Tezumi Insights
While you may be familiar with matcha or sencha, Japan produces over 20 distinct types of tea, which are distinguished primarily by their processing after picking. Here, we’ll take a look at Japan’s most famous and popular tea styles, alongside some rare, unique, and newly-developed types
Hagi-yaki (萩焼), or Hagi ware, is a regional style of Japanese ceramics that comes from the area around the town of Hagi in Yamaguchi Prefecture, for which it is named. Since its development over 400 years ago, Hagi-yaki remains highly valued within the traditional aesthetics of practically all tea ceremony schools, with some of the oldest Hagi-yaki pieces declared National Treasures of Japan. Here's a look into the history and styles of Hagi-yaki.
Koicha has been savoured by tea ceremony masters for centuries, and it is time for this pinnacle of matcha preparation to leave the confines of the tearoom and be enjoyed by tea enthusiasts worldwide.
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.