Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Savor Prediction of iHeartRadio. I'm Annie
Speaker 1: Reese and I'm Lauren.
Speaker 2: Vogelbaum, and today we have an episode for you about
Speaker 2: chatake mushrooms.
Speaker 3: Yes, and it is a fun one. Oh yeah. Yes.
Speaker 3: Was there any particular reason this was on your mind?
Speaker 2: Lord, Nope, nope. I was just kind of looking for
Speaker 2: episode ideas and realized that we hadn't done any about
Speaker 2: mushrooms in a really long time, and I always want
Speaker 2: to talk about fun guy, so yes. And then you
Speaker 2: pointed out that it ties in perfectly with the release
Speaker 2: of the Last of Us Season.
Speaker 1: Two, Yes, which was hilarious because the Last of Us
Speaker 1: Part two is my favorite game of all time. I
Speaker 1: almost suggested a mushroom topic to you, but I was like,
Speaker 1: my fan, I'm pushing my.
Speaker 3: Fandom too hard. And then you suggested this, and I
Speaker 3: was like, well, there we go, right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it might have premiered in the past by
Speaker 2: the time you're listening to this. I don't know when
Speaker 2: this is publishing or when you're listening, but here we are. Yes,
Speaker 2: and I am very excited about it.
Speaker 3: I am too, Ah.
Speaker 1: I do love hit take mushrooms. I use them pretty frequently.
Speaker 1: I have to say, I remember exactly the first time
Speaker 1: I heard about them, though, and it was in the
Speaker 1: two thousand, two thousand and one.
Speaker 3: Movies by Kids.
Speaker 1: Okay, I haven't seen that movie since it was in theaters,
Speaker 1: which tells you how impactful this joke was to me.
Speaker 1: But to get around saying the S word, they said,
Speaker 1: holy chittake mushrooms wow, And I just remember it, and
Speaker 1: that was the first time I had heard of them,
Speaker 1: and I was like, I gotta try these.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, sure, yeah.
Speaker 2: That's amazing, well well known, well known film Spy Kids
Speaker 2: a culinary influence in ways that we never previously.
Speaker 3: Indeed, indeed, well you can.
Speaker 2: See other episodes like we have a general mushroom episode.
Speaker 2: We've also done specific episodes on Chantarell's and morals and truffles. Also,
Speaker 2: we talk about in some of our Ashville episodes and
Speaker 2: have some tape in there from this truly magical, no
Speaker 2: drug pun intended mushroom walk that we went on with
Speaker 2: a forager by the name of Alan when we were
Speaker 2: in Ashville and weird lovely day it was.
Speaker 1: It was fun to revisit that memory. I haven't thought
Speaker 1: about that in a while, but I so I was
Speaker 1: doing this research and I was like, Oh, what a
Speaker 1: wonder full time that was.
Speaker 2: It was just we were very stressed out and had
Speaker 2: a very full schedule, and this nice fellow just took
Speaker 2: us on the longest foraging walk that we could possibly
Speaker 2: conceive of, and it was so delightful.
Speaker 3: It was. It was really delightful.
Speaker 2: As soon as we got over the fact that we
Speaker 2: were like, we're meeting a stranger in the woods.
Speaker 1: Yes, let's do it. It all worked out, it really did.
Speaker 1: But I guess this brings us to our question. Sure,
Speaker 1: chatake mushrooms, what are they?
Speaker 2: Well, Chatake mushrooms are a type of mushroom that grows
Speaker 2: a brown cap with a creamy white gills underneath on
Speaker 2: a sort of medium sized stem. They're kind of savory,
Speaker 2: earthy in flavor, and chewy toothsome in texture when they're cooked,
Speaker 2: which they should be by the way. They can be
Speaker 2: cooked though, anyway that you like them, roasted or grilled,
Speaker 2: or maybe simmered in a soup or stew, and they'll
Speaker 2: really soak up any sauces or other flavoring that you
Speaker 2: cook them with. They can also be dried and or
Speaker 2: you know, dried and powdered, whereupon their flavor is kind
Speaker 2: of concentrated and intensified to something very savory and maybe
Speaker 2: a little bit funky. Uh. Dried take can be reconstituted
Speaker 2: for cooking with pretty much as usual, or used to
Speaker 2: make broth, to add like a savory flavor to all
Speaker 2: kinds of things. They're they're a good, strong mushroom, like
Speaker 2: a like a stern, like a studious mushroom, like a
Speaker 2: like like a firm handshake. There's something satisfying about it,
Speaker 2: you know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I like that take knows what it's about.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: It's confident, yeah yeah, yeah, puts you at ease and
Speaker 1: it's confidence right right.
