Friday, May 27, 2011

"Shizuoka Shincha (New Tea) Has Arrived!"

(UPDATE) A customer representative at the tea merchant answered my email and said "It was picked and processed mid April to early May." So that was before they tested for radioactive iodine and cesium.

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That was a cheerful e-mail message this morning from a Japanese tea merchant that I had bought from in the past.

In light of what has transpired in Shizuoka - radioactive cesium detected in raw tea leaves and the finished, blended tea, governor refuses to test the bulk tea (aracha), and promise by the prefecture's tea merchants to aggressively market Shizuoka tea in cooperation with the prefectural government - I'll pass.

For those interested in tasting the fresh brew of Shizuoka tea, 3-oz loose leaf tea in a canister can be had for $40. Here's the link:

http://www.itoen.com/loose-leaf-tea/shizuoka-superior-shincha-tin.html

4 comments:

FranSix said...

At least the water you use to brew the tea won't become irradiated.

Anonymous said...

You passed on a nice opportunity to verify the news, I think.

nika said...

irradiated is different than contaminated. things can be (and many are) gamma irradiated to kill food spoiling organisms but the food is not contaminated - simply bombarded by gamma particles.

the tea mentioned here is both irradiated and contaminated - drinking/eating it will result in internal exposure and contamination

FranSix said...

Yes, yes, I know. It was a sarcastic comment.

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