear up under this extremely hot working environment to make gourmet green tea.

As many of you already know, tea leaves are weak against heat. So please do not store your tea under the direct sunlight and idealy store in a fridge.

Portland Japanese Garden

I will go to Portland Japanese Garden on this comming Saturday, July 25th to have a tea demonstlation. I'm going to make some iced tea samples as well as hot teas with introducing Japanese tea culture. If you live near Portland, please stop by.

Here is more detail.

http://www.japanesegarden.com/events/behind-the-shoji#tea