Happy New Year 2017!

May your New Year be filled with love and good health!

My holiday season kicked off with the 2016 Advent Tea Calendar theme of "12 Unique Teas from Japan".  Alongside the daily tea reviews, I included an informative post explaining more about each type of tea.  If you're curious, these posts may be found under Tea Appreciation in the top menu.

New Year's Eve was restful and I enjoyed a traditional meal of toshikoshi soba (year-bridging noodles), using up the last of the matcha soba from Itohkyuemon, with a pot of asairi houjicha from Chado Tea House, a gift from Christmas.

Today, I traveled to Tsubaki Grand Shrine for Hatsumoude, the first shrine visit of the New Year. The shrine grounds were especially beautiful covered with snow and the scent of pine and cedar mingling with the scent of roasted chestnuts was invigorating. Returning home, I closed the first day of the New Year with a bowl of matcha and a seasonal wagashi from Tokara called Golden Pine.