Show off your Kettle!!

[茶藝-TeaArt08]

What do you reckon are the benefits of buying new over used and vice versa?

EDIT: apart from the two used Nanbu tetsubin I'm watching on eBay, I'm very tempted to buy one new, from Hojo, yet also fairly reluctant to find out how much they cost!

There is so much that can be said about this, some of which is straight forward, some of which is very subjective and arguable, etc. After correspondence with Hojo and research I first bought the new Seiko kettle from Yahoo Japan. I prefer the Yamagata style of kettle to Kunzan's offerings, aesthetically speaking. After following Ebay for a year and not finding anything that was both the quality and price I wanted I contacted Hojo (Email him for a full price list and present availability and he'll send it to you. When I was corresponding with him he had very few in stock and there was a wait time of 3-6 months with prices starting around $250 dollars for a 0.9L Shin Tama Gata Itome kettle or $210 dollars for a Tetsubachi Gata Arare 0.9L kettle.). I agree with his general supposition, that buying a new kettle, one that I personally get to break in, from a well known caster, without any faults or risks, is a good path to take. It bypasses what tst mentioned in his post about being let down by purchasing an old or vintage kettle. In Taiwan and here I have seen quite a few used kettles in pretty run down shape. So, buying a used kettle online, without being able to touch it was less appealing to me.

I watched Artistic Nippon's stock as well and just didn't find any pieces that really spoke to me in the price range I wanted to spend. I went on Rinkya and their fees for access to Yahoo Japan were too expensive. I then tried Jauce.com and have been really pleased with their communication, relatively low fees and shipping options, and their service. I purchased multiple items and had them all held at Jauce's Japan storage facility until I was ready to have them all shipped over. The shipping was cheaper this way (combined) and I could take my time to find a kettle. The same Seiko kettle I found through Jauce.com on Yahoo Japan sells for more than double what I paid (including the fees and shipping) on Rikyucha.com. So I saved a lot of money by being patient, researching what I wanted, and finding it myself on Yahoo Japan.

I kept my eye open for a nice antique kettle. In Taiwan I searched too but teaware in Taiwan right now is really expensive, more expensive than the states, due in part to, and this was often discussed and reported to me throughout the island by sellers and artisans/teachers/chayi people, the demand for status tea items in China. Shinichi san at Rikyucha.com also relayed this to me, saying that the market of good kettles is being bought in Japan by mainland sources as well. In Taiwan, the same antique kettle (for that matter, any older Japanese teaware) I could buy here in the U.S. on Ebay or through Yahoo Japan sells for twice to three times what it does here right now, even given the relative proximity of Taiwan to Japan. I visited a lot of places during my last five week trip to Taiwan and everywhere was more or less the same.

I finally bought my antique kettle through Kuraya in S.F., as a matter of irony, while still in Taiwan, when my wife went to S.F. to personally inspect the kettle and take photos for me (Amazing wife! ) at Kuraya.

I like both kettles and I enjoy the process of breaking in the new Seiko kettle. However, the small antique kettle is in immaculate condition and has a really wonderful balance in the hand, a simple and elegant style, and a richer charm/presence than the new, but also nice, Seiko kettle. It also, sincerely, affects the water quality more positively than my Seiko kettle,which is still developing as a new kettle.

I still watch Ebay and haven't seen too many good, reasonably priced pieces come through lately compared to what I can buy on Yahoo Japan.

I hope that helps!

Blessings!

[Pig Hog]

That helps a lot -- thanks. I've got a day or two before the listing ends. I think I'll get a price list from Hojo and have a search around those other sites and hopefully go from there...

[Pig Hog]

The eBay tetsubin are too small. I'm going to take my time, get some prices and some money together and get a 0.8/0.9 litre new one...maybe for my birthday in a few months.

I know it was mentioned up thread but with regards to heating, I don't have the cash or the space for a charcoal brazier. How much of an issue really is it if I were to use a tetsubin over our gas kitchen stove?

[blairswhitaker]

I have one antique tetsubin that I purchased from Kuraya Antiques in San Francisco. Each time they are expecting a new shipment of items from Japan they often put their current stock of items on sale (Taylor, if you are in the city, its worth stopping in to one of their two locations to take a look around; they only put some of the stock up online) I really appreciate its smaller size, aged but well-kept disposition, and its immaculate pour. I paid $370. It's been well cared for and has a nice layer of maintained rust inside.

In the house I have two tetsubin (one antique/vintage and one new Yamagata style Seiko kettle), two silver kettles (one small, on large), three clay kettles (a Taiwanese unglazed clay kettle and two (one small, one large) glazed clay kettles) and a Bonavita. This little kettle is by far my favorite:








My second tetsubin is a Seiko kettle that I purchased from Yahoo Japan, through Jauce.com, for $200 new (total of $250 with fees and shipping). It came coated in traditional urushi inside and with use a rusty sheen is beginning to peak through the urushi. I appreciate its subdued presence and comparably larger size.

wow great kettle pics, that is also a very nice furo you have, and quite and interesting higata. what style is that? sounds like you found some real treasures in general. also hard to make out but in the background it looks like a box of hisaji, at least I have a box that looks exactly the same that my hisaji came in.

