NEW! Official Teaware of the Day!

I've tried out my new Banko from Tachi Masaki for the first time today, with organic Uji Gyokuro. Both are bought from Yuuki-Cha, and so is the little Arita Yaki teacup. The censer is Kiyomizu Yaki from Shoyeido incense.

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I admit the photograph is a bit amateuristic... I just took my little tea ceremony outside in the sun briefly to have the best light

The Banko feels and looks absolutely amazing and I love handling it. But cleaning all the leaves out of it afterwards is a real pain in the ass :!:

I started taking them out with clean hands and a little espresso spoon. Noticed they retain a lot of liquid. I kept on scraping the leaves out with my fingers until I was satisfied. Then boiled some more Fiji Water to rinse it :roll:

I had to rinse repeatedly with little bits of water and use a toothpick to get leaf bits away from around the filter. I have a ball filter in this one... It's drying now, still a few tiny leaf parts remaining. Hope to be able to blow them out once it's dry.

IS CLEANING A KYUSU SUPPOSED TO BE SUCH A PAIN???

It took me longer almost than the triple-steep 'ceremony' itself! Am I doing something wrong here...?

Anyhow, here are my casual cups that I use almost every day :wink:

They are Vietnamese.

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by **Chip** » Feb 9th, '13, 01:14

Re: NEW! Official Teaware of the Day!

by Chip » Feb 9th, '13, 01:14

Maneki Neko, thanks for sharing. Hmmm, what should we call you for short ...

No, cleaning is usually pretty easy. I give my kyusu a jerk or two upside down well above the trash can to shake out 90% of the leaves. Then I turn the spigot to hot and spray ... swish and swirl and dump a few times. Then a final rinse with very hot water to help the drying process.

That is it.

I suspect that your physical activity in the kyusu forced bits of leaf into the screen.

Lastly, be sure to dry with your spout pointing up or down for at least several hours to help draining and drying.

I do cheat a bit ... if I have a pot of water heating on the stove, I place the kyusu on top to really speed up drying.

Otherwise, I dry with the lid off for at least 24 to 48 hours before placing the lid back on.

by **Chip** » Feb 9th, '13, 01:21

Re: NEW! Official Teaware of the Day!

by Chip » Feb 9th, '13, 01:21

Lionel wrote:Nonetheless, striking green! Love it

It is a blue (青) glaze kyusu (急須) by Yamada So (山田想)...

Beautiful! Please share more photos, please.

I have really wanted to buy a Yamada Sou kyusu for a while, but someone usually buys the one I am most interested in ... saving me some serious green! :mrgreen:

by **hopeofdawn** » Feb 9th, '13, 01:25

Re: NEW! Official Teaware of the Day!

by hopeofdawn » Feb 9th, '13, 01:25

Actually, I had the same problem, especially when I started drinking Japanese greens, and the ever-knowledgeable folks here at Teachat gave me some great solutions: http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=17265

I went out and got a $1 metal strainer/fry basket thingie with a handle from Daiso, and now I dump my leaves into that, and from there into the garbage. Makes cleanup so much easier!

by **blairswhitaker** » Feb 9th, '13, 01:31

Re: NEW! Official Teaware of the Day!

by blairswhitaker » Feb 9th, '13, 01:31

Maneki Neko very cool set up, I like what you have brought together!

Like chip said it does not need to be that hard. I do nearly what he says, flip of the waste bin, I don't have a sprayer attachment so I just rinse with hot tap water and set stick em back on the shelf with the lid cracked open pretty wide.

lionel i would also really like to see some pics of that one, do you know if it was wood fired of gas fired?

by **Maneki Neko** » Feb 9th, '13, 01:38

Re: NEW! Official Teaware of the Day!

by Maneki Neko » Feb 9th, '13, 01:38

Just call me Maneki :wink:

You know about the Japanese lucky/beckoning cat I assume

Thanks for sharing your methods. I have the disadvantage of having bad tap water here, otherwise I would use the tap, easy as that. Next time I'll get a big clean bowl above which to shake my leaves out, so that I can collect them to eat.

I indeed managed to blow the last leaves out when dry. It is not that much a pain actually... I suppose I should see it as a meditative practice. I usually think too much, but cleaning out a kyusu forces all other thoughts away