Tezumi Insights
If you’ve ever attended or watched a Japanese tea ceremony, you’ll have noticed that the matcha is kept in a small lacquered...
The chasen (茶筅-tea whisk) is perhaps the most indispensable tool when it comes to making matcha, as none of the alternatives can...
There are many unique and beautiful pieces of equipment used during a Japanese tea ceremony, each with a specific purpose and storied history. Usually called dougu (道具 - utensils/equipment) by practitioners of tea, this equipment is often used exclusively for chanoyu and as such can be confusing for those not familiar with the intricacies of tea ceremonies. Here, we’ll take a brief introductory look at some of the most important utensils and how they are used.
What elevates a bowl from an everyday object to the lofty heights of a chawan? The answer is simple: the act of preparing and drinking tea from it. In this sense any bowl can become a chawan, as long as one can whisk tea in it and drink from it. The more important question then, is what makes a bowl a good chawan? Why do tea enthusiasts and ceremony practitioners spend dozens, hundreds, even thousands on chawan when a simple soup bowl could suffice? Let’s take a brief look at the design and history of these bowls to find out why they are so treasured.
So, you have some sencha and you have a kyusu, now how exactly do you brew it? Senchas are often very sensitive to subtle changes in brewing parameters, which can make them incredibly versatile and customisable, but also daunting to brew. The following brewing parameters are by no means the only way to brew these teas. However, they are almost guaranteed to produce a delicious cup every time.
While it may seem like the simplest of tea making utensils, the humble tea bowl or chawan (茶碗) holds a central place in Japanese tea culture and comes in many different shapes and styles, each with their own history and meaning. Here we explore some of the more common shapes of chawan and what makes each one unique.
Japanese teaware comes in a huge variety of shapes, colours, glazes, and decorations. These styles are often closely tied to the various local pottery traditions that create these beautiful pieces of functional art. As the country with the oldest known pottery tradition, Japan is home to hundreds of ceramic production areas scattered across the archipelago, each with its own distinct clays, glazes, and decoration styles.
Usucha (or 'thin tea'), known for its vibrant green colour and creamy texture, is the most common way to drink matcha (we'll talk more about Koicha, 'thick tea' later). While it may look sophisticated, its actually very easy to make!
Like its tea, Japan's teaware can be complex and confusing for the uninitiated, so we'd like to take some time to introduce three of the main types of Japanese teapots and explain what makes each of them unique and useful.