October this year is a challenging month for me. There’s a lot going on! A lot of it is happy: several of my friends are getting married. The most difficult part, though, is that in a week I will need to travel a long distance to move my mother to be closer to her family. I’ve been on the edge of being overwhelmed many times, but thankfully I have been able to find many moments of peace and joy, like this morning’s cup of tea.
A gentle pot of Tamanohikari Gyokuro from Horaido in Kyoto (I’ve written about them before). Their Teramachi Shijo stall in Nishiki Market has been there for a very long time and recently got an upgrade. When we were walking around the market to find it, we saw the new shop but totally thought it was something else and went right by! I said to myself, “that’s an interesting looking spot but I want to find Horaido first.” It was only a few minutes later that we stopped and realized our mistake: it was the same place we had visited five years ago, just more fancy!
I’ve always been impressed by their tea and they had several Gyokuro options available. We ended up getting two and today I decided to open the first.
In the cup, this is sweet and mellow, with an umami that lingers without punching you in the face. Perfect to calm the mind and celebrate Fall. I hope all of your Octobers slow down and give you a moment of peace.
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