How many Kyusu do you own? And bonus question, how many do you use? So, 2 answers are permitted.

1
89
20%
2-3
96
22%
4-5
42
10%
6-7
14
3%
8-10
10
2%
11-14
6
1%
15 or more
10
2%
I USE 1
63
14%
2-3
67
15%
4-5
23
5%
6-7
6
1%
8-10
3
1%
11-14
3
1%
15 or more
10
2%
 
Total votes: 442

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Jan 30th, '14, 20:27
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Re: Ode to the Kyusu

by Chip » Jan 30th, '14, 20:27

debunix wrote:Adore that rounded one especially, with the nubbly tetsubin look. Nice collection, as a whole.
Me too! Thank you. :mrgreen: The "nubby" ones have sky rocketed in price, as much as doubling. I am glad I got these when I did or I may have had to look from the distance.
kikula wrote:Beautiful wares, Chip! Love that tortoise teapot, it has tiny tortoisey feet on the bottom, yes? I window shop so widely that I often recognize items that appear in here from my various wishlists and am happy that they find homes with TCers!
The Tortoise one is brand new. And yes, it has as we technically refer to them, "feetsies." :wink:

Yeah, whenever I see a Kyusu or cup purchased that I had been watching, I almost always ask myself, "which TCer bought that?"

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Jan 30th, '14, 20:33
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Re: Ode to the Kyusu

by Chip » Jan 30th, '14, 20:33

When I bought the other Koshin Kyusu, I had asked about a "smaller" mogake persimmon one by Koshin as well ... Toru was able to oblige.

I was also interested especially since Koshin was switching over to Sasame from his really excellent ball screens ... so this was possibly my last chance to get his ball filters. Thus I bought both.

That was a couple years ago, and now I see some ball screens showing up on his Kyusu again. If you want to try a ball screen, try a Koshin!

Image

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Jan 30th, '14, 22:21
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Re: Ode to the Kyusu

by Tead Off » Jan 30th, '14, 22:21

Nice looking kyusu, Chip.

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Jan 31st, '14, 23:43
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Re: Ode to the Kyusu

by Chip » Jan 31st, '14, 23:43

Shimizu Ken Nosaka clay Kyusu reduction fired, 200 ml, Hojo magic clay kyusu. Nosaka is a yellow clay that turns orangey when fired (see my post in this topic from a few days ago), and when reduction fired, of course turns blackish. This one is actually variegated ... so to speak ... as you can see the clay color coming through. I will have to try to take some photos.

Image

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Re: Ode to the Kyusu

by Chip » Feb 1st, '14, 21:58

Toru of Artisticnippon.com wrote:Black Kinsai kyusu by Maekawa Junzo

An unusual kyusu with a lovely grainy texture.
The dark color is accented with gold highlights which glint in the light.

Maekawa Junzo is the son of a certified traditional craftsmen. He was born in Tokoname and trained in Kyoto and Seto. These influences can be seen in the pieces he has produced since returning to his roots in Tokoname, giving the intrinsically traditional pieces a fresh and inspirational feel.
As stated so often by me and others. I liked the pot, but ... and Toru took the but away in my case by obtaining a smaller version.

Maiden voyage today.

Image

Image

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Re: Ode to the Kyusu

by AdamMY » Feb 1st, '14, 22:02

Chip wrote:
Toru of Artisticnippon.com wrote:Black Kinsai kyusu by Maekawa Junzo

An unusual kyusu with a lovely grainy texture.
The dark color is accented with gold highlights which glint in the light.

Maekawa Junzo is the son of a certified traditional craftsmen. He was born in Tokoname and trained in Kyoto and Seto. These influences can be seen in the pieces he has produced since returning to his roots in Tokoname, giving the intrinsically traditional pieces a fresh and inspirational feel.
As stated so often by me and others. I liked the pot, but ... and Toru took the but away in my case by obtaining a smaller version.

Maiden voyage today.

Image

Image

Nice, how did it preform? Certainly looks interesting!

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Feb 1st, '14, 22:16
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Re: Ode to the Kyusu

by debunix » Feb 1st, '14, 22:16

Same question here: how did that beauty function, and did it affect the taste of the tea?

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Re: Ode to the Kyusu

by Chip » Feb 1st, '14, 22:37

It performed perfectly, even with the very fine Yutaka Midori particles. The screen is sesame, but it still allowed some particles to pass through which for me is a plus.

