Sunday/Saturday/Friday TeaDay 6th, 7th, 8th day of Spring

[karmaplace]

Really beautiful wares, Debunix! Where is that "granite" yunomi from?

And I have to say that I am jealous of everyone with a Snowdrift.

Good Eye at correctly identifying both pieces. The Hagi yunomi is Kashun and while not a huge yunomi certainly large enough. I would say if you want to go by the game of 70% full it holds roughly 8-9 oz (probably a little over 12 to the brim). I think most of his other Yunomi's are smaller.

I like the crackling on yours. I have two little Kashun yunomi (they're around 6oz), but I haven't gotten them to that level yet. I'm really looking forward to when they start crackling on the outside!

I had Shizuoka okuyutaka sencha in my cup this afternoon, and I'm enjoying some Wuyi "cinnamon oolong" tonight while I prepare classes. Happy weekend, everyone!

[debunix]

Really beautiful wares, Debunix! Where is that "granite" yunomi from?

Both the 'granite' and 'seafoam' yunomis were from ginkgo. Her online shop is here. The pricelist is a pdf that's a little tricky to find--click 'prix' if you see it on one of the pages to download it.

[AdamMY]

In reference to Chip Let me show you a book shelf in my appartment:



Though I should be clear that is my only book shelf like that.

[brlarson]

Started the teaday with Beidou No 1 from Hou de, then decided to treat myself with the Mandarin's 3 Stamp SX which I will probably drink for the rest of the day

BTW, very beautiful wares tht everyone is showing.

[brad4419]

Nice pics everyone!

Absolutely Yes!

My favorite piece of teaware is my 60ml ru kilm celadon gaiwan. Its my favorite because its the perfect size and is so versitile. Second is a 120ml shui pin zhuni around 40yrs old. It brews great rou gui. Third is a 110ml zisha teapot from dragon tea house. Its used for da hong pao. Following are Hagi teacups, celadon and porcelain cups.

Opened a new bag of xiao hong pao from jingteashop yesterday

[karmaplace]

Both the 'granite' and 'seafoam' yunomis were from ginkgo. Her online shop is here. The pricelist is a pdf that's a little tricky to find--click 'prix' if you see it on one of the pages to download it.

Thanks! Wow, she's got some really beautiful pieces I can't afford.

Nice book shelf, Adam!

So, inspired by Adam who was inspired by Chip, I will share mine, because after I got my latest orders of tea and tea cups I had to start shifting things around, and a lot of stuff was moved to my (only) book shelf.

IMG_1099.jpg (41.14 KiB) Viewed 3058 times

On the top is all the gifts I have bought and haven't yet sent to people since I arrived in September (and one airing-out washi tin).

The top shelf has handmade soaps, my earrings, and birthday letters from my students. In other words, things that will not be terribly destroyed if knocked off by the cat.

The next shelf is photos, letters, and gifts. The large open shadow-box is actually a small suitcase a friend personalized and decorated for me before I left the States. These are frequent victims of cat-bombing.

Then it's tea! And a large collection of stationary.

Next are chawan and washi tins of tea.

Only the bottom shelf has books...and everything else that doesn't have a proper place. Oh, clutter.

[Nenugal]

6 favourites... so difficult to choose, but I'll try.

1. The Tempest by Seigan. The one that got me hooked on Hagi.
2. SHINO and SLIP Glazed CHAWAN by Shyrabbit.
3. Red Iron Glaze "Iron Wan" Chawan by Seigan.
4. Loquat glaze hime-hagi-yaki "The Princess" ido-type chawan by Deishi
5. A cheap but good 150 ml banko kyusu.
6. A new Yixing purple clay (Zi Ni?) Xi Shi ~150 ml pot that I came across in a nice teashop in Berlin yesterday. It passes lid-fit, sound and water-flow tests quite nicely, but it is hard for me to judge the quality beyond that. I originally planned to use it for Da Hong Pao, but I'm starting to wonder if it would work even better for lighter oolongs...

Today's tea is a nice Da Hong Pao from the same tea shop.

[Chip]

Beauties debunix, Adam and Karmaplace!

Speaking of shelves, a new arrival caused a major reshuffling on the one TeaShelf.

