Spring Sale at YMI for local shoppers

I had written to Pong at Yellow Mountain Imports to forward ScatCat's inquiry. He wanted to know if the new slotted portable board can be purchased without the case.

At this time, YMI has no plans to sell it without the case.


YMI discounted boards for folks down in Southern California

Some discounted items (Image 1)

Pong also made mention of this:

We’re doing spring cleaning early here. Your readers might be interested in this collection of 40+ boards I’ve amassed. They have imperfections, most minor, some not as minor. I’m discounting them all so you can find boards as low as $10.

Got a few nice 6cm Kayas at $95, one 6cm Shin-kaya with a crack on the side for $65, 3cm Shin-kayas at $30, $35, and a whole bunch of other boards and a bunch of free T-shirts.

They are welcome to stop by after next Tuesday (I’ll be out of town for Chinese New Years). Our address is 227 S. Raymond Ave, Alhambra, CA 91801 and we’ll be open 10-6:30, out for lunch around 12:45-1:45.

Some discounted items (Image 2)

Some discounted items (Image 3)

If you're not in the Los Angeles area but have an interest in some of these boards, send an inquiry to YMI via this page.


Folding Kaya Board in-stock again

I had forgotten to mention in my earlier post that YMI has also re-stocked on its folding kaya boards. These come with a felt cover for transport. They were available in very limited quantities before Christmas.

This item retails for US$65.


Bodum Tea Presses: Super-cute, stylish and very efficient

The Bodum Assam III tea press comes in 2-cup
and 4-cup sizes.

We've been using a pair of Bodum Assam tea presses to brew and serve our Lupicia teas. ChiyoMama and I use the 4-cup one and ChiyoChan has the 2-cup version. These are very convenient for loose-leaf teas but they work just as fine for bagged teas.

The tea floats and brews inside the stainless-steel filter. After the correct brewing time has elapsed, you merely press down the plunger and the leaves are isolated from the water; thus stopping the brewing process and eliminating the possibility of bitter tea.

The 2-cup version is excellent for most folks. The 4-cup version is best if you expect to be serving guests.

A nice way to serve your tea (or any other hot beverage for that matter) is with Bodum's Pavina line of tumblers. They are hand-blown Borosilicate glass. These were a nice discovery when I bought the first two for ChiyoMama and so we got two more.

These tumblers are double-walled so it has two nice benefits:

• It keeps your hands from burning when you serve hot beverages.
• It keeps the hot beverage hot for a longer period of time.

On top of that, there's this odd illusion of the beverage "floating" in air which is rather cool.