Speaker 2: It's not like some of those mushy mushrooms, you know.
Speaker 3: No, not the shatake.
Speaker 2: And I should say here that when we say chatake,
Speaker 2: we mean specifically a species called Lentinula a dotes. I
Speaker 2: didn't look up how to say that. We're just gonna
Speaker 2: roll with it. But there are other species within the genus.
Speaker 2: Currently nine are recognized, and they're also sometimes called chatake.
Speaker 2: They're different species that grow natively across Asia and the Americas.
Speaker 2: We'll get into that in the history section a little bit,
Speaker 2: but yes, so mushrooms I love a fungus. Fungi are
Speaker 2: biologically fascinating because they have a bunch of features that
Speaker 2: are plant like, but also a bunch of features that
Speaker 2: are animal like, so you know, like a plant, they
Speaker 2: grow from sort of seed type structures called spores and
Speaker 2: develop a root like system called mycelium in whatever medium
Speaker 2: they're growing in. In Chatake's case, they like growing in
Speaker 2: dead hardwood like a fallen trees or cut logs or
Speaker 2: even sawdust. But unlike a plant, they can't photosynthesize. They
Speaker 2: get energy by excreting digestive enzymes and then absorbing nutrients
Speaker 2: from compounds that those enzymes break down, in this case
Speaker 2: in wood. They also breathe oxygen and release carbon dioxide
Speaker 2: like we do. And also their cells grow like plants,
Speaker 2: but they do contain kiten, which is an animal cell thing.
Speaker 2: I've said it before, I will say it again, WTF nature.
Speaker 2: But anyway, when ash take fungus has a good mycolium
Speaker 2: structure going on, it will put off fruiting bodies that
Speaker 2: is mushrooms, which are what produce the spores, and start
Speaker 2: the cycle all over again. They do grow wild people
Speaker 2: also cultivate them a few different ways, like drilling holes
Speaker 2: and logs and placing a culture of my cilium strands
Speaker 2: in there. It's called spawn. You can also spawn them
Speaker 2: on sawdust blocks. Left to their own devices, chataki will
Speaker 2: fruit a couple times a year for a few years running,
Speaker 2: though they can be shocked with cold water to induce
Speaker 2: fruiting more frequently. Shockey mushrooms can range in size from
Speaker 2: about three to six sish inches in diameter across the cap.
Speaker 2: When they're ready for harvest, it's like seven to fourteen
Speaker 2: centimeters or so. The stock is tougher in texture than
Speaker 2: the cap and the little skinnier than the stock on
Speaker 2: like a like like button mushrooms. So depending on your
Speaker 2: your tastes for toughness, they could be sliced thin or
Speaker 2: maybe saved to make stock something tasty like that.
Speaker 1: Mm yes, yes, yes, yes, Oh, and I guess I
Speaker 1: should specify for people who don't know the last of us.
Speaker 1: What causes the infection is corteous EPs is a fungus.
Speaker 3: That's why it's related.
Speaker 1: So very cool, also kind of kind of potential for freakiness.
Speaker 3: Yeah, love it.
Speaker 2: Okay, So how about the nutrition by themselves? Ushtake are
Speaker 2: pretty good for you, you know, good punch of fiber,
Speaker 2: bunch of minerals other micronutrients, pair with a fat and
Speaker 2: protein to help keep you going. They are being investigated
Speaker 2: for all kinds of possible health benefits. I am personally
Speaker 2: exhausted by the amount of breathless, slightly scienceless press that
Speaker 2: mushrooms have been getting over the past couple of years.
Speaker 2: But you know savor motto. Before ingesting medicinal quantities of anything,
Speaker 2: you should consult a medical professional who is not us,
Speaker 2: because bodies are complicated and more research needs to be done.