Before the reshuffle...

[Chip]

Oh, great TD as usual, even with only one sencha in house!

Began with Organic Sencha from Rishi served up in a Hagi SnowDrift ... certainly should be in the fave 6! Next up Organic Matcha Kaoru from O-Cha with the Mrs. And finished with Korean green.

[Chip]

Hopefully a third day will be the charm as I try to figure out faves. So we will extend the topic one more day ... and I get a day off as a bonus!

So, please share what is in your cup this Sunday, share your fave Teawares, maybe even a photo or two!

[Chasm]

I got the first Sae Midori infusion right this morning. Ahhhh.

I see your kyusu by Kenji sitting in the front of that pic, Chip. I bought the same one a year or two back, again, because I'd seen you rave about how much you loved yours. It exceeded expectations.

I might cough up some pics for this thread today too.

[David R.]

It is difficult to narrow it down to 6 pieces of teaware... Choosing 6 teacups is already a challenge but to choose between teapots and cups is just impossible. Here are 5 of my 6 favorite teapots. The 6th, actually the one I prefer, is in Japan undergoing some repair. I leave a free spot for it.

[karmaplace]

It is difficult to narrow it down to 6 pieces of teaware... Choosing 6 teacups is already a challenge but to choose between teapots and cups is just impossible. Here are 5 of my 6 favorite teapots. The 6th, actually the one I prefer, is in Japan undergoing some repair. I leave a free spot for it.

Oooh, I love that kyusu. Care to share some details on it? I hope your 6th is getting the proper TLC it needs.

I started the day with some iced Wuyi cinnamon oolong that I had left to brew overnight in the fridge, and then later I tried out some of Adagio's "Masters" Kheemun, but either I mis-brewed or I really, really just don't like it. I'm now back to the cinnamon to end my Sunday night. Mmm.

[David R.]

Oooh, I love that kyusu. Care to share some details on it? I hope your 6th is getting the proper TLC it needs.

Of course ! It is my very latest purchase from Hojo. A sado red clay kyusu cooked using reduction technique which gives the black colour to it. 170ml. Wonderful effect on tea so far : does not rub too many things out, and gives a wonderful after taste. I am currently testing it with different teas before devoting it entirely to japanese greens.

My 6th pot is in very capable hands, thanks for asking.

[Chasm]

With photos this time: The six that are currently most-used:

My water-cooler. It's a largish creamer of ivory glazed stoneware with a basket-weave design. It's a magnificent heat sink, with a thermometer-handy shape and a wide mouth. I've gotten expert at judging amount of water by how high it goes in this vessel. Cheap thrift-store find, but I like how it does the job better than anything else I've seen.

Posed with it is a "singing cup" from Stephane at Teamasters. It's my reference cup against which I compare others for finding the right pairing with a given tea. It sits on a copper flower-shaped chataku depicting the Meiji shrine:

Attempt at detail on the chataku:

Joyce Chen ceramic kettle. Love the neutrality on the water of this one, and it is one tough baby:

The object listed as "Hakucho Banko Yaki Houhin Teapot" on Yuuki-cha. I got it from some other store on ebay, but it's the same one. I'm currently drinking O-Cha's Sae Midori every morning, and this is the best infusion vessel I have for that tea. Banko-yaki, even a poured-slurry cheapie like this one, does something to this tea I adore, and this is my only banko with a steel mesh filter:

My current chawan of choice is a 69-cent thrift store find. I always wanted one in a certain type of cobalt blue, because the green matcha against that color really does something to me, but I've never seen one I could afford. There's no maker's mark on this bowl, I don't know who made it or what for, and it had a sizable chip missing off the outside, but it was that perfect gorgeous blue and the right size and shape, so I brought it home, lead-tested it, and dyed the chip with tea. The tea-dyed imperfection fits very well with the traditional matcha aesthetic, I think:

I have a lot of china in the Haviland Blue Garland pattern, all of it accumulated from thrift stores. The teacups (not the coffee cups) for this set are excellent when you want a thin-walled porcelain English-style cup with a good shape for tea drinking. I use one for when I drink black tea. I have several, which is good given that I've already smashed two. I'm getting much better at not smashing teaware. I tried to show some of the transparency of the cup: