Massage from Rikyu, an ancient tea master

At this point, what do you understand from The Seven Essentials of The Way of Tea by Rikyu?  Let’s take a look at them once again.

The seven essentials:

1.    Prepare the tea just right

2.    Place the charcoal appropriately to boil the water

3.    Arrange the flowers as if they were in the fields

4.    Make it seem warm in winter, and cool in summer

5.    Do things ahead of time

6.    Have umbrellas ready even if it is not raining

7.    Care about the guests

These are a little abstracted, so I came up with my own interpretation for each.  The following are the important points that I thought of:

1.    Considering appropriate points on things

2.    Preparations of things

3.    Making things natural or being natural

4.    Environment of things

5.    Leeway on your mind

6.    Preparing for any contingency

7.    Consideration to others

Did you notice that the essentials don’t include much about tea preparation?  Rikyu could have told us how to prepare delicious tea with the right amount of tea, correct water temperature or how to whisk.  But, he left different things as the essentials.  The taste of tea might not be the one, and there are more important things.  I think that the vital key is to spend a peaceful time, and these important lessons are for that reason.

You find the hospitality of the host from the beautiful simple flower displayed in the room, and you feel warm by communicating to other guests through greeting.  The feeling of other’s kindness will make the ceremony even more special and meaningful, which has captivated many people throughout history.  The essential is not just about the tea, but also consideration to others.

My interpretation may vary in the future as I experience and understand The Way of Tea more.

The essentials: 7. Care about the guests

The ancient tea master, Rikyu once said “Care about the guests”.  This is one of the seven essentials of The Way of Tea, which I introduced on the previous entry.

I think this is the most important lesson among the seven.  You can feel the spirit of caring for others in the movements and gestures in the tea ceremony.  This is not only the host’s responsibly, but also the guests’.  Thus, everybody in the ceremony is expected to show care to each other. 

For example, when the host hands out the tea to guests, he turns the tea bowl, and makes sure that its front side is facing the guest.  This is an act of being caring.   Before drinking, that guest bows to the guest(s) next to him as a sign of respect, or sometimes to ask that guest if he wants another round.  The greetings to each other strengthen the bond among the guests.  Then, the guest turns the bowl to avoid drinking tea from its front, which is the crucial part of a bowl.  Those courtesies shown to and by each participant make the ceremony heartwarming and meaningful

I think the other six essentials are all based on this lesson.  “Preparing the tea just right” and “Doing things ahead of time” should be considered for the other participants, as well.  Without the spirit of caring for others, the tea ceremony won’t mean anything; it is going to be just a tea drinking event.   That is why I consider this lesson the most important.

My interpretation of Rikyu’s “Care about the guests” is that

Consideration to others is important.

Related entries

The essentials of The Way of Tea

1. Prepare the tea just right

2. Place the charcoal appropriately to boil the water

3. Arrange the flowers as if they were in the fields

4. Make it seem warm in winter, and cool in summer
5. Do things ahead of time

6. Have umbrellas ready even if it is not raining

7. Care about the guests

Tea as an aftertaste

(This post is a continuation of the last entry.)

The tea brewed in boiling water was indeed strong.  I first tasted thick kabusecha’s umami and its aroma rose to my nose.  It wasn’t bad but it was one of the strongest aromas I have ever experienced.  Then soon, I was attacked by an intense bitterness.  It filled in my mouth and I felt that the heavy flavor went down on my throat to my stomach.  It is definitely new but I don’t consider it tasty.

After tasting, as I was taking note of the flavor, I still felt its aftertaste.  It has a lingering flavor which probably lasted for a few minutes.   Despite the substantial bitterness, the aftertaste was pleasing, though.  I could feel a gentle tinge of green flavor remaining at the back of my palate.  It is a mixture of smooth bitterness and flattering sweetness.  Now, I understand the meaning of “You taste sweetness after 2-3 minutes”.