Speaker 1: Yes.
Speaker 2: Also note here the reason that I said that you
Speaker 2: should cook sh take is that eating them uncooked can
Speaker 2: cause this toxic reaction in some people that causes a
Speaker 2: really gnarly rash among other symptoms. It's only like two
Speaker 2: percent of people. Still, why take that risk? Just cook them?
Speaker 2: It's tasty.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, Well, we do have some numbers for you.
Speaker 2: Chatake are the second most cultivated mushroom in the world
Speaker 2: after like white button portobello mushrooms, I believe, accounting for
Speaker 2: some twenty two percent of global mushroom production. Dan, I know, right.
Speaker 2: Monetary numbers can be so weird, so okay. As of
Speaker 2: twenty twenty two, ish I read that global sales of
Speaker 2: chatake mushrooms hit seventy nine million dollars, maybe because I
Speaker 2: also saw numbers higher by a whole factor of ten,
Speaker 2: so who knows. I don't know either way. It seems
Speaker 2: like China produces most of the world's supply, like somewhere
Speaker 2: over eighty percent, and that South Korea and the United
Speaker 2: States buy the most. For a long time, dried has
Speaker 2: been the largest market segment, but fresh has been catching
Speaker 2: up and is maybe edging it out a little bit recently.
Speaker 2: They can get pricey in the United States. Chatake can
Speaker 2: range from around eight to eighteen dollars a pound, depending
Speaker 2: on how labor intensively they are harvested and or grown.
Speaker 2: But there is a premium type out of Japan called
Speaker 2: the white flower chatake I believe for the way that
Speaker 2: the skin on the on the caps splits and appears
Speaker 2: to be sort of flower like, and wild harvested ones
Speaker 2: of those can go for one hundred and sixty dollars
Speaker 2: a pound.
Speaker 3: Wow, yeah, well, listeners, let us know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, oh man, I want to know about your very
Speaker 2: fancy shatake mushroom adventures.
Speaker 1: Yes, I did see some tourists, like definitely in Japan,
Speaker 1: but I even saw them around the world, Like you
Speaker 1: can go visit Chatake farms and stuff, so.
Speaker 3: Let us know, yeah, anything like that.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, absolutely, And they do have a really interesting history.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, and we are going to get into that
Speaker 2: as soon as we get back from a quick break
Speaker 2: for a word from our sponsors.
Speaker 3: And we're back. Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you. Okay.
Speaker 1: Disclaimer before we start, as kind of mentioned, there's some
Speaker 1: taxonomic confusion with the chatak to the point that there's
Speaker 1: actual research being done into it now over what people
Speaker 1: were talking about, what exactly people were talking about over
Speaker 1: the years.
Speaker 2: So it's one of those fun things. It's one of
Speaker 2: those fun things about especially something already kind of weird
Speaker 2: and tricksy like mushrooms. Yes, where you're just like, oh,
Speaker 2: is this what we've been talking about? Wait, what are
Speaker 2: you talking about? Like yeah, and a lot of that
Speaker 2: scientifically has been going on.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's actually really interesting and you have any interest
Speaker 1: in it, I recommend looking it up because people are
Speaker 1: looking into it, they're talking about it. Oh yeah, fascinating stuff.
Speaker 1: But it does make tracing the history for researchers and
Speaker 1: does podcasters a little difficult.
Speaker 3: Okay.
Speaker 1: That being said, the most common ancestor of the chatak
Speaker 1: dates back as far as thirty million years, but some
Speaker 1: put it way further back than that. Wild chatakes are
Speaker 1: indigenous to modern day East Asia, though new research widens
Speaker 1: the area to Asia Australasia and also suggests that perhaps
Speaker 1: separate lineages originated in the Americas and Madagascar. That is
Speaker 1: where the taxonomic confusion comes in. Okay, Anyway, before cultivation,
Speaker 1: chatake were convenient for folks to harvest because once you
Speaker 1: found a place and harvested, the mushrooms would generally spread,
Speaker 1: growing more mushrooms in the same spot.
