Unlike Starbucks coffee, it can be drunk steadily over three or four hours, with no risk of caffeine addiction.
Nor does it require learning the intricate etiquette of the traditional Japanese tea ceremony.
The drink is Chinese tea. Once regarded in Japan as an effective but tasteless diet drink, Chinese tea has newly conquered many Japanese with an aroma and flavor that bring pleasurable moments not only to beauty-conscious drinkers but also to people stressed out by the seemingly never-ending economic slump.