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Re: Show off your Kettle!!
Posted: Feb 5th, '13, 04:48
by Teaism
BioHorn wrote:Teaism wrote:Hi,
The rust in the cast iron kettle can be resolved by boiling some tea in it.
Thanks for the tip!
I tried rubbing the rim with tea leaves. It worked okay. There were some leaf bits that made their way in and took some time to clear out. Doing on some exterior areas worked quite well.
Glad to hear that it works out well for you. Have a great tea day my friend. Cheers!
Re: Show off your Kettle!!
Posted: Mar 9th, '13, 04:33
by blairswhitaker
got a new old chagama from e-bay recently...
holds about 3 liters, is in pretty good shape as far as rust goes.
Untitled by
blairswhitaker, on Flickr
Untitled by
blairswhitaker, on Flickr
Untitled by
blairswhitaker, on Flickr
Re: Show off your Kettle!!
Posted: Mar 13th, '13, 13:51
by hopeofdawn
Re: Show off your Kettle!!
Posted: Mar 13th, '13, 14:41
by futurebird
That is a lovely kettle. It must be a pleasure to use.
Re: Show off your Kettle!!
Posted: Mar 13th, '13, 14:46
by blairswhitaker
hopeofdawn thats a beautiful piece you have there.
I am interested in getting a choshi for sake, though I haven't seen one in my budget yet >100.00usd.
you can enhance the look of that kettle by doing the following.
get some sencha, the cheaper the better and put a handful in a disposable tea bag or a cotton square of cloth that you tie up to make a little pouch for the tea, boil this in the kettle for about an hour. this will very effectively help with the interior rust, discard this water and bring fresh water and some bamboo charcoal to a boil two or three times.
this will "reset" the taste of the kettle and get rid of any remaining sake residue. while the kettle is still very hot take several tablespoons of sencha in a clean piece of cotton and bring the corners together to form a pouch, then dip this in very hot water and start rubbing down the kettle with it. the outside will look much better. Also avoid ever touching the outside of the kettle with you bare hands. try to only handle it by the handle or from the inside, fingerprints leave behind skin oil and salts that are bad for the metal ( at least thats what my chanoyu sensei told me).
Re: Show off your Kettle!!
Posted: Mar 14th, '13, 12:14
by hopeofdawn
Thanks for the advice--I'll definitely follow it! I've already boiled some old green tea leaves inside when I was cleaning it--sans pouch, so there was some cleanup.
Any idea where one might find bamboo charcoal in the U.S.? I'm in the Seattle area, if that helps ...
Re: Show off your Kettle!!
Posted: Mar 14th, '13, 12:35
by blairswhitaker
you can find it on amazon or a local japanese market
Show off your Kettle!!
Posted: Jun 15th, '14, 03:36
by blairswhitaker
Got something "new" to me today,
Let's have a look
You have to love japanese packaging, the shop owner even tied it down to my bike for me.
Kibako
It was in great shape and I got it for less than a nimon, or less than 200 usd.
Re: Show off your Kettle!!
Posted: Jun 15th, '14, 04:50
by hopeofdawn
Gorgeous!
Re: Show off your Kettle!!
Posted: Jun 15th, '14, 14:00
by debunix
Would have liked a shot of you on the bike with that on the back, being a cyclist who has done some crazy toting at times myself (flats of berries for jam, two-by-fours, large sacks of wheat....).
The kettle by itself is certainly worth of viewing at length, even without the wonderful packaging. Really beautiful and I'm sure entirely functional.
Re: Show off your Kettle!!
Posted: Jun 15th, '14, 14:56
by JBaymore
I can't IMAGINE using vinegar or ANY oils on the inside of a chagama. Chip is on the right track in his comment above. Eventual rusting out is a normal part of the normal life cycle of a cast iron kettle (wabi cha) -and also a human being-.
best,
....................john
Re: Show off your Kettle!!
Posted: Jun 15th, '14, 15:00
by JBaymore
Nice chagama there Blair.
best,
..................john
Show off your Kettle!!
Posted: Jun 15th, '14, 18:46
by blairswhitaker
I always feel kettles get neglected on this forum, and that's sad because they are literally the well from which all our tea springs forth.
Here is the interior and a close up and the kan.
Re: Show off your Kettle!!
Posted: Jun 15th, '14, 19:02
by debunix
Kettles like your beauty here are simply not part of the routine even for most of us here, who seek out high-quality loose-leaf teas from online sources. Even my pretty Simplex teakettle gets very little use since I discovered variable-temp electric kettles. They're the subject of innumerable threads here, but not nearly as gorgeous as a proper kettle like yours, and I usually move around with the camera to avoid including the kettle in my tea photos.
If I had one like yours, I'd find a way to feature it often. Maybe someday...but the ones I see and really like are quite pricey.
Show off your Kettle!!
Posted: Jun 16th, '14, 06:29
by blairswhitaker
Debunix I get that most people don't use anything more than a variable temp or something like a zojirushi. I often wonder if they have every tried a higher quality kettle, I feel they make such a huge difference. I couldn't switch if I tried. I actually had a zojirushi and it ended up collecting dust so I gave it away. I feel so spoiled here in kyoto. I can find very nice used tetsubin and chagama at various places for between 100 to 200 usd. Of course the other end of that spectrum is the ones I see for thousands of usd. With the prices people are willing to pay for pots and chawan though it seems am investment into the heart of the tea making process would be so justifiable.