Speaker 3: So if you found a spot, you're doing well. Mm hm.
Speaker 1: And then at one point during the seven hundreds CE
Speaker 1: in Japan, people figured out that shatakes would grow on
Speaker 1: the cutlogs of the she tree.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that the name shatake comes from she as in
Speaker 2: this type of hardwood evergreen tree that's related to like
Speaker 2: beeches and oaks that's common in East Asia, and take
Speaker 2: being a Japanese word for mushroom.
Speaker 1: Yes, which, by the way, I had a very work
Speaker 1: based panic dream.
Speaker 3: Oh no, where I was like, wait, it is my.
Speaker 1: Whole outline wrong? Am I being redundant by saying shittake mushrooms?
Speaker 1: And I looked it up and it's like, yes, but
Speaker 1: people do it.
Speaker 2: So yeah. And also I personally, when you're talking about
Speaker 2: the actual mushroom, it's I don't know, like it's weird
Speaker 2: with fung guy, if you're referring to like the fruiting
Speaker 2: body versus the mycelium. Anyway, Yeah, yeah, yes, but no
Speaker 2: that I did.
Speaker 3: I did look into it. But listeners again, right in,
Speaker 3: right in.
Speaker 1: Historians will leave that chtacks were first cultivated in China
Speaker 1: between eleven hundred to one thousand CE, where these mushrooms
Speaker 1: were highly regarded both culinarily and medicinally.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Also, this makes them one of the oldest cultivated mushrooms.
Speaker 1: And I also realized, Lauren, we haven't talked about aphrodisiacs
Speaker 1: in a while.
Speaker 3: You know, we haven't done that in a while.
Speaker 1: But I did see in some places that it was
Speaker 1: used as an afrodisiac. But I didn't particularly trust any
Speaker 1: of those places, but I did see it.
Speaker 2: So yeah, Okay, I mean you can probably assume that
Speaker 2: literally everything we've ever talked about has been pointed to
Speaker 2: as an aphrodisiac at some point.
Speaker 1: Yes, even lettuce, which at one point was an anti afrodisiac.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but at one point.
Speaker 2: Anyway, Okay, I think that speaks all more to humans
Speaker 2: than to any potential aperdisiac qualities of any single item
Speaker 2: agreed agreed.
Speaker 1: Over time, the chatak spread across Asia and in several
Speaker 1: cultures and cuisines. It earned a significance and a fondness
Speaker 1: When immigrating. Many people from these regions would transport chatake
Speaker 1: spores with them to cultivate in their new home. Because
Speaker 1: of the popularity of this mushroom in Japan, their were
Speaker 1: concerns about overharvesting it, so some people started working on
Speaker 1: more sustainable harvesting methods, especially on larger scales. One person
Speaker 1: of note was a Japanese horticulturist, Sato Churio. He is
Speaker 1: credited with pulling together the first Japanese guide focusing on
Speaker 1: cultivating shataki mushrooms and standing techniques in seventeen ninety six.
Speaker 1: The first known instance of chatake with today's meaning in
Speaker 1: the written record took place in eighteen seventy seven. That
Speaker 1: would have been in the English language yes, my collegist's
Speaker 1: doctor shows up. Bureau Manira figured out how to grow
Speaker 1: shatake onlogs away from forest, making cultivation easier. In nineteen fourteen,
Speaker 1: farmers adopted this method pretty quickly, placing shatake mushrooms directly
Speaker 1: on logs, which launched large scale cultivation.
Speaker 2: There were some.
Speaker 1: Limitations though, It could take two years for the mushrooms
Speaker 1: to grow, and once they did, they typically only sprouted
Speaker 1: twice annually. On top of that, if the logs were outside,
Speaker 1: the mushrooms could be damaged by weather or animals. In
Speaker 1: the nineteen forties, this method was largely replaced in Japan
Speaker 1: by the sawdust method, so sawdust was mixed with nutrients
Speaker 1: along with the mycilium of the chatakes. This allowed for
Speaker 1: indoor storage and a much shorter time before the mushrooms appeared,
Speaker 1: about six months, and it also eliminated the limitations around
Speaker 1: harvest times, so folks could grow these mushrooms all year.