To explore more, I tried the brewing in a different condition.

Tea leaf: 2g

Water: 50ml /1.8oz

Brewing time: 40sec

This tea still has a thick flavor, but surprisingly I didn’t find much bitterness.  Since other flavors were bold, I was not satisfied with the weak bitterness.  The lingering taste is alive and well.

My recipe needs more improvement but I found a good potential in this brewing method.  You just boil water with a kettle and throw tea leaves into it.  That’s it.  If you find out the correct amount of leaves and brewing time, it will be much easier than the usual ways.

This is not the type of tea to quench your thirst.  This is tea to be sipped in small amounts and relished the rich flavor of fine tea.  Of course, savoring the long and soothing aftertaste will be the most brilliant part of this tea.  I hope you enjoy it in your own way!

Tea brewed in boiling water

How do you imagine tea brewed in boiling water taste like?  I found such method in a book.  This method is putting leaves into boiling water to brew, instead of pouring hot water into a teapot with leaves.  It is as descriptive as it says …

“The tea has a rich aroma and color with strong bitterness.  You will find a basic flavor of sencha.  It might be a little too bitter for people who are used to contemporary tea.  You taste sweetness after 2-3 minutes.” 

The description is a little ambiguous to me and I wonder a little.  Why is it referred to as basic tea?  What does contemporary tea means?  You could understand the last statement as “You will have a sweet aftertaste in time” or “The tea in the cup gradually gets sweeter in time”.  Anyhow, I know the tea gets very bitter from my experience, but I was also curious about its actual taste. 

The book doesn’t have a detailed instruction so I assumed the amount of ingredients and brewing time from its context and photos.  This time, I tried conditions as follows;

Tea leaf:  Kabusecha (6g)

Water: 70ml

Brewing time: 45sec

I don’t have a teapot that I can use on fire.  Instead, I used a small pan.  I boiled water in it, and I threw the leaves into the gently boiling water.  The leaves absorbed the water quickly and they kept boiling.  I was planning to brew them for a minute but as I was watching the pan, I realized that it would be too long.  So, I took out the pan from the fire at 45sec.  I poured tea into a cup with the use of a strainer.  It looks very strong, doesn’t it?   I’ll write about it on the next entry.  

I grudge cedars

There is a tea tasting contest this Saturday, actually tomorrow.  I’ve got some tea samples and have been tasting them almost every other day in preparation for the contest. 

In one of the contest’s category, you actually drink five sencha and tell their production regions.  My tasting skill is improving through practice.  And now, I can even tell two of them just by smelling the aroma before sipping.  The other three are quite difficult.

Easy (distinctive) two

Honyama (Shizuoka):  aroma that is reminiscent of chestnuts

Yamato (Nara): aroma like flower

Difficult three

Tenryu (Shizuoka): roasted flavor

Fujinomiya (Shizuoka): bitterness of green

Yamae (Fukuoka): roasted flavor with a blend of sweetness,  My favorite!

Note: These reviews of tea are just my personal criteria to distinguish the samples, and do not in any way represent the standard taste of each region. 

This week, a nightmare occurred!   I got a runny nose that never stops(＞_＜)  Tissues are overflowing from my trash bin.  I’m now suffering from hay fever!   I wanted to practice more for the three difficult ones.  But now, not only can I not practice but moreover I cannot even tell the easy two, neither.  Oh, my。・゜・(ノД`)・゜・。 So, I had to give up on participating in the contest.  I’m so disappointed.

Someone told me the pollen of this season is from cedars.  Damn, cedar!  But at least, I had the chance to practice and improved my skills ... so let it be.

Tea shop that I appreciate

Where do you usually get your tea?  I appreciate tea shops with some factors, such as knowledgeable staff, sample leaves and tasting.  There are not many shops that offer tasting.

I went to a local tea shop, Marumoto for the first time.  It is located in a traditional mall in my town.

