Mon/Tues 9/5-6/11 TeaWare Tutor?

[Chip]

Happy Labor Day, America!

Greetings everyone worldwide. Please drop in and share this TeaDay holiday with your American friends on TeaChat. Share what is in your cup ... and discuss the topic of the day.

Yesterday we discussed fave tea for August. Please continue to discuss yesterday's topic.

Today's teaPoll and discussion topic. Is there a type of TeaWare that you would like personalized, specialized, even in-house tutoring on its purchase and/or use brewing and/or serving/drinking? Please share.

We are looking forward to sharing this TeaDay with ... everyone. Bottoms up.

[Poohblah]

yixing

[Nenugal]

yixing

Yixing and chawan.

[Poohblah]

yixing

Yixing and chawan.

well, chawan is just one piece of teaware. wouldn't you need somebody to teach you how to use every utensil involved in chanoyu? I would lump all of those together into one item.

[Nenugal]

yixing

Yixing and chawan.

well, chawan is just one piece of teaware. wouldn't you need somebody to teach you how to use every utensil involved in chanoyu? I would lump all of those together into one item.

Yes I completely agree, and chanoyu tutoring would be great, however I also think that the chawan is special in that it takes time and experience to learn what to look for and what makes it good for chanoyu, so I was also thinking that tutoring wrt quality evaluation and aesthetics appreciation of a chawan for purchasing would be very useful.

[karmaplace]

I think the only teaware that I've never actually handled has been a basic gaiwan. The one I have has a little spout with a filter, so it resembles a houhin more than a gaiwan, in my opinion.

I don't know why, and I know it's ridiculous, but the look of a gaiwan intimidates me more than any other teaware. It's like I don't trust myself to keep the leaves in properly, or that I worry that I'd overfill it and burn myself.

Iced rougui throughout the day, and a little royal milk tea in the afternoon.

[JRS22]

I would greatly benefit from yixing lessons - especially re purchasing. So maybe it wouldn't be practical to have someone cart over a selection of pots, but I would happily go somewhere nearby for the lessons. Shape, size, quality, pairing with teas, etc.

I learned how to use a gaiwan from tips here on Teachat, and I can use one for Puerh w/o burning myself.

I'm cleaning out my tea cabinet by finishing off teas that are too good to toss. Today, the last of the second rate gyo and last year's Sakura Sencha.

[debunix]

Still trying to decide with what tea to start the day.....as I've been lazy on this Labor Day so far.

I don't feel a desire for classes on how to use my teawares--at this point I'm pretty comfortable with that, except of course for the matcha problem (still unclear if it is a palate problem, tea problem, or preparation problem). I would love to go to a class on teawares in general that would discuss the history of the clays, glazes, kilns, pottery traditions, and that would bring together experts in everything from the oldest pottery shards to modern masterpieces from all over the world.

As for the buying, well, I think I'm doing ok on that too. I might need some lessons in not purchasing, however. I am not interested in buying things that are too precious to risk breaking in actual use, but the small cups that I prefer are surprisingly affordable, and really don't take up that much space, and, and.....

[Chip]

What do you say we discuss yesterday's topic one more day??? Great. We will discuss yesterday's topic today.

Please stop in throughout the day and share what is in your cup with us.

Of course continue to discuss yesterday's TeaWare Tutor topic.

Feel free to add a topic to our TeaDay discussion. After all, this is our TeaRoom.

Bottoms up.

[Drax]

Huh, weird... I started this thread on the naming process for chawans yesterday without having seen this TeaDay topic...

In any case, I think I would enjoy a personalized chawan or guinomi -- something either for special use or everday use -- that had a special meaning of some sort (friend of the artist; gift of a friend, etc). In the meantime, the Hagi Special Offerings have been pretty nice, too!

No tutoring necessary, though... I think I'd rather read about chanoyu than actually perform it...

[caplady1225]

i have no cool teaware

starting my day off right with tea purchased from zhi's sale

Yunwu Cloud and Mist (green tea)

yumm

[AdamMY]

Yes please, I would love to learn so much more about teaware of all types. Most specifically Chawan, and Yixing/ Chou zhou teapot.

Thinking about this a little bit more, I would love a Tetsubin/ Chagama teaware tutor, or in general a teaware tutor that covers a variety of Kettles.

[twinofmunin]

Yixing, mostly, and related teapots. Woefully confused by surfing around the forums, though if I started taking notes I'm sure it would help. I suspect my tuition may be high, though, as there isn't really anywhere around here (that I know of) to find that sort of thing in person (though I have yet to venture into Chinatown).

Also Cha Dao (http://www.wikicha.com/index.php/Cha_Dao_Tools)... they're for sale all over and their use is described, but I don't really see their use in many videos and so on. Particularly interested in the cup-washing step. I'm sure I could find videos on YouTube, but I risk finding things like Mr. Sleeves.

I thought I knew how to use a gaiwan just fine until I got my first non-TeaGallery gaiwan... and its thicker clay and odder shape is still a little awkward for me to manipulate. I think that's just me, though.

[Drax]

Ha! I just realized that I mis-read the question... I thought those were individual categories, not all modifiers of 'tutoring.'

I'll go w/ my final answer... no tutoring desired...

[FlyedPiper]

I think with the advent of the internet and forums like this it's not really necessary to make a good cup or bowl of tea.

Of course if you want to use the Japanese tea ceremony (and to a lesser extent the Chinese tea ceremony) to it's fullest you will need a skilled instructor.