Our instructor was Toshiya Nakabo, a tea master from Kyoto, Japan. His aim is to promote Japanese tea by Maiko Tea, a tea company based in Kyoto. He also wanted to introduce more people to the tea, Gyokuro, which was an expensive and special tea. Toshiya-san said that although he was from Japan, he was not a samurai but a chamurai. He was really friendly and nice so we really enjoyed the workshop.
这一次，我们很荣幸地被邀请参加一堂由Iloha Culture Centre 举办的日本茶工作坊。作为无意识的日本狂的我们，当然不会错过这个难得的机会了！
我们的导师 - 中坊敏也是一位道道地地的日本人，也是一位冲茶达人，他更自称是一位茶道士呢~ 他来自京都的舞妓之茶，这是一家历史悠久的茶铺，他们更是生产了世界第一的上等日本茶 - 玉露。
First, he introduced us to the different types of Japanese tea. The tea leaves / powder here are Sencha, Gyokuro, Matcha, Karigane, Tencha, Genmaicha, Happiness Tea, and Hojicha (from left to right and top to bottom).
首先，中坊老师向我们介绍不同的茶叶，让我们能够更加深入了解日本茶。这些茶叶分别是煎茶、玉露、抹茶、茎茶、碾茶、玄米茶、幸福茶以及焙茶。（由左至右，上至下）
Our instructor also old us about renowned tea master Toshikazu Yamashita who is a master in hand
processing (temomi) and Gyokuro production. Toshikazu Yamashita has won some award and even the Emperor of Japan had visited him.
在这些茶叶里，最主要的是煎茶和玉露，这两种茶叶的不同之处在于它们的种植方式。
煎茶的茶叶曝露在阳光之下，所以它吸收了阳光里的全部养分，味道也偏苦、干。而玉露的新芽长出来后，马上就被遮上了挡阳布，让阳光不会直射在茶叶上。
后者的培育方式所产生的茶叶更是让它夺得了日本第一，同时也是世界第一，的美誉。
玉露的诞生和一位大师有着非常非常密切的关系，那就是 - 山本寿一老师。他的熟练技术让玉露一直保持着上等的品质，稳坐世界第一的宝座。
山本老师也是为数不多能够在日本天皇面前展现手揉茶技术的制茶大师。
Photo took from Maiko Tea website
Matcha and Tencha are practically the same things except for their different form. Tencha is the name for tea leaves used for Matcha before the leaves are ground into fine powder. Tea leaves for Tencha are grown in the same way as Gyokuro, but processed differently than Gyokuro. Matcha on the other hand, are usually made into powder. So unlike the other teas, consumer is able to absorb all the nutrients of Matcha instead of just a part of the nutrients.
As for Genmaicha, green tea that consists mostly of the stem (Karigane) is blended with popped whole-rice (Genmai).
We also have Happiness tea, which consists of Uji Maccha, Karigane tea, Genmai tea and Hokkaido Rishiri Kelp.
Lastly, we have Hojicha is a green tea that consists mostly of the stem (Karigane), which is roasted over a high flame to extract a savory fragrance.
除了煎茶和玉露，老师也向我们介绍了一下几种茶。
茎茶，顾名思义，就是由茶茎所做成的，里面包括了玉露茶茎、煎茶茶茎、茶叶以及茶粉。
碾茶和抹茶是同样的东西，只是形态不一样。简单来说，抹茶是从碾茶磨成粉后得来的。
玄米茶是茎茶加上烘焙过的糙米所组成的，而幸福茶就多了两样材料 - 抹茶粉以及昆布。
至于焙茶，就是由比较低等的玉露和煎茶的茶茎，再经过高温烘焙后所做出来的。
经过中坊老师的解释后，我们才知道原来日本茶有那么多不同的种类以及搭配组合，而这些恰好就成为了日本茶的特色之一。
不同的种植方式、搭配组合、烘焙度所冲出来的茶自然也有各自的迷人之处，我相信无论你是怎样的人，总有一款茶会得到你的欢心。
After we had sufficiently smell, fondle and taste the tea leaves, we began making Gyokuro tea. Gyokuro tea is mean to be enjoyed slowly(sipping and in small portions) and is usually served on special occasions.