Speaker 3: Long, which is nice.
Speaker 1: This was when the commercial shatak industry took off in Japan. However,
Speaker 1: some claim that this method results in a loss of flavor.
Speaker 1: I can't say, I'll just say people like to fight
Speaker 1: about it.
Speaker 2: They do.
Speaker 3: They do.
Speaker 2: There has been research into it, and I read one
Speaker 2: like independent blind tasting panel found that like traditional hardwood
Speaker 2: grown chatake are more flavorful. But but you know, human
Speaker 2: senses are weird.
Speaker 3: They are.
Speaker 1: And I'm always fascinated by taste tests because i just
Speaker 1: feel like people experience a lot of things so differently.
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 1: Outside of Japan, written mentions and descriptions of a variety
Speaker 1: of species of shatake started popping up in places like
Speaker 1: Australia and the Americas throughout the eighteen and nineteen hundreds.
Speaker 1: The US Department of Agriculture lifted a ban on importing
Speaker 1: chataki spores in nineteen seventy two, and that marked the
Speaker 1: beginning of the US chataka industry, and chataka's really took
Speaker 1: off in the US in the nineteen nineties.
Speaker 3: This was due to a couple of things.
Speaker 1: Improved cultivation techniques, increased awareness and interest in Asian cuisine
Speaker 1: from non Asian folks, increased interest in vegetarianism or plant
Speaker 1: based meals things like that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And over the past few decades there's also been
Speaker 2: an increased interest from farmers and other landowners here in
Speaker 2: the States. To add value to their existing land and
Speaker 2: growing things like chaitake. Mushrooms can use resources like fallen
Speaker 2: branches and trees that weren't being used without endangering living plants.
Speaker 2: Like shatake fungus isn't going to bother anything else.
Speaker 1: Right, As we've been alluding to, there's been some interesting
Speaker 1: research around the chatake genome, both to better understand its
Speaker 1: evolution and the diversity of the species, but also because
Speaker 1: the chatake could be useful in breaking down the sturdy
Speaker 1: vibrus parts of wood, including lignin which throws a wrench,
Speaker 1: and using wood for things like biofuel.
Speaker 2: Yeah, both the chatake as we have been discussing it
Speaker 2: today and also other fungi in its genus. These mushrooms
Speaker 2: are what are called white rot fungi, which are basically
Speaker 2: like the only buddies we know of that can break
Speaker 2: down the toughest parts of wood. So they're a really
Speaker 2: important for the carbon cycle, but b can be bent
Speaker 2: to cool stuff like biofuel production.
Speaker 1: Again, so cool, love it. Oh, good guy, I could
Speaker 1: have read a lot more research about this. I was fascinated.
Speaker 2: We'll just have to do more more mushroom episodes in
Speaker 2: the future.
Speaker 3: Yes, agreed.
Speaker 1: Okay, Well, for now, I think that's what we have
Speaker 1: to say about chatake mushrooms.
Speaker 2: It is. We would love to hear from you all though,
Speaker 2: if you have. We didn't talk that much about it
Speaker 2: as a food product, I suppose, but so if you
Speaker 2: guys have any any any memories or recipes or anything
Speaker 2: like that, if you have grown some. I love those
Speaker 2: mushroom kits anyway, Yes, we would love to hear from you.
Speaker 2: We do already have some listener mail for you, though,
Speaker 2: and we are going to get into that as soon
Speaker 2: as we get back from one more quick break for
Speaker 2: a word from our sponsors, and we're back.
Speaker 3: Thank you, sponsor, Yes, thank you, And we're back with snooth.
Speaker 1: Mushrooms are really cool, they are, yes, Okay. Our crote
Speaker 1: soda bread, especially warm, is a wonderful butter delivery vehicle.
Speaker 1: I haven't baked any for a long time, but we'll
Speaker 1: need to get it back into rotation. Also love it
Speaker 1: with a nice seafood chowder. Having it sop up all
Speaker 1: that deliciousness is a bonus. I don't recall ever seeing
Speaker 1: it with other things added. But well, we'll need to
Speaker 1: consider trying it. I think we should find a way
Speaker 1: to open a small hug a yack business. It will
Speaker 1: need to be further north, but I think we can
Speaker 1: make it work. Like someone else mentioned, the only yack
Speaker 1: items I have seen are dog treats. But now I
Speaker 1: need to see if there is anyone who is importing
Speaker 1: it in any way. Want to try try that cheese.
