Let’s have Tea For Two, Zojirushi style. When you brew a cup of tea, especially green tea, you need to pay attention to the temperature of the hot water to get the most flavor out of your tea leaves. Don’t just boil the water and drop in a tea bag—brew with tender loving care. This Valentine’s Day, have the perfect cup of tea with the perfect sweet dessert and celebrate a perfect day!
Japanese teas come in many flavors and varieties, each with its own distinctive personality. To brew the leaves the right way, the temperature of the water is critical. Zojirushi water boilers come with precise temperature settings that allow you to brew tea the way it was meant to be prepared.
A very high quality tea characterized by its sweet and less astringent, delicate flavor. It has a brighter green color than sencha and must be brewed at lower temperatures.
The well renowned special tea used for chado, the Japanese tea ceremony. It is now widely used as flavoring in cakes, ice cream, candy and a variety of sweets.
Sencha is the most popular type of tea in Japan. It is characterized by its well balanced aroma, astringency and bitterness, along with notes of sweetness and umami.
Made by roasting its tea leaves, houjicha is a robust brownish colored tea that has a fragrant aroma and crisp taste. The ideal tea for those who prefer less bitterness.
What do you pair with Japanese tea? It may be obvious, but a Japanese sweet like adzuki beans is the perfect complement to the delicate and aromatic quality of our teas. If you’ve never tried the red bean paste known as adzuki paste, give it a go and experience all the different types of desserts that use this ingredient to make our authentic, traditional Japanese tea snacks.
Ohagi is a seasonal snack made with mochi rice and either coated with red bean paste or filled with adzuki. Unlike mochi, the rice isn’t pounded but left in its rice grain form.
A bread bun filled with adzuki, the Japanese an-pan is a timeless snack that can be found in bakeries, convenience stores and school lunches everywhere.
Best described as a pancake sandwich filled with adzuki, the dorayaki also comes in variations like custard pudding or strawberry filling, and the popular matcha pancakes.
Mushi Manjyu is a steamed dumpling style of bread dessert filled with adzuki paste, also known as anko. According to preference you can use koshian (smooth) or tsubuan (coarse).
With tea being an important part of our Japanese diet, the need for hot water has always been present at the home. Zojirushi has led the way with hot water products since our early years, and we’ve continued to adjust to the times as we think about convenience, changing lifestyles and energy consumption.
The Air Pot® makes its debut. It is the first product that can dispense hot water without having to lift or tilt the container. The non-electric pump button system is still in use all over Japan today.
The first electric Air Pot® is introduced. Hot water is now able to boil within the pot and stay warm with thermal technology. It became a necessary appliance in every home, where people drink tea every day.
The VE (Vacuum-Electric) water boiler & warmer uses a hybrid system that allows water to be kept warm with minimal electricity, showing our commitment to saving energy and to environmental awareness.
The “Mimamori Hotline Pot” was a way to safeguard the elderly and persons in rural areas by monitoring their usage of their water boilers. Community service has always been important to the Zojirushi way.
Next to water, tea is the most consumed beverage in the world--and black tea is the most popular tea, accounting for about 75% of the total. Green tea might be the favorite in Japan and China, but black tea is king in the UK, Europe and the U.S., where 80% is iced tea. For all our black tea fans, let’s celebrate your favorite brew!
How would you pair a Western dessert with black tea? Since black teas are more robust and stronger than green tea, there’s nothing like a fudgy brownie to go with a steamy hot cup of black tea. Try these from Zojirushi!
Fruity pies also go well with tea. This Valentine’s you can make these simple hand pies and have afternoon tea. You can even make meat pies in place of sandwiches just to be different. Your partner will appreciate the creativity!
Which do you pour into a cup first, the tea or the milk? Although the answer may seem obvious to us, back in the day the British, who love milk with their tea, would pour milk first to protect delicate porcelain from cracking. Many still do it.
The Tea Bag
The invention of the tea bag is surprisingly credited to an American tea merchant, Thomas Sullivan, who used silk bags to hold samples. Buyers mistakenly dumped the whole bag into the water, and the rest is tea history.
Electric water boilers are useful in many ways that would not occur to you unless you happen to own one. These are a few of the ways they are used in most Japanese homes, but one under-appreciated quality of the water boiler is how safe they are—you never have to use the stove nor do you ever have to lift it to pour. All you need is one finger to push the button.
Beyond just green tea, strict control of water temperatures is vital to getting the most out of black teas and herbal teas, which benefit greatly from the brewing at their ideal hot water temperature.
If you’re a pourover coffee person, imagine being able to get hot water at your fingertips without having to put the kettle on. This benefit is invaluable for those sleepy weekdays.
Instant foods like ramen, soups, oatmeal, even hot chocolate; when the craving hits or if you’re just in a rush, why wouldn’t you want instant hot water to make your instant snack?
Gelatin desserts get easier when you have the hot water you need readily available. More ideas that use our water boiler can be found on our recipe page—take a look and get inspired!
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