Are you a jiggler or a dangler?
On our recent trip to Japan, a few weeks before the earthquake and tsunami hit the Tohoku region of Japan, we visited the Lipton teahouse on Shijo Dori, Kyoto. Now for those who live in Australia you may be asking why would you visit a teahouse whose brand is famous for supermarket teabags?
Green tea cheesecake
For the sake of our international readers let me recap the last 40 years of Lipton history in Australia. When I was growing up most anglo saxon families would follow in the steps of their British ancestors and put on a pot of “cha” breakfast, morning, lunch and afternoon teatime. In our household we always drank Lipton because it had a good strong flavour and was perceived to be better than the likes of Billy brand tea.
Skip forward a couple of decades and the clever fellows at Lipton started selling most of their product in teabags and their marketing department was asking us whether we were Jigglers or Danglers (I am pretty sure they were asking about the way we brewed our teabags not whether we wore boxers or briefs).
Lipton in Kyoto, always busy
In present time 2011, it seems that in Kyoto there’s a strange juxtaposition when it comes to Lipton. According to the menu Lipton first opened a Teahouse in Kyoto about 1930. Don’t forget Kyoto is pretty famous for it’s own tea so for a British label to open is no small thing.
Today Lipton teahouse is a place that is popular from trendy young things right through to Obasans. The menu has a tempting array of freshly baked cakes, parfaits and savoury goodies. And of course there is a selection of tea with all your favourites from Darjeeling to Royal Blend.
I don’t know whether I am getting caught up in the moment or maybe there is something about the water but the Lipton tea served here is a lot better than I remember.
The parfaits are pretty exciting too. This one has a combination of apple tea jelly, apple sorbet, fresh apple slices, bitter chocolate wafer, a creamy tea sauce and a light apple tea syrup.
Lipton apple tea parfait, Kyoto
Lipton on Shijo Dori was full as always and not one jiggler or dangler in sight.
4 Comments
Yes. How is Japan now? Really. Hope they recovered.
It will take a while, there’s still regular aftershocks, everyone’s hopefully the worst has past
I didn’t know about this place. I’ll be sure to visit when I’m there in a couple weeks!
I paid one of their branches a visit last year too. Really nice stuff over there. We had the same green tea cheese cake as you. Was lovely. It’s a pity the cafe isn’t available outside of Kyoto.