Where to buy Gong fu trays...

[hop_goblin]

I am sure you will be pleased

[trent]

Joel, here are some japanese trays + other japanese wooden teaware items.
http://www.artisticnippon.com/product/t ... caddy.html

[chamekke]

Thanks for the links!

Does anyone know what kind of tray is traditionally used for sencha and matcha? It seems there are Chinese trays out there, but I can't find many Japanese trays.

It depends on whether you're speaking about tea ceremony (Chado and Senchado for matcha and sencha respectively), or simply serving tea at home. As far as Chado is concerned, most of the time the bowl is usually served to you by hand (and placed in front of you on a tatami), not on a tray. The yamamichi-bon on the webpage that Trent mentions, for example, is used in a beginner's/informal temae ("procedure"); it's basically the working space on which you carry the utensils and prepare the tea. However, you don't serve the tea to the guest ON the tray.

Incidentally, I don't know much about Sencha-do, but there are some intriguing clips on YouTube:

Ogasawararyuu Sencha Chapter 1
Ogasawararyuu Sencha Chapter 2
Ogasawararyuu Sencha Chapter 3

I was really surprised at how closely the sencha ceremony is modelled on the (better known/older) matcha tea ceremony. However, the vessels, tealeaf-steeping aspects, trays, and multiple small cups are all definitely sencha-specific.

I do have a small oval tray that I believe is used for the home (i.e. non-ceremonial) serving of sencha - will try to take a photo of it for you.

P.S. Arguably I'm veering off-topic for this thread, but if it's any help, those sencha videos look pretty gong fu-ish to me!

[joelbct]

As far as Chado is concerned, most of the time the bowl is usually served to you by hand (and placed in front of you on a tatami), not on a tray.

Thank you chamekke you are the best!!

The sencha video's look fascinating, will have to watch them in their entirety.

Here are some antique Japanese tea ceremony trays I found on that Bachmann Eckenstein site, I presume for the serving of sweets or carrying of utensils:


http://www.art-antiques.ch/objects/Rengetsu/1267.html


http://www.art-antiques.ch/objects/1000-1099/1096.html

I suppose what I was looking for was the Japanese equivalent of a gong-fu tray, so it is good to know that there really isn't one, and I will proceed accordingly I do require a gong fu set-up now that I already have my Japanese teaware collection rolling.

[bi lew chun]

I suppose what I was looking for was the Japanese equivalent of a gong-fu tray, so it is good to know that there really isn't one, and I will proceed accordingly I do require a gong fu set-up now that I already have my Japanese teaware collection rolling.

I was poking around for something similar and the only tray I could come up with was this:



http://www.indigo-tea.com/teatray2.shtml

I like the simple Japanese-ish aesthetic, but of course it wouldn't exactly serve well for gong fu.

[joelbct]

Incidentally, I don't know much about Sencha-do, but there are some intriguing clips on YouTube:

Ogasawararyuu Sencha Chapter 1
Ogasawararyuu Sencha Chapter 2
Ogasawararyuu Sencha Chapter 3

Intriguing indeed! It seems very refined. Crazy music though

I like the gourd-pitcher thing in Chapter 2. She uses a ton of leaf, probably about 3 times what I would use for that much water. She must have a very short brewing time...

Here are some matcha tea ceremony youtube clips:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FfUbnaXecg&
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiYA8yLzSvQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOCiOOJoWXk&
http://www.youtube.com/v/aG0jXW3syRI&hl=en
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SBOTOwCxUU

[chamekke]

Here are some matcha tea ceremony youtube clips:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FfUbnaXecg&
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiYA8yLzSvQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOCiOOJoWXk&
http://www.youtube.com/v/aG0jXW3syRI&hl=en
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SBOTOwCxUU

Great links! I like the second video very much. It really conveys the spirit of tea, even if it doesn't show a great deal of the actual "ceremony".

Videos #3-5 are performed according to the Omotesenke style, I think - there are several interesting differences from the Urasenke style that I'm more familiar with (e.g. the way that the host "snaps" the fukusa, checks the whisk, pats down the matcha after putting it into the teabowl, etc.).

Video #4 in particular is a really outstanding recording. And the lack of sound actually makes it very meditative to watch!

Thanks for sharing these - I really enjoyed them

[Salsero]

Video #4 in particular is a really outstanding recording.

Yikes! You can be pretty sure I'd never go back again to a place with such slow service! ...although it did put me in the mood to make some matcha. Yumm.





(You might be a red neck if ... you judge the tea ceremony by promptness of service ...)

[joelbct]

This is on the way, 7.99 plus shipping off ebay, 14 inch diameter. Looks good for informal Japanese tea. Not gong fu, of course.

[JD]

Whatever you do, don't buy from The Republic of Tea. They sell the leakiest trays on the planet. The wood also warps and shrinks, and the glue doesn't hold.

I gotta try finding a new tea tray to replace my leaky TRoT tray.