Speaker 1: The history on tea bags is interesting. We have a
Speaker 1: mix of loose tea and tea bags in our house.
Speaker 1: The bags are generally mass produced simple things such as
Speaker 1: peppermint or green tea. Otherwise we use loose surprise, the
Speaker 1: question about squeezing or not squeezing the bag did not
Speaker 1: come up. People definitely have opinions on that. I tend
Speaker 1: to do a light squeeze on mine after pulling it
Speaker 1: out to get the extra flavor, but some people will
Speaker 1: shoot you death glares if you do that. I know
Speaker 1: how you love strong opinions. Hearing classics, it's always fun.
Speaker 1: Forgot about some of the stories behind cheese puffs and
Speaker 1: breadfruit has me craving it again. Maybe I just need
Speaker 1: to go back to Saint Kits.
Speaker 2: I mean sounds like usually we all just need to go.
Speaker 3: Do you just need to go?
Speaker 1: Oh? My goodness, I did not know this about I
Speaker 1: didn't know there was drama behind squeezing or not squeezing
Speaker 1: the bag.
Speaker 3: I'm delighted to find it out.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, I don't think I was a right. I mean,
Speaker 2: like I guess, I guess sometimes I do that and
Speaker 2: sometimes I don't. But ooh, I like that there's drama.
Speaker 1: I know I do too. I feel like every choice
Speaker 1: you make with tea, Oh yeah, this rifer, somebody'd be like.
Speaker 1: I mean, I would love to hug a yack. The
Speaker 1: only thing is we've got to make sure that yak
Speaker 1: is into it. So I don't want to bother ready
Speaker 1: acts of course.
Speaker 2: I mean I think, like knowing what I know, I
Speaker 2: mean like most cows are pretty into you know, like
Speaker 2: affectionate human contact, so I would assume that yaks are
Speaker 2: as well. But you know, it depends on the yak.
Speaker 2: It depends on their mood.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we would just have to make sure we're taking
Speaker 1: the yak's mood and emotions into account.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1: And I have to say, Lauren and I are both
Speaker 1: struggling with some stuffy faces, little rough voices. This is
Speaker 1: always to our super producer Andrew. I could really use
Speaker 1: a nice seafood chowder right now.
Speaker 3: Oh oh my gosh, Oh my gosh, I said.
Speaker 2: So nice. Oh my goodness. Well, Joe wrote, oh do
Speaker 2: I have opinions on tea? Which is hilarious because for
Speaker 2: most of my life I associated it with being sick.
Speaker 2: I called it sad hot water. That all changed when
Speaker 2: I went to England for grad school, but not at first.
Speaker 2: I remember ordering black tea from a Starbucks at the
Speaker 2: airport in Newcastle, and the poor thing was absolutely scorched,
Speaker 2: way too hot, and so so better. From then on
Speaker 2: I learned the importance of brewing tea at the right
Speaker 2: temperature and for the right amount of time. It was
Speaker 2: a social thing for the graduate students in our offices.
Speaker 2: Each office had a kettle and we were very serious
Speaker 2: about taking our tea breaks. My second office was particularly
Speaker 2: crazy about tea because we had quite the stash, enough
Speaker 2: so that it perfumed the small room. But even then,
Speaker 2: tea was just a thing that got me through writing
Speaker 2: my dissertation. I drank it by the bucketful because I'm
Speaker 2: not a coffee person. In fact, everyone around me knows
Speaker 2: that things are pretty dire if I turned to coffee
Speaker 2: rather than tea. Once I finished grad school and started
Speaker 2: having more than a poor grad student budget, that's when
Speaker 2: the journey to whole leaf tea and single origin tea began.
