Jake-gai book

There are some tea rooms that I have yearned for.  They are not traditional ones.  Their walls are trellis.  In the photo that I saw online, the tea rooms emerge in the dark with the soft light slipped through from inside.  The interior looks so fantastical and extraordinary.

The photo of the tea rooms >>>

http://www.uchida-design.jp/portfolio/shosai/index.php?id=1159502163-891094&ca=6

I bought a book entitled 茶室とインテリア or Tea Room and Interior.  I was just captivated by the beautiful design of the booklet.  It’s Jake-gai, hahaha.  (Find out the meaning of Jake-gai  >>> here)  The book explains about Japanese architecture from the historical and cultural aspects.  

I had not given much of a thought to the roots or culture regarding our architecture.  I learned that taking off shoes when entering a house involves a meaning moving in to a holy place.  I also learned that we perceive that the space and interior in Japanese housing always change. Japanese architecture historically doesn’t have walls.  Our housing was basically a big open space with posts and roofs, and we have used it by separating with bamboo blinds and sliding doors as occasions demand.  We also think that garnishes don’t have to be persistent and it will be fine if they shine at the very moment.  I think this philosophy leads to the concept of tea flowers.

A fact that I am surprised about was that the tea master, Rikyu was the one who brought the walls into Japanese architecture.  He created the walls on tea rooms.  It is a revolution!!  The author explains that Rikyu made the room small and found out the potent of the elation and concentration of your mind.

It is very interesting to learn these backgrounds.  I did a quick search about the author, Shigeru Uchida.  It turns out that he is the one who designed the tea rooms that I have yearned for.  What a coincidence!  I think I won this jake-gai!

EnaSuya

On my summer vacation, I found an attractive store on my way of a trip to Gero and Takayama.  The sign says EnaSuya.  EnaSuya is a popular shop for chestnuts confectionery.    I immediately thought that I should visit this place on my way back home.

Nice looking entrance

Traditional Curtain Outside the Shop.

A common tradition for most Japanese Stores.

  

Café space is comparatively small from the size of the building.

All tables are faced outside.

This is the outside view of the cafe.

  

I had Matcha.  Others had shaved ice with peach-juice syrup and one with brown sugar syrop.

 It took quite some time to be served, but I enjoyed the tea and their sweets.  The shaved ice was excellent.  It is a nice place to stop by and visit.

EnaSuya  (Japanese) >>> http://www.facebook.com/enasuya

http://www.suya.co.jp/user_data/kannonji.php

My shallow view

Can you guess the name of this confection?  At first look, I simply thought it would be just “green maple”, but it actually wasn’t.

My tea master usually buys the sweets for class from my favorite confectionery shop, Azumaken.  The fresh color of summer maple and watery sensation of jelly are perfect for this intensifying season.  I love this sweet.  Can you think of any unique name for this confectionery now? 

The name is komorebi, which means sunshine filtering through foliage.  I didn’t understand why it is named as sunlight.  But when I took a closer look, I kind of realized why it earned its name.  The confection has few straight tubal motifs in it.  I guess that they are describing the sunbeams streaming through the leaves.  How wonderful and elegant!  I was so impressed.  The Japanese confectioner tries to express not only the objects but even abstract concept like scenery.   I’m ashamed of my shallow view that I thought it’s just green maples, but at the same time I feel delighted to have learned this new discovery.

I think this is a good example of the great pleasures of Japanese tea ceremony.  If I see this confection in a tea ceremony, I would feel like the host is saying “Have tea under the cool shade of trees”.   I can exactly imagine the harmony and peaceful scenery.  We don’t talk too much in a ceremony, instead we enjoy the hospitality by feeling and understanding the idea it brings.  This unique way of communication makes the ceremony so much interesting and a memorable experience. 

The best place to look for your teapot

The best place to look for your teapot has a huge selection of teapots made by various potters ever. At online shops, you can’t feel the texture and the weight nor observe the details, but here you can actually hold and touch them by your own hands to have a closer look .The special thing is it is only held in one place and a once in year opportunity.  It is Tokoname Ware Festival held in Aichi Japan!

This year (on Aug. 19), I went there to work as a staff at a temporary café for the festival.  We, Japanese tea instructors and advisers served gyokuro by preparing it in front of each guest.  Some people told me how they like green tea and some were surprised in learning how to prepare gyokuro.  It was pleasure talking to different people through tea.

Anyway, another advantage of this place is that you might get to see and talk to the actual potters of the products.  You can learn particular features of each craftsman.  One potter told me how carefully he selected his clay and another potter showed me a uniquely-designed tea strainer of his teapot.  I don’t think there are any other places that have such huge selection, and the opportunity of observing the actual products and talking to the potters.  It’s worth the visit.  Get the air ticket and fly to Tokoname Japan next time!

Tokoname Ware Festival (Japanese) >> http://www.toko.or.jp/maturi/

This is what we served at the cafe.

Sweet aroma of green tea

Can you tell the quality of tea by just looking and smelling those green dry leaves?  So, the other day, I attended another interesting tea-tasting workshop.  There is that kind of tasting that you can tell the difference of the quality of the tea from the good one to the bad one by smelling, feeling and physically observing 5 tea samples (You don’t actually taste the brewed tea).