Since this was both the first session with a new bag of YM and it was the Kyusu's maiden brewing ... I will have to consider this with more experience with both tea and Kyusu. :mrgreen:

I will have to take some more photos of this, inside mostly, as the clay is quite different from any other Tokoname Kyusu I have purchased.

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Feb 2nd, '14, 00:34
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Re: Ode to the Kyusu

by eyvind » Feb 2nd, '14, 00:34

That black style Maekawa Junzo kyusu is one I was considering. They seem to disappear within a few days of being posted. I can't imagine where they go.
What size is yours?

I was wondering what size kyusu is used the most by everyone here.
I can't say I have a kyusu museum to choose from (like some Tea Chat folks :wink: ) but I use a small 160 mL when preparing for myself.

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Feb 2nd, '14, 00:42
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Re: Ode to the Kyusu

by debunix » Feb 2nd, '14, 00:42

eyvind wrote:That black style Maekawa Junzo kyusu is one I was considering. They seem to disappear within a few days of being posted. I can't imagine where they go.
They are gorgeous, aren't they? I can imagine them going to many different happy tea drinkers.
eyvind wrote:I was wondering what size kyusu is used the most by everyone here.
Mine are 150-200 mL--my tiniest wares are pots, gaiwans and shibos as small as 30mL (although functional, that teeny one is as much toy as teapot).

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Feb 2nd, '14, 07:22
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Re: Ode to the Kyusu

by Drax » Feb 2nd, '14, 07:22

Very beautiful Chip, thanks for sharing!

Indeed, of all the offerings from Toru in the last few months, those particular ones made me do a double-take... :D

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Feb 2nd, '14, 13:08
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Re: Ode to the Kyusu

by kikula » Feb 2nd, '14, 13:08

Mine go from 150ml to 210ml (not counting side-handled western artisan pots that I perversely insist on calling kyusu) - I think @150 is a nice size, only use larger for company. I haven't gotten a smaller Japanese pot, though they're available - on my wish list.
One kyusu and two kyusus? Of two kyusu? Kyusae? No, this is no time to go Latinate...
What in Japanese for plural?
Ah, OK:
"Most nouns in Japanese have no plual form, so you use the same word whether you're using a singular noun or a plural noun. But, there are rare exceptions when a noun does have a plural form. Usually the plural form simply repeats the word using the "voiced" sound for the first consonant. Ex: hito(person) becomes hitobito(people) and kami(God) would be kamigami(Gods).

So, 100 kyusu.
Or possibly 100 kyusugyusu.

Also called 'a toot of kyusu'.

Maybe we could call the western ones loosugoosukyusu.

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Feb 2nd, '14, 13:14
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Re: Ode to the Kyusu

by debunix » Feb 2nd, '14, 13:14

It's a good thing those black style Maekawa Junzo kyusu were sold before I saw them: otherwise I might have had to change my answer above to a larger total.

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Feb 2nd, '14, 14:45
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Re: Ode to the Kyusu

by Chip » Feb 2nd, '14, 14:45

debunix wrote:It's a good thing those black style Maekawa Junzo kyusu were sold before I saw them: otherwise I might have had to change my answer above to a larger total.
Unfortunately despite waiting a day, there was one of the new WHITE Maekawa Junzo Kyusu still there (the tall one) ... (oh ... and maybe Yamada Sou ... but I am not saying since Mrs. C is sitting here) :mrgreen:

So, maybe I did and maybe I did not. For my personal safety, I will simply say I do not recollect ordering!!!!!!!

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Re: Ode to the Kyusu

by Chip » Feb 2nd, '14, 16:20

I used to be more concerned with Kyusu size, especially when I began to realize my earlier ones were relatively big as my steep sizes decreased. So what started out as brewing 210 ml in a 270 +/- ml Kyusu which made a lot of sense to me began to be more like 120-150 ml in a 270 ml Kyusu. I was then concerned that this would have a huge and negative impact on my brewing results.

However, for Japanese greens it really does not matter how full or empty I have the Kyusu when brewing (especially if I preheat the Kyusu).

I select a Kyusu to use based more upon other factors such as the screen and based upon the Sencha I already chose to brew. So, I overall match the Kyusu to the tea and mood.

I have Kyusu as small as 30 ml and as big as 400 ml. But I do tend to narrow that to using 120-330ml. Sounds like an enormous range, but for instance the other day I brewed around 100 ml in a Kyusu that would hold 330 ml ... and the results were truly outstanding (as I had posted)

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