Delight of the day: Kukicha

I recently have got a new Japanese - style kettle and cups and I was so eager to use them! I and my hubby love trying various types of teas. He likes particularly Indian spiced tea while I prefer light ones. However, infusing tea leaves such a pleasant scent in your room, doesn't it?

Today I'd like to introduce you a particular green tea called "kukicha"; a Japanese blend made of stems, stalks and twigs. Kukicha has a unique flavour and aroma among teas, due to its being composed of parts of tea plants that are excluded from most other teas. It's mild and slightly sweet. It's recommended to steep into hot water at around 80 °c for 8 - 10 minutes. Kukicha is special because it's naturally very low in caffeine without any industrial decaffeination (because of the very long drying process) and for this reason, it's also suitable for kids.

A New Year bliss

The holidays finished. I've been absent from the blog, not because I was too busy in partying or making a trip but because we've been sick for the last half of the holidays! My boy began to get sick on the last day of the year 2012 and it did take time for him to recover, poor him! And guess what, we've got the same symptoms now. We might not have such a great beginning of the new year, however that's not a tragic thing.

Before Christmas, I've got a parcel from one of my dearest friends from Bangkok. When I opened it, I just said "Wow!". She was so kind to send me a box full of delicious sweets (all my favorite ones since childhood) and a pack of amazing jasmine tea as a New Year gift. I said "amazing" because it really is. Those dried flowers, apart from their delicate taste and wonderful scent, are like magic. When they open in hot water, they look like a piece of art. I aprreciated the tea a lot in this moment that I've got a terrible cold and sorethroat. I felt very relieved. I'm going to show you a picture, but I'm sorry that it's impossible to trasmit its aroma through the picture.

I must admit that the poor tiny cup doesn't present the flower in the best way. It's the only cup I have at the moment that let see what there is inside. I've had some of it and you know...it made my day ^_*