I first met Jonathan Braun about 12 years ago while he was playing hauntingly beautiful classical guitar at a friend’s house. Soon afterward I saw some examples of his exquisite finish carpentry and prowess with all things mechanical, including some shockingly beautiful copper handrails that have be
Hardcore matcha drinkers in Quincy, Illinois? The town is on fire with matcha drinkers, and their leader is Michele Wilkerson. Michele is the dynamo behind Grown-n-Gathered, a thriving storefront, yoga studio, and farmers market rolled into one. She has done an astounding job introducing concepts co
The thicker you make matcha, the more intense the inherent flavors and qualities of that tea become. So if you're using truly excellent tea, making it in the ultrathick style can be a sublime experience; there is nothing on earth quite like this warm, viscous, brothy, vegetal concoction. This is es
Can joy be consciously and reliably summoned, almost at will? What if it turned out that feeling joy on a regular basis strengthens the immune system? Would that be a reason to try to cultivate it daily? What if joy also was key to developing healthy relationships with people? Does it boost fortitud
I've had a long personal history with the practice of meditation. The very first efforts were self-guided attempts in my early teens, spurred on by my rapt readings (for better or worse!) of people like Jack Kerouac, Tom Wolfe, Henry Miller, Kurt Vonegut, and many more. Just a formal closing of the
When Daphne was a toddler, she loved to scream, DAPHNE WABI-SABI GOWER!! and laugh herself into a frenzy on the floor. I think I must have been re-reading Leonard Koren’s magnificent book, Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets, and Philosophers, for the umpteenth time during her toddlerhood. Now s
Matcha is one of those beverages that invites lingering of all sorts. If it’s good, the taste lingers on the palate for 30, 60, even 120 seconds and beyond. The longer the finish, the better the quality. But matcha also invites a less-literal lingering. It’s almost impossible to be in a rush when yo
It’s no secret that we–like many of you–adore really I was interviewed by the wonderful folks from Tea People about matcha. As part of the same podcast they also interviewed Tom Decker, a Berkeley-based ceramicist, ceramics instructor, and tea lover, who said a lot of interesting and, to me, deeply
A number of people have recently asked me why we refer to our matcha as “blends.” What, exactly, is blended? First, there is nothing in any of our matcha except matcha green tea. No fillers, no sweeteners, no additives of any kind. It’s 100 percent green tea, and nothing else. So what’s blended? We