I found another factor that I appreciate there.  Do you see many tea boxes on the shelves?  They sell tea by measure!  Usually, tea is pre-packed and you have to buy the same tea in certain amounts, something like 100 or 200g.  I want to try many different types of teas.  So, it will be very much appreciated if I can buy them in small amounts.  What the factors do you count on for your tea shop?

The essentials: 6. Have umbrellas ready even if it is not raining

The ancient tea master, Rikyu once said “Have umbrellas ready even if it is not raining”.  This is one of the seven essentials of The Way of Tea, which I introduced on the previous entry.

“Have umbrellas ready even if it is not raining” seems like a vain effort.  In modern times, everybody thinks being rational is good.  Isn’t this lesson rational? 

Way back in Rikyu’s days, it must have been difficult to predict the weather.  The goal of every ceremony is to make your guests happy.  So, it’s a good idea to prepare umbrellas for your guests in case of sudden rain.   To lead thing to success, foreseeing emergency situations are necessary.  Not considering about such kinds of situation is irrational.

My interpretation of Rikyu’s “Have umbrellas ready even if it is not raining” is that
preparing for any contingency is important.

Related entries

The essentials of The Way of Tea

1. Prepare the tea just right

2. Place the charcoal appropriately to boil the water

3. Arrange the flowers as if they were in the fields

4. Make it seem warm in winter, and cool in summer

5. Do things ahead of time

6. Have umbrellas ready even if it is not raining

7. Care about the guests

Smiley hojicha latte

I am into hojicha latte since I introduced the recipes on this blog and I have been trying some other conditions.  I would like to share an improved recipe that I discovered.   Most recipes are good with sugar, but this combination has a well balanced flavor of tea and milk even it is not sweetened.   It will make you smile (^-^)

Ingredients

Hojicha leaves: 3g

Hot water: 40ml/1.4oz

Hot milk: 120ml/4.2oz

Sugar: optional

Items

Ippukuwan (big tea cup)

Tea whisk

Small teapot

Procedure

1.    Whisk the hot milk (120ml/4.2oz) in the ippukuwan until it gets foamy

2.    Brew the hojicha for 30sec

Put tea leaves (3g) into the teapot and add boiling water (50ml/1.4oz)

Steep it for 30sec

3.    Pour the brewed hojicha into the ippukuwan

I drew a smiley face as I poured the tea.

Smile!

Note

If you want to sweeten, you could brew it longer like 45sec for richer flavor.

You need to rinse well the teawhisk immediately to prevent molding and to avoided smell.

My hojicha-latte recipe

Once I have tried hojicha-latte at Starbucks.  Hojicha is roasted green tea.  I pretty liked the new tea beverage with the roasted flavor.  It was milder than cafe latte and more like English tea with milk.

I wanted to have it at home.  So, I tried preparing it in three different conditions to find out a good recipe on my own.

	A	B	C
Method	Brew tea with boiling water first.  Then add milk into the brewed tea in a cup.		Brew tea with only hot milk, not water
Tea leaves	2g	4g	3g
Boiled water	50ml / 1.7oz		-
Hot milk	50ml / 1.7oz		100ml / 3.5oz
Brewing time	60sec	30sec	60sec
	This is pretty similar with “B, but slightly milder.	This is close to the one at the Starbucks.	This is rich with the milky flavor.

You can double the amount of the ingredients if you want it plenty.

You can add sugar if you want.

It was two years ago, so I don’t exactly remember the taste of Starbucks hojicha latte.  But, I guess “A” and “B” are similar to it.  However, I liked the “C” most among the three.  “C” has the richest flavor with milky taste.

Hojicha latte is not bitter so I think it can be enjoyed by people who don’t like the bitterness of green tea. 

Note

I don’t have a milk-foam maker, so I whisked hot milk with a bamboo teawhisk.  You need to rinse well the teawhisk immediately to prevent molding and to avoided smell.

