Hotel Kabuki Welcome Tea Service Japantown, San Francisco
Quiet your soul, soothe your mind, and enjoy Japanese tradition at the Hotel Kabuki. Just minutes after arriving at the hotel, you will be greeted by our complimentary welcome tea service at your door. Your host will prepare the tea and snacks to your liking and leave you to refresh your spirit.
Our Tea Selections
- Sencha: This classic Japanese green tea is enjoyed daily; emerald colored natural leaves produce its delicate aroma and its smooth flavor.
- Dream Mountain White Cloud: This tea is grown on a famous mountain top, cultivated by Buddhist monks; mild, sweet and fragrant with a soft nut-like flavor, low in caffeine.
- Zen Blend: A soothing infusion of fancy Dragonwell green tea, lemon grass, and ginger root; a perfect balance between cooling lemon grass and warming ginger.
- Forest Mint: A refreshing blend of Sonoma coast farm-grown and forest mints; a good post-meal stomach settler or mid-afternoon palate cleanser.
Japanese Tea History
The first tea seeds were brought to Japan by Zen Buddhist priest Yeisei. This was the beginning of a new tea culture. Tea drinking was elevated to an art form with the creation of the tea ceremony known as "Cha-no-yu" and Japan’s attachment to tea continues to this day with some of the finest green teas in the world.
The Basic Tea Ceremony
The basic principles of the Japanese tea ceremony are expressed in the words of Wa Kei Sei Jaku (harmony, respect, purity and tranquility).
In Japan, green tea is drunk everywhere and at any time of the day. Unlike English tea, Japanese green tea is served in cups without a handle and is never drunk with sugar or cream. The most polite way of drinking green tea is to hold the cup with one hand and support it from below with the other hand.
If no meal is served as part of the tea, the host proceeds directly to the serving of small sweets. Traditionally, sweets are eaten from special paper called kaishi, which each guest carries, often in a decorative wallet tucked into the breast of the kimono.
Then, each utensil—including the tea bowl, whisk, and tea scoop—is ritually cleaned in the presence of the guests in a precise order and using prescribed motions. The utensils are placed in an exact arrangement according to the ritual being performed. When the ritual cleaning and preparation of the utensils is complete, the host will place a measured amount of green tea powder in the bowl and add the appropriate amount of hot water, then whisk the tea using set movements.
The bowl is then served to the guest of honor, either by the host or an assistant. Bows are exchanged between the host and guest of honor. The guest then bows to the second guest, and raises the bowl in a gesture of respect to the host. The guest rotates the bowl to avoid drinking from its front, takes a sip, murmurs the prescribed phrase, and then takes two or three more sips before wiping the rim, rotating the bowl to its original position, and passing it to the next guest with a bow. The procedure is repeated until all guests have taken tea from the same bowl, and the bowl is returned to the host. In some ceremonies, each guest will drink from an individual bowl, but the order of serving and drinking is the same.
After all the guests have taken tea, the host cleans the utensils in preparation for putting them away. The guest of honor will request that the host allow the guests to examine some of the utensils, and each guest in turn examines and admires each item, including the water scoop, the tea caddy, the tea scoop, the tea whisk, and, most importantly, the tea bowl. The items are treated with extreme care and reverence as they may be priceless, irreplaceable, handmade antiques, and guests often use a special brocaded cloth to handle them. The host then collects the utensils, and the guests leave the tea house. The host bows from the door, and the ceremony is over.
