TeaChat

A friend in boston and I are having a long-distance disagreement about what tea is "better" puerh or matcha. (Naturally, this is a stupid argument, drink both ymmv, but we like to argue)

Well we have both agreed to learn to drink the other's favorite kind of tea "correctly" -- he's getting sample of my favorite puerhs (thus far) and he already has a few nice pots for brewing.

On the other hand I needed to buy a whisk and bowl. So I bought this one

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0999451791

(I love pink!) Then I realized I ought to have asked for advice first.

Ah well. I'm excited for it to come anyway. He's sending me some "very fresh" matcha. I hope this experiment will work!




now will i need a sifter or something? I'm off to read more about matcha.

The chawan is only 3.6" wide, which is pretty small for a chawan. It might still be doable, but you will be very constricted when whisking.

futurebird wrote:On the other hand I needed to buy a whisk and bowl. So I bought this one

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0999451791

(I love pink!) Then I realized I ought to have asked for advice first.

Ah well. I'm excited for it to come anyway. He's sending me some "very fresh" matcha. I hope this experiment will work!



now will i need a sifter or something? I'm off to read more about matcha.

I reckon it wasn't made for matcha, since, as Drax pointed out, 9cm is really small. It might take you some time and practice to mix the powder properly.
About sifting, I just use a strainer and it works pretty well.

futurebird wrote:A friend in boston and I are having a long-distance disagreement about what tea is "better" puerh or matcha. (Naturally, this is a stupid argument, drink both ymmv, but we like to argue)

Of course you like to argue, he is in Boston and you are in the Bronx!

But maybe tea can join what just about everything else has put asunder.

3.6 inches is going to be hard for whisking. It is odd that they are selling this as "Japanese Chawan (matcha tea ceremony use)"

Regarding the "pink" ... hmmm, the background is pinkish so I suspect his color may be off. Shino is usually whitish with orange tones. Hope you luck out!

Can you suggest something similar but larger? I really like the texture. The one time I had matcha at the teahouse in midtown it was in a bubbly textured bowl and I loved that aspect of the experience.

My boston hook-up says he's sending me Matcha Pinnacle Hibiki-an...

will a strainer from a testubin teapot work as a sift? Thanks!

futurebird wrote:Can you suggest something similar but larger? I really like the texture. The one time I had matcha at the teahouse in midtown it was in a bubbly textured bowl and I loved that aspect of the experience.

My boston hook-up says he's sending me Matcha Pinnacle Hibiki-an...

will a strainer from a testubin teapot work as a sift? Thanks!

The infuser basket from a tetsubin is PERFECT! I have used the same one for years.

There are usually lots of Shino Chawan on ebay.

That is almost too small for even a nodate chawan. (I might be using the words wrong: I mean the chawan in a chabako set.) Regardless, smaller bowls require more skill and are a bad choice for a beginner.

If you are going to use it, you will need a smaller whisk (nodate chasen).

I think I'll just use it for ice cream. Though if it isn't pink I might try to return it.

Shino Chawan ... is shino the name of the glaze?

edkrueger wrote:That is almost too small for even a nodate chawan. (I might be using the words wrong: I mean the chawan in a chabako set.) Regardless, smaller bowls require more skill and are a bad choice for a beginner.

If you are going to use it, you will need a smaller whisk (nodate chasen).

... or keep it for brewed teas such as Sencha ...

Some people seem to break the tines on their Chasen. I would think banging into the sides of this Chawan would hasten such breakage.

When preparing "thin" matcha, you must repeatedly make a "W" pattern very rapidly in order to get the aeration/foaming properly.

futurebird wrote:I think I'll just use it for ice cream. Though if it isn't pink I might try to return it.

Shino Chawan ... is shino the name of the glaze?

Hmmm, considering the general porous nature of Shino and the clay ... (and there may be exposed areas of clay), I would be a bit worried using it for icecream. It might get pretty funky smelling over time.

futurebird wrote:A friend in boston and I are having a long-distance disagreement about what tea is "better" puerh or matcha. (Naturally, this is a stupid argument, drink both ymmv, but we like to argue)

Well we have both agreed to learn to drink the other's favorite kind of tea "correctly" -- he's getting sample of my favorite puerhs (thus far) and he already has a few nice pots for brewing.

I like them both! Cheers!
(and good luck with that mini-chawan).

[ps - tenkei tori matcha, '07 Menghai golden needle white lotus puerh, yunomi by Shawn McGuire and chawan by Dan Russo.]

Stumbled across a pretty sweet hagi Chawan for sale at Rikyu Japanese Tea Market's website. I seem to remember some people recently asking about where to buy a chawan and thought there may be some TC'ers interested in one like this.

They have a ton of chawans for sale.

http://www.rikyucha.com/item/list2/97021/

Having some Nodoka from Ippodo for breakfast
See Andrzej's teaware artisans topic for more photos.

I love the smell of matcha in the morning

Me too!
Love that pic m_g!
Beautiful bowl BioH!