Kyusu Considerations

[MEversbergII]

Until just last week, I've only brewed tea in either my large 500ml (2cup) earthenware or my small ~100ml (less than half a cup) gaiwans. Different teas perform differently, especially in the gaiwan. I just picked up a 250ml (1c) kyusu and I'm looking to further my knowledge on it.

What I'm wondering is how to get the most out of whatever I infuse in it. I gave it several goes with a good Sencha and, after translating the directions into metrics, arrived at the conclusion that a little bit over 2g of tea to 100ml of water ratio (i.e. a bit over 5g of Sencha per "cup" water). Is this typical of these smaller pots? Does this ratio hold up with other teas? How can I predict timings?

As it is a smaller pot, it will lose heat faster (it's also thinner walled), so would things like pu'er and hongs be less than suitable, or would the more leaves and shorter infusion still yield something good?

For reference, with my large pot or small gaiwans, I usually do it "Western" style, which is 1g tea per 100ml, steeped at 5 or 6 minutes depending on the specific tea.

Thanks!

M.

[Poohblah]

If your kyusu is unglazed (as most tokoname pots are), then you should only brew sencha in it.

Gaiwan I would reserve for oolong and pu'er.

As far as brewing sencha goes... Chip is the most outspoken among us regarding brewing technique for sencha, but generally I try to brew like this:

• about 5 grams of tea in 150mL of water (for me 5g of leaf is enough for a caffeine buzz most days, also you can fill your kyusu partway to get smaller brews, it works really well)
• I bring the water to a boil, use the hot water to warm up the pot and teacups, and then pour some hot water into a yuzamashi ("water cooler"), which can be either an authentic Japanese yuzamashi or else just plain old tea cups or faircups
• I let the water cool in the yuzamashi to about 150 degrees Fahrenheit, which for me is about when I can stick my finger in the water for five seconds before it becomes painful, and simultaneously I pour out the hot water in the kyusu and put my leaves in the heated body of the kyusu. This releases a really wonderful aroma; Chip calls it the "sit-down moment"
• When both the water and leaves are ready, I'll start brewing. 60 to 90 seconds for the first steep, then about 30 seconds for the second steep with slightly hotter water (this one is usually the thickest and best), and increasing time by about 30 seconds and temperature by about 10 degrees for every subsequent steep until the leaves give out or I get bored. Of course you will want to experiment a bit to figure out what works best for each tea.

Hope that helps

[Chip]

EDIT: Poohblah beat me to the punch, but I had already written this reply, soooo ...

Whether a single unglazed Kyusu is appropriate for universal tea brewing (aka "cross brewing") is ... debatable. My own personal experience with unglazed Kyusu is that eventually this practice will catch up with you and muddy the waters so to speak. All your teas brewed in the vessel will be imparted with a similar flavor profile in the background. I found this quite distracting and undesirable.

So, question is what is your intention for this new Kyusu? Brewing one general type of tea or living dangerously by brewing cross brewing?

Regardless, each type of tea and to a degree each tea will still require individual attention to detail, no rule of thumb directions based upon a type of pot or clay.

[Chip]

If your kyusu is unglazed (as most tokoname pots are), then you should only brew sencha in it.

Gaiwan I would reserve for oolong and pu'er.

As far as brewing sencha goes... Chip is the most outspoken among us regarding brewing technique for sencha, but generally I try to brew like this:

• about 5 grams of tea in 150mL of water (for me 5g of leaf is enough for a caffeine buzz most days, also you can fill your kyusu partway to get smaller brews, it works really well)
• I bring the water to a boil, use the hot water to warm up the pot and teacups, and then pour some hot water into a yuzamashi ("water cooler"), which can be either an authentic Japanese yuzamashi or else just plain old tea cups or faircups
• I let the water cool in the yuzamashi to about 150 degrees Fahrenheit, which for me is about when I can stick my finger in the water for five seconds before it becomes painful, and simultaneously I pour out the hot water in the kyusu and put my leaves in the heated body of the kyusu. This releases a really wonderful aroma; Chip calls it the "sit-down moment"
• When both the water and leaves are ready, I'll start brewing. 60 to 90 seconds for the first steep, then about 30 seconds for the second steep with slightly hotter water (this one is usually the thickest and best), and increasing time by about 30 seconds and temperature by about 10 degrees for every subsequent steep until the leaves give out or I get bored. Of course you will want to experiment a bit to figure out what works best for each tea.

Hope that helps

Although I may offer subtle variations on this, Poohblah has hit it pretty much right on.

I always start a new sencha at what we call a 1:1 ratio. This is grams leaf to ounces water (yeah, crossing the measuring between metric and ounces, but the ratio is so easy when doing this that it makes a lot of sense ... just keep in mind that 1 ounce water is 30 ml). This is my starting point, but this is not right for everyone, every personal taste. I remember my starting point used to be .6:1 years ago when I started drinking sencha. This is also not right for every sencha ...

Ratios are handy for some of us in finding the right amount of leaves in a variable amount of water. With the ratio, you can easily vary the amount of water and then find how much leaf to use.

Typically lately, I find that I bump upwards in the amount of leaf, increasing the ratio.

To preheat the Kyusu or not to preheat!?! That is the question. I traditionally have ... and the "sit down moment" is something everyone should definitely experience. But lately, I have backed away from preheating the kyusu for sencha. Instead, I pour the leaves into the room temp kyusu. To compensate for this, I then use slightly hotter water since the water will cool very quickly when poured into the cool Kyusu.

