Matcha Workshop: Introduction to Japanese Tea Culture

Please sign up for one session only!
Matcha has grown in popularity in the US in recent years and more and more people are now enjoying matcha and/or matcha flavored drinks and/or sweets. Many people however still don’t know how to savor matcha of fine quality in the authentic way, as originated in the tradition of Japanese tea ceremony, or Chanoyu, over 400 years. The workshop has three parts:

First, participants will first learn about matcha and Japanese tea culture through a quick lecture. They will also learn a traditional manner of drinking matcha with a matcha tea bowl.
Second, they will watch a demonstration of the tea ceremony. If they want, participants can join as guests of the demonstration.
Last, but not least, participants will have a hands-on lesson about how to make a bowl of matcha with traditional tea utensils, and they will taste their own matcha with Japanese traditional sweets.

The workshop will introduce the tradition of Japanese tea culture, including the spirit of mindfulness and mutual respect as inseparable elements of Japanese tea ceremony, and participants will experience an authentic way of making and drinking matcha.

We will start at 12:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. sharp respectively. Please arrive 5-10 minutes earlier. If you have food allergy concerns, please let us know beforehand. Seats are limited. Please register for one session only.

About the instructor – Izumi Onishi, Ph.D. – Izumi, a native of Japan, is a certified instructor of Japanese tea ceremony, and has been practicing tea ceremony for 22 years. Izumi teaches tea ceremony classes and holds tea ceremony events at Nippon Club in Manhattan and other various venues. Izumi also has taught undergraduate and graduate courses such as (intercultural) communication, language, and research methodology in colleges in Japan and the USA.; she incorporates her expertise in tea ceremony into her attempt of deepening and expanding students’ understanding of Japanese culture and intercultural communication.

Please register on our online calendar for one session only.
Our programs are supported by the Friends of the Somers Library through our patrons’ generous contributions.
The Somers Library ~ (914) 232-5717 ~ www.somerslibrary.org