There are certain drinks dieticians recommend not to consume on an empty stomach: alcohol, espresso and – apparently – Maccha green tea.
In fact, Maccha tea is so strong that participants in Sunday’s tea ceremony at McCormick Auditorium were advised to eat before coming to the event.
Visiting professor Shozo Sato hosted the event to celebrate the arrival of spring and make the traditional tea ceremony accessible to Western audiences who do not have access to traditional tea houses, said Sato. Sato, a Zen arts master, has received the highest honor in Japanese art from the emperor of Japan.
About 75 Northwestern students and community members attended the two-hour event, sponsored by the Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Program, to sample what Sato called the “espresso of green teas.”
“I hope everyone got to taste it so that the next time they taste green teas, they remember what the original was like,” Sato said.
Lisa Wang said she was impressed both by Sato’s knowledge and his “willingness to share” the tea ceremony rituals with such a large audience.
“The ceremony was about the appreciation of the small things and quality, not about quantity like it is here,” the Weinberg freshman said.
The event began with a brief lecture about the history and rituals of the tea ceremony. In a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, the presentation of the tea allows people to experience the drink with “all five senses,” Sato said. Every detail of the ceremony, even the sound of the pouring water, is deliberate to ensure the ritual is as pleasant as possible for participants, he said.
Participants sampled a famous Japanese sweet made from sea kelp and passed around a bowl of the flavorful tea.
Maccha tea, which comes in powder form, is a darker and more vibrant shade of green than the mass-produced green teas sold in American grocery stores. Most participants said the tea could not be compared to anything else they had ever tasted.Patricia Bryan, a Skokie resident who attended the ceremony with a friend, found the tea unique and enjoyable.
“My initial impression was that it was very earthy, raw and natural, but very gentle and refreshing,” she said. “It actually tastes green; seeing the color really enhanced the taste.”
Weinberg freshman Thea Klein-Mayer said she was surprised by the texture and thickness of the tea.
“If I hadn’t been told what it was first, I wouldn’t have guessed it was tea,” she said.
Klein-Mayer also said she was especially impressed by the aesthetics of the ceremony, such as the deliberate, graceful presentation and the glazed bowls in which the tea was served.
Sato is a visiting professor from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who is currently teaching two courses at NU – one on calligraphy and the other on the history and practice of traditional Chinese and Japanese ink painting. He conducts workshops in Europe, Asia and the United States on tea ceremony and other Zen arts.
His past NU demonstrations have always been well-attended due to a great interest in Asian art and culture on campus, Sato said.
“Our lifestyle is instantaneous with the computer and Web sites, and as much as people can become a little bit informed about the arts, they all want to know more,” he said. “On the Internet they can’t ask or taste, so I do this for the students and the public.”