[blairswhitaker]

The eBay tetsubin are too small. I'm going to take my time, get some prices and some money together and get a 0.8/0.9 litre new one...maybe for my birthday in a few months.

I know it was mentioned up thread but with regards to heating, I don't have the cash or the space for a charcoal brazier. How much of an issue really is it if I were to use a tetsubin over our gas kitchen stove?

depending on what type of tea you are drinking you would likely want something close to a litre. If your drinking cups of sencha, around three to four ounces a cup, by the time you heat up your pots and cups and then make a few steeps you will have long run out of water using anything smaller than 0.8/0.9litre kettles.

if all you plan to do is use the kettle for a casual round of matcha then the smaller sizes are great. they heat up fast and you only need about 2oz for heating the bowl and then about 2oz per bowl also the smaller sizes are good doing gyokuro in traditional senchado tea ware.

I can't strongly advise enough against using a gas top burner on a cast iron tetsubin. the "wet flame" is of course bad for it but the raw flame really shocks the kettle, believe me that kind of repetitive thermal shock is not good for them. these kettles are investments and I would try to preserve my investment. their are even proper vs. improper ways for filling them with water before heating to help extend the life. charcoal is not the most casual thing when your thirsty for a cup of tea but you can purchase a countertop heating coil/hotplate for around 20usd that will work amazingly well so long as you get one with decent wattage.

[Pig Hog]

I'd be using mine for sencha and everything, too, so 300ml (eBay listings) will be too small for me.

Definitely agree about the investment thing and appropriate care. The hot plate/coil idea is good -- I'll look into that

[debunix]

I'm surprised by the intensity of the 'no gas flame' for the cast iron kettles.

When it comes to cooking in the kitchen, cast iron frying pans and soup pots and woks and more, if well treated, can be in daily use for decades if not centuries. Gas flames, electric flames, wood fires: they stand up to it beautifully.

What makes tetsubins so much more delicate?

[JBaymore]

What makes tetsubins so much more delicate?

The PRICE!!!!!!

A GOOD huge cast rion skillet can maybe go for $70-100.

A GOOD tetsubin is in the $200-300 range.

A GOOD Chagama.......... can be found in Japan for maybe $200.... but in the west..... much more.

best,

..............john

[Pig Hog]

I've just got a copy of Hojo-san's price list...

Investment, indeed!

Also the waiting time for Suziki Morihisa tetsubin is mad! 3 years or 5 if you want a satetsu-bin!

[Fuut]

I've just got a copy of Hojo-san's price list...

Investment, indeed!

Also the waiting time for Suziki Morihisa tetsubin is mad! 3 years or 5 if you want a satetsu-bin!

It seems if you're patient (but not thát patient), and wealthy enough (but not thát wealthy) eBay is the way to go. But still patience is a must, pick your battles like a ninja!

[茶藝-TeaArt08]

wow great kettle pics, that is also a very nice furo you have, and quite and interesting higata. what style is that? sounds like you found some real treasures in general. also hard to make out but in the background it looks like a box of hisaji, at least I have a box that looks exactly the same that my hisaji came in.

blairswhitaker

Blairs..

Thank you. Congratulations on the scholarship and your study in Japan. The ro is an antique kiri wood hibachi with no maki on the outside. I prefer a simple and clean aesthetic and its aged and darkened texture.

Yes, the box in the background is haisaji; good eye!

I don't formally study Japanese chanoyu...so there is no style. I study Taiwanese chayi with my teachers in Taiwan and, as you know, Taiwanese tea/chayi is heavily influenced and blended with Japanese tea culture. After each charcoal pour I reset the ash and let whatever comes to mind express itself.

There is a very nice Urasenke group nearby in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada near where I grew up and I have been intending to join them and enter the Japanese side of things more deeply but have yet to start. This is their website (http://urasenke.myochoankai.org).

We have good friends in Gifu, Japan...which I hear is a wonderful and cultural city, a quieter kyoto if you will. We intend to visit them when we are in Taiwan but have yet to go. I really look forward to the trip. The woman is a flower arranging master and a very sweet person.

I imagine your journey there is incredibly rich. Congratulations again!

Blessings!

[devilducklings]

A GOOD huge cast iron skillet can maybe go for $70-100.
A GOOD tetsubin is in the $200-300 range.
..............john

Pardon me if this been discussed before.
I read here that tetsubin makes delicious water because it leaches iron to the water.
How is water boiled in tetsubin compared to one boiled in cast iron kettle?
If tetsubin performed better, what is the logic behind that since both are made of unlined iron and thus both will leach iron to water?
Does a tetsubin cost much higher than cast iron just for its artistic value?

Thanks

[blairswhitaker]

a tetsubin IS a cast iron kettle.

[bonescwa]

a tetsubin IS a cast iron kettle.

I think think he is asking if there are cast iron kettles that are not marketed as tetsubin. They would probably be cheaper but provide the same benefit to the water.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000I6FF1 ... 15&simLd=1

[Pig Hog]

I'm waiting on an email from Hojo-san with a little more info on a few tetsubin I picked out in my size/price range and then hopefully I'll be able to choose and put an order in.