muji – Michael Pieracci

Different notebooks used through the years. Personal notes, work notes, doodles, ideas, all while at home in SF and Berlin, as well as during traveling. The brown ones are from MUJI. The black one was purchased in 2009 in Berlin.

Comparing leaves of white and black teas from the same region in China. A typical weekend morning for me.

Tea while out and about

Taking tea with me has been an excellent addition to my time spent in German class. The process of pouring a cup is a nice way to enhance the learning environment.

My thermos is from MUJI. It’s simple and attractive with it’s stainless steel body and off-white cup and lid.

But what tea to brew? Through the years I’ve figured out teas that work well in a thermos. Consider the conditions inside: hot water remains hot, same water keeps steeping the same tea, all for hours and hours. Some teas perform better than others.

Teas for the thermos — use less than you think so as to avoid becoming too strong and loosing all aroma. I’ve found these teas both flavorful and forgiving to the thermos environment:

Chinese Greens
Oolongs
Black Yunnans
Ceylons

Teas not good for the thermos — these are generally more fragile and steeping time must be halted to really enjoy the tea. Save these teas for home brewing:

Japanese Greens
Most whites
Darjeelings

Keep experimenting with types of tea, the amount, and water temperature. You’ll find teas that work well for you.

MUJI San Francisco on Flickr.

MUJI Comes to San Francisco

I am SO excited MUJI is coming to San Francisco. Their location in SOMA opens Friday November 30 at 11am.

What’s surprising is that San Francisco gets one before Los Angeles. Something so international-exotique tends to come to SF last. Their other US locations are in New York.

How to describe MUJI if you haven’t been? It’s the Japanese versions of IKEA and Target. Everything they make is simple, satisfying, beautiful, plain.

I’ve visited:

Shinjuku, Tokyo 2009