Different cups for sencha vs. genmaicha/houjicha?

[Ritva]

This is something I've been wondering about. Should one dedicate hagi-ware teacups for certain kinds of japanese green tea? I use one kyusu for brewing sencha and another one for brewing genmaicha or houjicha. Should I do the same with hagi teacups? The flavour of sencha is much more subtle than the flavour of genmaicha or houjicha, so would drinking genmaicha/houjicha "ruin" the hagi cup for drinking sencha? Houjicha has such a strong aroma that I would suspect that, but what do you think about genmaicha? I really enjoy drinking genmaicha-matcha-iri and I just bought a gorgeous Seigan teacup that would be wonderful for that. However, I would also like to drink my saturday morning sencha from my new treasure, but would drinking genmaicha from the same cup spoil that?

[chamekke]

Good question, Ritva. I don't know the answer - perhaps you should try asking the seller you bought your Seigan cup from!

For what it's worth, I've had tea with Japanese friends many times, and they have always served genmaicha or houjicha in the sturdier type of porcelain cup. On the other hand, they tend to favour porcelain cups (sturdy or delicate) for sencha, too. So... hmm... not sure if I can draw much of a conclusion from that. So far the only people I've seen using hagiware for Japanese leaf teas* are fellow non-Japanese!

(*My tea teacher has a couple of hagi chawan for matcha, but that's not the same question.)

[Buzz Fledderjohn]

I always use a separate cup for houji/genmaicha than I do for sencha. Hagi, being porous, may retain some odors/flavors so I never use mine for flavored tea. I also brew houji/genmaicha in a glazed kyusu for the same reasons.

But that's just me, YMMV.

[olivierco]

This is something I've been wondering about. Should one dedicate hagi-ware teacups for certain kinds of japanese green tea? I use one kyusu for brewing sencha and another one for brewing genmaicha or houjicha. Should I do the same with hagi teacups? The flavour of sencha is much more subtle than the flavour of genmaicha or houjicha, so would drinking genmaicha/houjicha "ruin" the hagi cup for drinking sencha? Houjicha has such a strong aroma that I would suspect that, but what do you think about genmaicha? I really enjoy drinking genmaicha-matcha-iri and I just bought a gorgeous Seigan teacup that would be wonderful for that. However, I would also like to drink my saturday morning sencha from my new treasure, but would drinking genmaicha from the same cup spoil that?

You should pour some hot water in your cup: if the houjicha flavor isn't noticeable, you can drink sencha from it.

[Ritva]

Thanks for comments! I asked the seller about it, and he thinks it would be ok to drink different teas from the same hagi-cup. I think I'm still going to be a little careful about it though. I haven't received the new cup yet but when I do get it, I think I'll drink first week or so only sencha so that all the pores in clay will be saturated with sencha flavour Then I'll try genmaicha-matcha-iri, and do the hot water test that Olivierco suggested. The cup has blue glazing inside so I think it would look gorgeous with genmaicha-matcha-iri - the bright green against blue background. If the aroma of genmaicha still lingers in the cup I'll dedicate it to genmaicha then. Houjicha is so smoky that maybe I'll leave it to other cups just to be on the safe side.

[britt]

For houjicha and genmaicha I always use glazed, double-walled Somayaki cups. The full glazing should prevent any flavors from being absorbed by the cup, and the double walls hold the heat in very well, which is a less desireable feature when drinking high grade sencha. I'm not saying that dedicated cups are necessary, only that this is what I do.

I would think that using fully glazed Hagi cups would be fine for houjicha and genmaicha, but I probably wouldn't use the Hagi's where the glaze "crawls" and breaks apart, as this exposes the clay and might retain the tea's flavor or scent.

[tsusentei]

You should pour some hot water in your cup: if the houjicha flavor isn't noticeable, you can drink sencha from it.

That is a very good answer! It also very much depends on what kind of sencha you are drinking. Japanese tea fanatics will drink a rich and green sencha using the same method as a gyokuro, meaning very small pot and cups, and would therefore be inappropriate for genmaicha.

If you are doing larger infusions and using porcelain or a glazed piece, there shouldn't be any problems with carry-over, as long as you are rinsing immediately after infusing/drinking.

Here is one of my sencha/gyokuro sets (I put a playing card in for scale):

[tsusentei]

I would think that using fully glazed Hagi cups would be fine for houjicha and genmaicha, but I probably wouldn't use the Hagi's where the glaze "crawls" and breaks apart, as this exposes the clay and might retain the tea's flavor or scent.

Good point. I also wouldn't use it with a maccha-iri product, as the maccha can be rather pervasive and cause unpleasant discoloration.

[olivierco]

Here is one of my sencha/gyokuro sets (I put a quarter in for scale):

Nice set!
What size is a quarter?

[Salsero]

What size is a quarter?

Does this sound right?

"France, 20 centimes, or 1 franc (BOTH the size of a quarter)"

2.4 cm

******
I have to agree, Tsusentei, you have some sensational teaware.

[tsusentei]

Sorry about the quarter, not quite worldly enough to be used in tea. Perhaps, ethnocentricitea~~....

[chamekke]

There was a discussion on an Etsy forum recently about using North American items like quarters to show scale in photographs.

It was finally agreed that playing cards have pretty much the same dimensions around the globe, and can safely be used as a "universal" scale indicator

[olivierco]

What size is a quarter?

Does this sound right?

"France, 20 centimes, or 1 franc (BOTH the size of a quarter)"

2.4 cm

Thanks!

[Ritva]

I would think that using fully glazed Hagi cups would be fine for houjicha and genmaicha, but I probably wouldn't use the Hagi's where the glaze "crawls" and breaks apart, as this exposes the clay and might retain the tea's flavor or scent.

Don't most (or maybe all) Hagi cups have "crawling glaze" in some degree? I do see your point because I've noticed that some hagi cups develop cracks in glazing much faster than others. The glazing seems to vary from sort of semi-matte to shiny and some cups seem to be made from heavier, more coarse clay (like the ones that Shibuya Deishi makes). The typical leaking of Hagi cups in the beginning of use takes longer with those heavier cups.

You should pour some hot water in your cup: if the houjicha flavor isn't noticeable, you can drink sencha from it.

That is a very good answer! It also very much depends on what kind of sencha you are drinking. Japanese tea fanatics will drink a rich and green sencha using the same method as a gyokuro, meaning very small pot and cups, and would therefore be inappropriate for genmaicha.

If you are doing larger infusions and using porcelain or a glazed piece, there shouldn't be any problems with carry-over, as long as you are rinsing immediately after infusing/drinking.

I enjoy larger infusions with relatively low amount of leaves more. I've tried the brewing instructions of sencha in japanese pages (like Maiko, Hibiki-an and Horaido) but I find the taste too overpowering. I usually drink sencha from almost as big cups as genmaicha.

Good point. I also wouldn't use it with a maccha-iri product, as the maccha can be rather pervasive and cause unpleasant discoloration.

I think you're supposed to get discoloration with Hagi! Isn't that part of the "seven changes" that Hagi-yaki goes through? There are Hagi-yaki matcha bowls as well. Discoloration doesn't bother me but I just don't want smoky taste in my cup.

[tsusentei]

Good point. I also wouldn't use it with a maccha-iri product, as the maccha can be rather pervasive and cause unpleasant discoloration.

I think you're supposed to get discoloration with Hagi! Isn't that part of the "seven changes" that Hagi-yaki goes through? There are Hagi-yaki matcha bowls as well. Discoloration doesn't bother me but I just don't want smoky taste in my cup.

Natural discoloration is very pleasant. I was, of course, speaking of unpleasant discoloration. (^^)