Nara: Mindful Tasting of 5 Japanese Teas and Tea Ceremony

• Taste five carefully chosen teas, all grown in Nara - poured one after another so you can follow how aroma, flavour and depth of roast change between them. • Step into the stillness of a traditional Japanese house - a machiya in Naramachi, where a tatami tea room sits behind lattice doors and shoji screens. • Learn the basics of the ceremony and the thinking behind it, in a group small enough that you can stop and ask a question at any point. • Taught step by step: an explanation first, then practice with hot water, then the bowl you make for yourself. • Whisk matcha with your own hands and leave knowing how it is done, rather than having watched someone else do it. • See how a chasen is made - roughly 95% of Japan's handmade tea whisks come from Takayama in Nara, a short way from this room. • Ask your Nara-born host where to go next before you leave - the shops and lanes that no guidebook lists.

Compare five Nara-grown teas side by side, then move into the ceremony itself - from knowing tea to whisking a bowl of it, in one line. You do not simply learn the etiquette; you taste your bowl knowing the thinking behind omotenashi and the utensils. Nara makes Japan's tea whisks, and you take that home too. 1. You step into a machiya in Naramachi, where a host in kimono welcomes you into a tatami room lit through shoji. 2. Five Nara-grown teas are laid out side by side. Tasting them in turn, you explore each through aroma, flavour and roast. 3. Next, the basic etiquette and the thinking behind it - how to bow, how to handle the utensils. A seasonal wagashi (traditional Japanese sweet) is served, enjoyed by eye before tongue. 4. Your host whisks a bowl for you; take time with the scent, colour and finish. We then talk about the culture tea has shaped, and omotenashi at the centre of it. 5. Choose the bowl you like, warm your hands with hot water, then whisk your own matcha. 6. We show you how a chasen is made in Takayama in Nara, the source of some 95% of Japan's handmade tea whisks. 7. If you like, your Nara-born host will point you to shops and lanes no guidebook lists.

• Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.