We had a fruitful lecture before the actual tasting.  The teacher said that good tea possess sweet aroma.  So this time I paid attention about the odor and wandered for the sweet aroma in the samples.  What was interesting about it was that I found out the second-best tea has the most bold sweetness.  Well of course, the first-best tea also had a sweet odor.  Furthermore, the fourth tea had a sweet smell as well.  Interesting, wouldn’t you think?  They are all sweet but the quality of the sweetness varies.  The first-best one had a fresh fragrance with a green note which comes from the natural quality of tea.   The second and fourth ones had the sweetness with roasted flavor that is reminiscent of corn. 

The roasted flavor is called “hika” which is added by roasting the leaves at the final producing process.  Hika literally means fire aroma.  It improves the flavor of tea by giving more profound caramelic flavor and cornish aroma.  You may not find hika on high quality teas, but you often find it on ordinary teas. 

I gave the correct answer in this tasting practice.  I kind of relied on the appearance rather than the aroma, though.  I think improving smelling skills are quite challenging because memorizing the smell is not easy.  You cannot lean it by reading so you have to experience it on your own.  I could find the difference on the sweet aroma between the second and forth tea, but I’m not sure if I can remember the difference next time.  I definitely need more practice on smelling, hahaha.  If you have a chance to smell some different leaves, try to look for the sweet aroma and find out the difference of the sweetness.

How a Molded Teapot is made

Here is the answer for my little quiz from the previous entry. 

The mold for teapot’s body doesn’t have an inner mold (open speace).  First, you fill it up with the liquefied clay.  The clay dries up from the outside.  Next, you leave it for approximately 15min, and then dump away the clay.  The dried outer layer remains on the mold.  Leave it as it is, to dry it more, and you can take it out later.

It is a superb and effective method to create a desired thickness of the walls. The teapot’s craftsman put great care in controlling the clay density and drying process based on the appropriate temperature or weather condition of the day.

Do you know if your teapot is molded or wheeled?  I think it is quite difficult to distinguish between these two by looking at the products.  I’ll give you a tip.  Check the inside part at the bottom.  If you find a ring-shaped dent there, then it is probably a molded teapot.  You don’t usually find the dent on wheeled teapots.  The molded teapot has an even wall thickness.  Therefore, if the teapot has a stand on the outer part of the bottom, you will find the dent inside.  This theory may vary and may not always work, but can definitely be one of your guides.  Now you may want to check the bottom of your cute little teapot in your kitchen, don’t you?

Molded, Outside

Molded, Inside

Wheeled, Outside

Wheeled, Inside

Teapot manufacturing: molding

There are two ways in making teapots.  One is molding and the other way is by shaping with a turning wheel.  In either case, each part: body, lid, spout and handle are made separately and they are joined together later.  There are many other works that are involved such as making a strainer, adjusting the fitting of the lid and body, and baking.  Molding can create the same designed teapots in large amount of production, and they are usually priced more reasonably than the ones created with the turning wheel.  However, I think that molding process deserves to be called handmade as well.  Each procedure is done by manual work and the same amount of effort is exerted for molded teapots and wheeled teapots.

This is an example of the mold.  They are for a tea cup.

A small hole to inject the clay

In ceramic molding, you pour liquid clay into the plaster mold. When the clay dries up, you take it out from the mold.  The mold consists of multiple pieces for you to open it, so it is possible to take the molded piece out.  There won’t be a problem for a simple shaped product like a tea cup.  However, it doesn’t work that way for a globular part like a teapot’s body.  Here is a quiz for you.  Can you guess how it make possible?  I’ll tell you the answer in the next entry.

Note:

For iron cast kettle, the inner mold is made up of sand or clay where you can disassemble the mold in pieces and take them out.  Try to picture unpuzzling a child's lego toy.  That easy.  You cannot use these steps for ceramics.  

Treat from Kyoto

Pastel colors of the sweets look attractive, inviting and excellent for summer.  I got a small box of confectionaries from a friend of mine.  It is a souvenir from Kyoto.  They are so cute, aren’t they?  Not to mention, so irresistible

The rainy season is finally over and the sunshiny days have started here.  It’s going to be another very hot day today.  To enjoy the fresh breeze of morning, I used white porcelain wares and enjoyably prepared tea for myself.

The confectionary gleams by the light from the window.  When I touched it with the sweet pick, I could feel the soft but firm jelly, and it started splitting out when I added more pressure.  I could perfectly imagine how it breaks down, melts and spreads in my mouth.  The flavor was ratherly surprising!  The jelly had a clear sweetness only with no other flavor.  It was extremely mellow and filling my mouth.   It is just a cluster of pure sweetness.  Every now and then, a piece of chestnut added a delightful twist with the nutty honey note, and red bean’s earthy aroma pleased my palate.  The sweets from Kyoto brought a luxurious and cool moment for my usual summer day.

Visiting a Potter Studio

One day, I took some tea bowl samples, some pictures and random designs that I drew, and visited an expert potter.   Now, I’m trying to have two types of original tea bowl made for my shop.  One will be a black tea bowl with apparent volume and another one will be light for its size with a bright glaze. 