I don’t recommend using milk in your Japanese teapot.  Especially, non-glazed teapots (such as yakishime or red clay) can absorb smells.  Also, milk contains fat and I’m not sure what effect of the fat to those teapots.  I used a porcelain bowl and mesh basket to brew the tea with milk.

Wabi, exquisite beauty in simplicity

Not many Japanese can explain what exactly “wabi” is.  If you look it up in a dictionary, it says something like the following.

Wabi is the exquisite beauty, discovered and appreciated in simplicity and calmness.

Many people know of “wabi-sabi” or “wabi”, and know a general meaning.  But once it comes to explaining the essential idea, most of them will have a hard time.

I found an interesting idea about “wabi” in a book, “利休に帰れ(Return to Rikyu)” written by a monk from a famous temple in Kyoto.

Wabi is to appreciate and limit things at the same time.  For example, people have to kill other lives to live.  You might have to kill ten cows, but you try to bear with eight.  You save two.  You make the eight work like ten.  That is the idea of wabi.  You don’t need more than what you need.

Expensive items imported from China were highly valued at the beginning of the tea history.  Such as bronze vases, celadon tea bowls or ivory tea scoops.  Wabi sprit made people think simple wares will be fine for The Way of Tea.  Rustic tea bowls and *bamboo vase and teascoop become appreciated in Wabi Tea.  The tea room is simple and it doesn’t have any unnecessary stuff inside.  That’s why a simple flower displayed in a tea room can be so brilliant.  People find the exquisite beauty in eliminating unnecessary details.

*Bamboo was a reasonable material and you could get it anywhere.

Modern life is surrounded by so many things.  Why don’t you enjoy your tea with only what you need.   You might find peace and beauty there.

Reason for fake charcoal

The other day, I went to the citizens’ tea ceremony held at the cultural center in my town, Seto.  It is casual and pretty much reasonable so anybody can attend.  What interesting about the cultural center is that there is a nice classic tea room inside a concrete building.  While inside the traditional tea room, you will forget that you are in the modern building. 

When I attended the ceremony last year, I was disappointed that the heath used was not real charcoal.  A charcoal-imitation electric stove was used.  This year again, it was not real charcoal in the heath.  But this time, I found out the reason behind it.  The host told me that there is a regulation for using fire inside the building.  I don’t know if it is for public building or concrete architecture, anyhow they had to use electric stove.  Nevertheless, I still appreciate the nice tea room and the opportunity for casual tea ceremony.

Can you see the heath underneath?  It has some false charcoal figure with red hot wire. This is not exactly the one used in the ceremony, but something like this.

Tea cups for Japanese tea enthusiasts

What particular criterion do you have for your tea cups?   It could be its usability, color, size, material or production region. 

I made three cups for my shop with my own design; sencha cup (65ml/2.3oz), small sencha cup (30ml/1.1oz) and gyokuro cup (15ml/0.5oz).  Their overall designs are extremely simple, but I was meticulous on some details, such as the bisque finish (non-glazed finish) and the engraved mark at the bottom.  Among them, the greatest feature that I stick with was the slimness.   I made the rim so thin that you can even see through the silhouette of your fingers when placing it on bright background.

This slenderness creates a very refined look and atmosphere, which full-bodied daily cups can never have.  This is why these cups are for tea enthusiasts.  Imagine having your fine tea in a slime-wall cup, you will have a totally different impression from the tea setting.  The fine tea will look much classier for your private time or tea with your guests.  I didn’t want to make just an ordinary cup, and the thinness was my answer.

So, what is your preference on your cups?

Here are the three cups that I designed.  They are available for sale on our shop.  You can jump to our shop by clicking the picture of each product.

Wabi-Iki thin sencha cup (65ml/2.3oz)

Wabi-Iki thin small sencha cup (30ml/1.1oz)

Wabi-Iki thin gyokuro cup (15ml/0.5oz)