Our instructor said that about 8 grams of tea leaves would be sufficient and you could refill the hot water up to 5 times before it began to lose its flavour.
首先，我们要冲泡的是玉露。这可是世界第一的茶叶啊，价钱和价值都是一等一的，他们就真的那么大方让我们试了。
玉露通常只有在特别的日子或招待特别的人的时候，主人家才会拿出来泡给大家喝，大约8公克的茶叶能够冲泡大概5次。而玉露只适合用来慢慢品尝，如果你要大快畅饮的话，我会说你真的很有钱！因为一罐不到300公克的上等玉露就要价将近RM 2000。
We didn't make it from start to finish by ourselves, instead we worked together in a group with other people. I can understand this because this tea is freaking expensive. If you are interested in how to make Gyokuro tea, click here.
Our instructor said that the best temperature for this tea would be around 40°C, which would bring out the sweet taste of the tea. He told us that the hotter the water, the more bitter this tea would be.
大约8克的茶叶可以冲泡4杯左右，也可以加水冲泡多达5次。每一次的味道都会有所不同，而依照个人口味，茶叶更可以冲泡多过5次。
据中坊老师所说，最适合泡茶的水温是40°C左右，这个温度正好能够将茶叶的甜味泡出来。别以为热水一定适合哦，因为越热的水所泡出来的茶反而越苦呢！
After a long process, this is the amount of Gyokuro tea we got for the first round. This is my cup and there's four of us in the group so you do the math.
我们在老师的指导下，终于泡了第一杯茶啦~ 分量真的只有很少！
I have to say Gyokuro tea did not taste like tea at all. I was surprised when I took a sip because it tasted like soup than tea. It feels like Dashi (a type of Japanese soup) or like herbal chicken soup.
The instructor also said that we can eat the leaves because we only absorbed a small percentage of nutrients from the tea and the rest were still in the tea leaves. However, he also warned us that not all tea leave were edible.
玉露真的尝起来一点都不像茶，反而像是以茶叶为底汤的鸡汤。这让我感到很惊艳，因为我从来就没有想象过茶叶会有这样的味道。
而且玉露的茶叶是可以吃的，老师说茶里所含有的营养只有少量，而冲泡后的茶叶还保留大部分的营养，所以吃茶叶也等于说把营养都吃进去了。但是，并不是所有的茶叶都能吃哦~
After making Gyokuro, we moved on to Matcha. I think most of you would know Matcha since it is the most popular tea in Japan. This time we all got to make our own bowl by ourselves. These are the tools we got to use to make Matcha. To learn how to make Matcha, click here.
品尝了玉露的奇妙之处后，我们就继续学怎么冲泡一碗美味的抹茶啦~
就如我们在漫画或其他日本相关节目时看到，冲泡抹茶的工具就是这几种了。
老师教导我们正确的冲泡方式以及饮用方式，也告诉我们几点颇为重要的抹茶知识。
Surprisingly, I did well. This was my end product. It was very smooth and not bitter at all. When enjoying Matcha, our instructor said that the Japanese would enjoy it with some sweets so he prepared some Matcha chocolate for us.
成品就是下面那样啦~ 有一层泡沫在上面，喝起来非常顺口，而且一点也不苦。享用抹茶时，日本人通常都会搭配一些甜点，这次老师也为我们准备了抹茶巧克力。
除了正常的喝茶之外，我们还能够在茶上画点东西，增加喝茶的乐趣呢~
As I previously mentioned, we both had a lot of fun at the workshop. So if you're interested to try the workshop for yourself, click here.
这堂课让我们学到了很多新的知识，也更加了解日本的品茶文化。这更加是一个很难得的经验，我和倩雯都非常开心能够来这一趟。
We would once again like to thank Iloha Culture Centre for inviting us to their workshop and recommend you try the workshop yourself.
再一次的，我们很感谢Iloha Culture Centre 的邀请。如果你们对日本文化或日本菜肴有兴趣的话，可以来看看他们提供的课程哦~
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