TeaChat

I've noticed that a lot of people here on teachat forum own a Kyusu and use it to make Japanese green tea, what are the advantages of using a Kyusu versus a different style of porcelain teapot, or a Pryrex cup and strainer?

I love kyusus because they're usually nicely done and very functional, and because I like their style, which is so totally different from the Chinese pots i know. They usually have very, very fine strainers which sometimes work better than these of Chinese pots, because Japanese tea often is cut to much smaller pieces than their Chinese counterpart, and its just fun to have some different shapes around.
But i don't consider them to really be better than anything else, they're just good pots for themselves.

I think the first time I finally scored a Kyusu, it was really not a good one, but I used it too death. Regardless, still I knew that the Kyusu was the teapot for me.

It is a virtual symbol of Japanese tea.

It has often been mentioned on the forum that the Japanese designed the Kyusu, refined it ... for brewing Japanese tea. As a result, they are the perfect tool for brewing Japanese tea. Certainly the screen as miig mentioned is a big part of its functionality.

It is perhaps the main reason that I enjoy brewing (Japanese) tea as much as I enjoy drinking it.

Is it really any wonder why an aficionado of Japanese tea would favor such a brewing vessel?

Oh, and since they are very "natural" and usually are not glazed, there is a harmony with the tea itself.

And there is a seemingly endless variety of shapes, styles and artisans to choose from.

I think I will select a sencha, and then a Kyusu to brew it.

Yup, the Japanese were very picky about drinking tea (I dunno if they still are).

They needed special-shaped for Yixings, for Sencha they drank. Mostly small and egg-shaped, they needed that ball-shaped strainers on Yixings as well, Yixing potters started to make ball-shaped strainers/filters for Japanese market since 70s. And they worshipped many different kinds of bowls and kettles for Matcha-do..tea ceremony had been reserved for special occasions and people in Japan.

Many people compare that with Gongfu ceremony, for their 'fetish' for teawares and mini creatures

miig wrote:I love kyusus because they're usually nicely done and very functional, and because I like their style, which is so totally different from the Chinese pots i know. They usually have very, very fine strainers which sometimes work better than these of Chinese pots, because Japanese tea often is cut to much smaller pieces than their Chinese counterpart, and its just fun to have some different shapes around.
But i don't consider them to really be better than anything else, they're just good pots for themselves.

It could do with their steaming process of making tea. I've heard steamed greens lose in shape (sometimes broken) but wins in color or freshness.

Good Yixing teapot brews tea to a finer transparency, at this time I also think some relations to Edo-Meiji Sencha drinkers preference with Yixing

To recommend a good starting Kyusu grab a banko by tachi masaki. Such good bang for the buck and great functional kyusu made from decent clay.