Thanks Chip! No the base does not detach. It is one piece. The ridge you see is where the bowl begins to curve away from the two glass layers.
Mary - Yes I want it all!! I could go very crazy there. I seriously want those fritted float tea cups!!!
Pentox - Yes I agree, but the bowl was on sale and free shipping and no sales tax. And it was so me. I just caved.
Feb 16th, '08, 19:56
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Ahhh, the martini glasses I saw detach. That was just enough to make me start drinking...almost.Victoria's Own wrote:Thanks Chip! No the base does not detach. It is one piece. The ridge you see is where the bowl begins to curve away from the two glass layers.
AND CONGRATS, SAL!!!
Jeez, I need to catch up to some of you guys now...
blah blah blah SENCHA blah blah blah!!!
Feb 16th, '08, 22:16
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Matcha-fication
I am matcha-fied!
... thanks to the contributors to this thread as well as others in the TeaChat community. One just quaffs it straight from the bowl? That's a little evil.
I forgot to moisten the chasen first, but otherwise it was easier than I had anticipated. It is also a lot less astringent than I expected: In fact, it has no bite at all, just sweet, frothy greenness. Course, I have almost no idea where Ippodo's Kimmo-no-mukashi falls on the worst to best scale, or what the words mean. I suppose it's somewhere in the middle as it is the cheapest from a dealer in premium teas.
http://tinyurl.com/2khxjy
How many of these things in a row do you think a person can drink without killing himself? Oh, also, I think I now know where they get green laser jet toner. This stuff gets all over everything!
... thanks to the contributors to this thread as well as others in the TeaChat community. One just quaffs it straight from the bowl? That's a little evil.
I forgot to moisten the chasen first, but otherwise it was easier than I had anticipated. It is also a lot less astringent than I expected: In fact, it has no bite at all, just sweet, frothy greenness. Course, I have almost no idea where Ippodo's Kimmo-no-mukashi falls on the worst to best scale, or what the words mean. I suppose it's somewhere in the middle as it is the cheapest from a dealer in premium teas.
http://tinyurl.com/2khxjy
How many of these things in a row do you think a person can drink without killing himself? Oh, also, I think I now know where they get green laser jet toner. This stuff gets all over everything!
Feb 17th, '08, 00:30
Posts: 1559
Joined: Jan 28th, '07, 02:24
Location: Fort Worth, TX
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Space Samurai
WOW Sal, thanks for sharing. 
Its awesome to see other people get interested in matcha. This is very exciting for me, so please keep us posted.
Whisk Stand: I don't think you need one. Teaware whore that I am, if I don't have one yet, then no one needs one.
My chasen has held up just fine without out, though I imagine sooner or later I will get on. With a little care, a chasen should last you a long time I think.
Mukashi means old, either in that's old or like ancient times, depending on the context. Kimmo is not it my dictionary, so I'm no help there. "no" is an article that indicates possesion, like putting 's on the end of a word. (Watashi no shigoto = my job).
I hope you continue to enjoy the matcha!
Its awesome to see other people get interested in matcha. This is very exciting for me, so please keep us posted.Whisk Stand: I don't think you need one. Teaware whore that I am, if I don't have one yet, then no one needs one.
My chasen has held up just fine without out, though I imagine sooner or later I will get on. With a little care, a chasen should last you a long time I think.Mukashi means old, either in that's old or like ancient times, depending on the context. Kimmo is not it my dictionary, so I'm no help there. "no" is an article that indicates possesion, like putting 's on the end of a word. (Watashi no shigoto = my job).
I hope you continue to enjoy the matcha!
I made too my matcha débuts this week. I started with o-cha Kaoru supreme.
I brew it in this matcha bowl from hibiki-an (This bowl is very thin, but keeps heat correctly)
I had been reluctant to order matcha because I thought it was difficult to brew, but it wasn't.
I followed the instructions given http://www.o-cha.com/brewing-matcha.htm and I managed to obtain acceptable foam and good dispersion of the tea particles in the water. The deep green color is beautiful. (You can see it on Victoria's post on the previous page)
The first result was enjoyable (not bitter at all), but a little weak because I think I overestimated the quantity of matcha when using the teaspoon.
I prepared it later with a more adequate quantity of matcha and the taste was better.
I have now to perfect my technique and compare this great tasting tea with other matchas.
I ordered Wakamatsu-no-mukashi from Ippodo and Uji Matcha Chiyo Mukashi from O-cha
Thanks to all matcha enthusiasts (especially Space Samurai http://anotherteablog.blogspot.com/search/label/Matcha) whose comments made me try matcha!
I brew it in this matcha bowl from hibiki-an (This bowl is very thin, but keeps heat correctly)
I had been reluctant to order matcha because I thought it was difficult to brew, but it wasn't.