Speaker 2: Before that, it was all about the convenience of bagged tea,
Speaker 2: and I was drinking lots of flavored teas as well,
Speaker 2: And now I find those to be too sweet most
Speaker 2: of the time, and I really love the nuance in
Speaker 2: single origin whole leaf tea. You get a lot of
Speaker 2: bang for your buck too, because you can usually steep
Speaker 2: them over and over again, and the flavor profile changes
Speaker 2: a little more with each one. That's really not possible
Speaker 2: with tea bags. They're pretty much one and done. I
Speaker 2: love light oohlungs that can be soft and milky, darker
Speaker 2: uhlungs that are rich and vegetable, green teas that are
Speaker 2: almost nutty and grassy, and so on. At some point,
Speaker 2: I want to buy a Gung Fu tea set. There
Speaker 2: is something about the ritual of it, the social nature
Speaker 2: of pouring tea for every and having a chat while
Speaker 2: taking slow SIPs that just seems like it would be
Speaker 2: an ocean of calm in these crazy times. And tea
Speaker 2: is good for you. A colleague of mine recently did
Speaker 2: a talk that explained to the chemistry of tea and
Speaker 2: how they remove free radicals from your body. Green tea
Speaker 2: is especially good for this. So now I'm off to
Speaker 2: bruesome for myself a Chinese green. If you're wondering.
Speaker 3: That sounds nice, It does nice, it does.
Speaker 2: I do love getting into, you know, any kind of
Speaker 2: specific thing and really appreciating the differences and flavors between
Speaker 2: slightly different products.
Speaker 1: Yes, and your descriptions are fantastic, and you're right. I
Speaker 1: know we talked about it in the dim sum episode.
Speaker 1: Even though tea can sometimes make me feel a little
Speaker 1: nauseated because my body, not because of the tea, I
Speaker 1: do love that feeling of like sharing.
Speaker 3: Tea and just talking with people.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, it does feel like a ritual and kind
Speaker 1: of an oasis and it's just so nice. So I
Speaker 1: hope that you got a relaxation out of your and
Speaker 1: I have.
Speaker 3: I do think that.
Speaker 1: When I went to the UK the first time I
Speaker 1: try I was I'm a coffee person, so I was like, oh.
Speaker 3: It was really good.
Speaker 1: I remember trying it and being like, oh, okay, this
Speaker 1: is I love this actually, Oh.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, right for me like I'm used to the
Speaker 2: amount of caffeine in a coffee situation, and so I
Speaker 2: can get a little cranky first thing in the morning
Speaker 2: if I cannot obtain a coffee of a certain strength.
Speaker 2: But that being said, right, yeah, I oh, I love tea.
Speaker 2: I love I love a good cup of tea, and
Speaker 2: I love all of those moments where you know, like,
Speaker 2: I don't feel like we even though we do have
Speaker 2: like a like an around the water cooler like culture
Speaker 2: in the United States, it's not the same thing.
Speaker 1: No, it's not an Interestingly, this kind of relates to
Speaker 1: an article I read for upcoming topic we're doing on
Speaker 1: crispy Creams for that we we'll talk about in there
Speaker 1: about how we don't in America. We're just like go
Speaker 1: go go.
Speaker 2: Right, right, So, like break, what's that? The only acceptable
Speaker 2: break is cigarette smoking? What?
Speaker 3: Right? Like get your doughnut through the drive through?
Speaker 1: You're not going to go it? Like yeah, basically and
Speaker 1: tea time good. Feel so nice to have those moments
Speaker 1: of like, let me, yeah.
Speaker 3: Just in this moment for a second, I'm gonna sit
Speaker 3: it down.
Speaker 2: I'm going to have a drink, I'm going to have
Speaker 2: a snack. It's going to be great.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yes, yeah, it is lovely. Well. Thank you so
Speaker 3: much to both of these listeners for writing in.
Speaker 1: If you would like to write to us, you can
Speaker 1: our emails hello at saberpod dot com.
Speaker 2: We're also on social media. You can find us on
Speaker 2: Blue Sky and Instagram. I'm at saver Pod and we
Speaker 2: do hope to hear from you. Save is production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, you can visit the iHeartRadio app,
Speaker 2: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Speaker 2: Thanks us always to our super producers Dylan Pagan and
Speaker 2: Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening, and we hope
Speaker 2: that lots of more good things are coming your way