Gen mai cha is green tea with toasted rice kernels. Adagio Tea makes a variant which they call gen mai cha pop, in which the rice kernels are toasted for long enough that they pop. The rice gives the tea a nutty flavor that I like. I keep a tin at the office in the top drawer of my desk.

The office is quiet in the evening these days. One of the advantages of being the only person here after hours is that I can listen to the radio -- via the Internet or from my clock radio -- without my earphones. It's like whistling while I work, but without the absent-minded off-key wandering periods when I concentrate.

The radio is nice during tea breaks, too.

• Currently drinking: gen mai cha