So, why have I begun to not preheat the Kyusu you may (or may not) ask? I got a notion in my head that if I put the leaves into the pot and that wonderful aroma is escaping, perhaps this is a loss in the brew taste and aroma. I really need to do side by side tasting ... for now, it is simply a theory.

But also, pouring hotter water over the leaves can (again theoretically) release more flavor?

[MEversbergII]

So these are unglazed, then? I thought so at first, but wasn't sure. I am guessing they're not as "aggressive" as Yixing (and related) clays in flavor absorption? Will it inevitably be confined to a single tea? And does it count if it's Sencha, Bancha, Kukicha, that kind of "different"?

Thanks again!

M.

[Chip]

So these are unglazed, then? I thought so at first, but wasn't sure. I am guessing they're not as "aggressive" as Yixing (and related) clays in flavor absorption? Will it inevitably be confined to a single tea? And does it count if it's Sencha, Bancha, Kukicha, that kind of "different"?

Thanks again!

M.

I am not too apt to make a rule of thumb conclusion regarding rates of absorption as much can come into play such as the firing, the actual clay used, etc.

Even absolute conclusion regarding glazed versus nonglazed has flaws as some glazes over very porous clay can pehaps have an even higher rate of absorption than unglazed. For instance Hagi with a very sandy type clay.

However, as long as you stick with unroasted and "ungrained" and unflavored/unscented types of Japanese GREEN teas, you should be OK. (when I say unflavored/unscented I mean nothing was added to the tea to impart flavor or aroma)

And keep in mind, these comments come with an IMHO and YMMV clause.

[Poohblah]

So these are unglazed, then? I thought so at first, but wasn't sure.

Show us a picture to be sure. If it's porcelain, it's either glazed or so high-fired that its effect on flavor is neutral. If it's a different kind of ceramic, then take a look at images of glazed teapots and unglazed teapots... I think the difference should be pretty clear.

I am guessing they're not as "aggressive" as Yixing (and related) clays in flavor absorption?

The porosity of the clay and its firing level determine what effect it has on flavors. Generally speaking, Tokoname kyusu are less porous than Yixing chahu (teapots). So it goes without saying that it is impossible to know more about your teapot's effect on flavors without learning more about it (again, pictures would be nice )

Will it inevitably be confined to a single tea? And does it count if it's Sencha, Bancha, Kukicha, that kind of "different"?

Again, it depends on the particular teapot and your preferences. Generally speaking, I think that the kinds of Japanese green you listed are okay to mix and match in a single Tokoname kyusu. But you never know. The best way to find out is to try. When it comes to Yixing pots, somebody who owns more Yixing wares than me can chime in, but I believe it's generally the case that while most pots are best paired with a single tea, some can do well with mixing and matching to a certain extent.

[MEversbergII]

Thanks! It's the Den's Tea $5 Kyusu: http://www.denstea.com/teapots-cups-tea ... 5_379.html

It says Shudei, but I am afraid the meaning is lost on me.

M.

[Poohblah]

Thanks! It's the Den's Tea $5 Kyusu: http://www.denstea.com/teapots-cups-tea ... 5_379.html

It says Shudei, but I am afraid the meaning is lost on me.

M.

"Shudei" just means "red clay".

It refers to the color of Tokoname clay after it is fired.

Shudei kyusu are the most common kind of inexpensive Tokoname kyusu. You can find them everywhere in Japan, and the Tokoname catalog is full of them. They are almost always unglazed, and as such I highly suggest only using them with Japanese greens. Shudei kyusu pair nicely with sencha.

[MEversbergII]

I'll keep mine for Sencha, then. I did brew some Assam in it, because it had a fine enough sieve.

Is there a particular vessel best suited for kukicha? I'm not imagining that counts as green tea (or when you get down to it, technically a tea at all). Gaiwan, perhaps?

M.

[Chip]

Roasted or green version of Kukicha? If it is a green version, you can brew it in the same pot as your sencha.

However if it is a roasted version, you will want to avoid brewing in an unglazed kyusu that you also use for sencha or similar.

[chamekke]

So, why have I begun to not preheat the Kyusu you may (or may not) ask? I got a notion in my head that if I put the leaves into the pot and that wonderful aroma is escaping, perhaps this is a loss in the brew taste and aroma. I really need to do side by side tasting ... for now, it is simply a theory.

But also, pouring hotter water over the leaves can (again theoretically) release more flavor?

I would love to find out the result of your side by side tasting, Chip

If there's no significant difference, though, I'd opt for preheating the kyusu. It'd be shame to lose that wonderful sit-down moment! Basically I love inhaling the pure fragrance of the warmed tea leaves; sometimes it's almost better than tasting it. (Then again I think one of the secret pleasures in being the tea-ceremony host is getting to experience that intense aromatic hit when the hot water meets the matcha )

[tylerdylan]

In relation to all this kyusu talk, I was wondering if the 500ml kyusu teapots I recently acquired (see thread: http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=18573) would be suitable for oolong, perhaps.

I am hoping so, because as I venture further into the world of tea, I'd like to go class by class, and I've already started off exploring oolongs. I have only one yixing for roasted gao shan oolong and would love to be able to brew Dan cong or wen shan bao zhong in its own clay pot, instead of the giant cheap glass teapot I use for everything but the roasted gao Shans.

Otherwise these kyusu are useless to me.

[tylerdylan]

And if the kyusu are in fact useless to me, anyone have any yixing laying around to trade?

[edkrueger]

I think most people here use sub 100ml pots of oolongs. A 500ml pot of oolong would be a pretty big serving and use a ton of leaves. Pots of that size are useful for bancha and cheaper sencha. I'm pretty sure they are made with that in mind too.