You might think that a tea bowl is just a simple vessel but to create a tea bowl, you have to consider many aspects and details for its functionality and pleasing appearance.  The details will include clay, glaze, weight, dimensions, figures, and so on (depending on one’s tastes).  What I most consider is the entire atmosphere consisting of all these delicate aspects.

Checking the size before baking

After several meetings, the potter finally showed me the first sample of black tea bowl.  It is shaped by a turning wheel and is handsomely carved outside.  Engraved edges give the bowl a varied and expressive look.  I actually used the bowl yesterday and I liked it.  The black tea bowl beautifully steals attention in the tea room and perfectly matched a dark-wine-red tea container.  It was great moving tea whisk in it.  The craggy surface creates an interesting touch.  The skilled potter already made the first piece in perfect shape that meets all of my desires kind of tea bowl. 

The sample piece satisfies my taste, but I think something is missing here.  It’s the atmosphere.  It is very minor difference.  I wanted it to be massive, but the sample piece is very composed.   Now I realized that it was because I was concerned too much about the weight, and asked him not to make it too heavy.  So, he thinned the wall and reshaped the tea bowl.  Even though it appeared heavy, I would want it more wild and livery.  I can’t wait for the next piece. 

Favorite breed

I got 10 tea samples of different breeds to study: 1Yutakamidori, 2Saemidori, 3Asatsuyu, 4Asanoka, 5Yabukita, 6Koshunn, 7Benifuki, 8Shizu7132, 9Kanayamidori, 10Okumidori. 

Comparing the different samples at the same will make it easier to find the differences.  However, 10 samples were kind of too many for me.  I got confused after tasting several kinds.  I think I need more experience on this, hahaha.  Anyway, it was very interesting.  Some teas have a distinctive aroma, and some teas are very mild.  I was kind of surprised to find out that Yabukita has relatively strong bitterness among the ten. 

My favorite one is Asatsuyu.  I simply find it tasty.  The most significant character of this tea is umami.  You find it right after you sip the tea and it beautifully lasts to the end.  The umami merges with other flavors and creates a rich body in the taste.  You can enjoy the umami changing into milder sweetness during the aftertaste.  This tea has more bitterness than Yutakamidori and Saemidori, but it’s not sharp at all, so I can still consider it mild. 

In the tasting, I used boiling water, so I prepared it again with lower temperature (leaf:2g, water:30ml/1oz, 65C/149F, 1min).  Using this method, I found out that it has a nutty sweet aroma.  The aroma will get me to have a good expectation.  With the first sip, I was sure that my assumption was correct.  The rich umami pleased me.  But, I feel something missing in the taste, so I still need to experiment for a better mixture.  Anyway, I like Asatuyu.  You try it and let me know your preference.  

Breed of tea

“Yabukita”  Have you ever heard of that name?

There are many breeds of tea plant.  Each type has different characteristics.  Yabukita is the most popular breed of tea in Japan because of its excellent quality and really impressive yield.  Approximately 70-80% of tea fields in Japan produce Yabukita.

Do you ever consider the breeds when buying your green tea?  I honestly think that most people do not.  The tea sold in stores is usually blended with some different kinds of tea.  Blending helps supply excellent quality and stable taste of tea.  A single-breed tea is not a mainstream in the market.  The breeds are not mentioned on the package of most tea, so your chances of distinguishing or knowing the breed of tea are quite low.

The trend for Yabukita and the loss of uniqueness (due to the blending of one type with another) may encourage the demand for variety and distinctiveness.   I believe paying attention to the details on the breeds is given much importance by tea lovers these days.  It will be interesting to try the tea that is not perfect but unique.

I got some samples of different breeds to study them.

Gyokuro brewing experiment

As I mentioned in the last entry, I’m looking for a new brewing recipe.  I want a milder flavor compared to the current recipe that I have, and the combinations that I could think of are the following: “A” and “B”.

	A: Less leaf, More water	B: Higher temp., Shorter time	C: ?
Leaf	3g / 0.11oz	3g / 0.11oz	-
Water	30ml / 1.1oz	30ml / 1.1oz	-
Temp	45C / 113F	55C / 131F	-
Time	2min	1.5min	-

“B” has a slightly more bitterness in the aftertaste than “A”.  However, they basically have a similar flavor, and they are a little weaker than I expected.  Based upon the results, I decided the third mixture, “C”.

	A:	B:	C:
Leaf	3g / 0.01oz	3g / 0.11oz	4g / 0.14oz
Water	30ml / 1.1oz	30ml / 1.1oz	30ml / 1.1oz
Temp	45C /113F	55C / 131F	40C / 104F
Time	2min	1.5min	1.5min

I got a much better result with “C”.  It has more impressed and distinct flavor with good umami and it also has a smooth taste.  However, I honestly think that something is still missing, and I know that I can improve it more.  Today, I had too much tea and can’t pursue farther tests.  I want to try it next time.  Nevertheless, so far “C” has provided me great satisfaction and is pleasing to my palate.