I followed the instructions given http://www.o-cha.com/brewing-matcha.htm and I managed to obtain acceptable foam and good dispersion of the tea particles in the water. The deep green color is beautiful. (You can see it on Victoria's post on the previous page)
The first result was enjoyable (not bitter at all), but a little weak because I think I overestimated the quantity of matcha when using the teaspoon.
I prepared it later with a more adequate quantity of matcha and the taste was better.
I have now to perfect my technique and compare this great tasting tea with other matchas.
I ordered Wakamatsu-no-mukashi from Ippodo and Uji Matcha Chiyo Mukashi from O-cha
Thanks to all matcha enthusiasts (especially Space Samurai http://anotherteablog.blogspot.com/search/label/Matcha) whose comments made me try matcha!
Feb 17th, '08, 03:26
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Joined: Jan 28th, '07, 02:24
Location: Fort Worth, TX
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Space Samurai
Feb 17th, '08, 13:21
Posts: 5151
Joined: Dec 20th, '06, 23:33
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Location: Gainesville, Florida
olivierco, thanks for the lovely post and for sharing your initial matcha experiences. I was also surprised at how easy it was and how little astringency. I repeat your thanks to Space Samurai for his beautiful work in promoting matcha at his website and to Chip for being the first human being that I personally knew who was foolhardy enough to try matcha.
Have any of you looked at those whisks? They are utterly amazing devices. How do they make them? It looks like it originates as one solid piece of bamboo stick!
Are all chawan bowls the same size? I ask because the various directions seem to assume a standard amount of water and therefore a standard chawan size. With my mania for measuring things, I am curious to know if the one-half cup O-Cha recommends is about what everyone uses. It seems to be about the one-third full in my chawan that Ippodo recommends.
Is 208° water straight out of my Zoji too hot for matcha?
I see that the matcha Ippodo included with my starter set and selling separately for ¥600 for 20 grams is really cheap, in case anyone is interested in a cheaper fix.
The big drawback to matcha is that there are no multiple infusions. I look around for the spent leaves so I can have another go, and there aren't any!
Have any of you looked at those whisks? They are utterly amazing devices. How do they make them? It looks like it originates as one solid piece of bamboo stick!
Are all chawan bowls the same size? I ask because the various directions seem to assume a standard amount of water and therefore a standard chawan size. With my mania for measuring things, I am curious to know if the one-half cup O-Cha recommends is about what everyone uses. It seems to be about the one-third full in my chawan that Ippodo recommends.
Is 208° water straight out of my Zoji too hot for matcha?
I see that the matcha Ippodo included with my starter set and selling separately for ¥600 for 20 grams is really cheap, in case anyone is interested in a cheaper fix.
The big drawback to matcha is that there are no multiple infusions. I look around for the spent leaves so I can have another go, and there aren't any!
Haha, the spent leaves are in your belly.
This whisks are frickin' cool, aren't they! Indeed they are one piece of bamboo with a string wrapped between spines to keep its shape. I occasionally push the string towards the handle to keep it in shape.
Chawans are sometimes different sizes, and even different shapes. They stay roughly the same because of the whisking needed to make a bowl.
About the water: I would never use it that hot, although I can see working out. I make matcha at the temp I want to drink it at, which is about 150°f.
This whisks are frickin' cool, aren't they! Indeed they are one piece of bamboo with a string wrapped between spines to keep its shape. I occasionally push the string towards the handle to keep it in shape.
Chawans are sometimes different sizes, and even different shapes. They stay roughly the same because of the whisking needed to make a bowl.
About the water: I would never use it that hot, although I can see working out. I make matcha at the temp I want to drink it at, which is about 150°f.
Feb 17th, '08, 13:51
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Joined: Dec 20th, '06, 23:33
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Location: Gainesville, Florida
Yeah the whisks are pretty neat, I like the fact that there so simplein principle, but complicated in practice.Salsero wrote: Have any of you looked at those whisks? They are utterly amazing devices. How do they make them? It looks like it originates as one solid piece of bamboo stick!
Are all chawan bowls the same size? I ask because the various directions seem to assume a standard amount of water and therefore a standard chawan size. With my mania for measuring things, I am curious to know if the one-half cup O-Cha recommends is about what everyone uses. It seems to be about the one-third full in my chawan that Ippodo recommends.
Is 208° water straight out of my Zoji too hot for matcha?
I see that the matcha Ippodo included with my starter set and selling separately for ¥600 for 20 grams is really cheap, in case anyone is interested in a cheaper fix.
The big drawback to matcha is that there are no multiple infusions. I look around for the spent leaves so I can have another go, and there aren't any!
Most Chawans are about the same size, at least in width. Part of the beauty of chawans is in their imperfection, so there would be no true size. I do have one chawan though which is significantly different in size than my others. It was marketed as "travel size".
208 is significantly hotter than I normally use. Normally I cool it well below sencha brewing temp like Fuka says.