Solace of Tea

Things that can’t be experienced with teabags

I sometimes have premium green tea for a change. Gyokuro is not a tea to gulp down for thirst, but to savor its aroma and flavor. Not only do I enjoy drinking it but also its preparation. I pour the hot water into a yuzamashi water cooler, and wait till the water gets lukewarm. Meanwhile, I scoop lustrous deep-green leaves gently from the caddy, and put it into the pot. Then, I pour the water from the yuzamashi to the pot. Somehow, I do it in a careful manner. Maybe because I wish for it to be delectable as I pour. I put the lid on and wait calmly. It can be a nice restful change. I can refresh and feel more focused. It’s not anything pompous, but it feels nice to savor the moment in preparing tea.

Shiboridhashi and Hohin

There are two types of teapot suitable for premium tea. They are small pots without a handle; known as shiboridashi and hohin. The difference is that shiboridashi doesn’t have a strainer and hohin does. Here, I have two pots for example. As a matter of material and shape I have to say that flat yakishime pot has an advantage over non-flat porcelain pot. The tea brewed with yakishime has rich flavors with a good body of umami. The taste of porcelain tea is a bit shallow and washy. However, brewing with appropriate conditions is crucial. You need to adjust them depending on the teapot, something like less time for yakishime or more leaves with porcelain. If you practice it, you can brew delicious tea even with porcelain pots. It’ll be fun to discover the best mixture for your teapot.

 

 

Eligible items for Gyokuro

The right utensils help my tea time. Lately, I often use a shiboridashi and a yuzamashi. I don’t conclude that shiboridashi is the best, but I just fancy it. I like its easy-to-care design as well. Shiboridashi, which doesn’t have a strainer, makes it much easier to discard the tea dregs and wash it than ordinary kyusu pot. This works quite effectively on everyday handling. The yuzamashi helps to cool down the water fast and easy. I don’t have to wait for it in vain or hustle on transferring the water around here and there. Having the right utensils allows you to incorporate premium tea into your days. Why don’t you try a nice refreshment for your hectic life?

 Shiboridashi is avairable on my shop  >>>  Wabi-Iki Black Shiboridashi and Water Cooler

Does Material of Teapot Affect the Taste?

Yakishime pot can brew better tasting tea

Yakishime is a type of ceramic. It is baked in a high temperature without any glaze. Tokoname and Banko wares are best example of this product. I have written “Tokoname teapot can brew more delicious tea than teapots made of other materials” in a past entry. Lately, I found an interesting site that explains about the theory. It’s the site of FOOD ANALYSIS TECHNOLOGY CENTER (http://www.mac.or.jp/mail/100401/02.shtml) and they mention three causes. I’ll introduce the summary in the next paragraph.

Temprature, Iron and Texture

When comparing the four materials; yakishime, porcelain, glass and aluminum, yakishime has the most modest thermal conductivity. When brewing, it keeps the water warm to encourage extracting substances more.  
The clay often used on Tokoname or Banko ware is rich in iron. The iron adsorbs the bitter substance, catechin. It is considered that polyphenols like catechin has a functional group and they are easy to compound with the teapot’s surface with iron.
In the physical aspect, unglazed clay has some texture comparing with the smooth surface of glass and aluminum. The clay has a greater physical absorption of the bitter taste.

Still Wondering

So, the article says that yakishime pots encourages extracting more substances and adsorb bitter taste. That is the reason that it can brew good tasting tea. However, I find some contradictions between this theory and the data from my previous post. I still don’t understand all functions completely. I just wanted to introduce one of opinions regarding teapots’ material that I found. Anyway, both the theory and the data saying that yakishime teapots has advantage. Actually many people experienced it in the survey. This time, I’ll test it myself how effective it is.

The conditions:
Fine Sencha: 2g
Water: 27ml 70C
Time: 1min
Vessel: Left; Yakishime, Right; Porcelain

Potential of Yakishime and Porcelain

I was absolutely appalled by the result. The difference was obvious. The tea brewed in yakishime had a rounded fullfilling flavor with rich umami. The tea with porcelain was washy. I could not find the rich umami that I found in yakishime. The bitter taste exceeded the umami. The result might differ depending on the conditions, but I found that the difference in this test is almost like I was trying the teas from two different grades.　I knew it as a knowledge that yakishime can brew better tasting tea. Also, I’ve been actually using both yakishime and porcelain pots at home so I’ve been vaguely conscious of it. However, I’ve never compered them in the same condition at the same time. I was not aware it has such difference. I can definitely recommend yakishime pots for people who enjoy premium green tea. A yakishime pot can make your tea one rank better.

Does a flat teapot can brew better tasting tea?

Why Flat Shape Is Good

You might have heard different opinions regarding the ideal shape of a teapot. Here is one of the opinions. Some people says that flat pots can brew good tasting tea. I’ve heard two reasons about it. First, people tend to put a lot of tea leaves in a flat pot because it has a large bottom and it makes the leaves inside look few. It’s a visual deception, so people put more leaves than usual and it helps to make delicious tea. The other reason is that the leaves can be laid widespread, not piled up like in an ordinary pot. So, when it is brewed, the leaves can smoothly absorb water with less stress. If you measure the leaves, the first reason won’t matter. I wonder how much impact to the taste the second reason has.

Experiment

I did a test in brewing gyokuro with a flat and tall vessels (Tea: 3g, Water: 15ml, Time: 2 min). I tried several rounds of tests. As a result, I found a slight advantage in taste on the flat vessel even though the difference is not significant. The tea brewed in the flat one has mellow and rich flavor. The one in the tall vessel was dull with washy body. I also found a slightly rough and bitter flavor. But again, it has very little difference. 

Unexpected Outcome

In the series of tests, I found an interesting result. The tea within the flat vessel has slightly more amount of extract. This is also a very slight difference. But why? If a flat pot helps with smooth absorption of water, it should have had less extract. This happening doesn’t support the aforementioned idea. Only the assumption that I have is that when you pour tea with the flat pot, less water might remain in between the leaves. If so, it has a good impact on the taste of the second or later brewing. I could not come up with a convincing explanation on this issue. I’m sorry.

Try Flat

To conclude this topic, I have to say that the advantage is not that significant. It could be within accidental error. In gyokuro brewing, slight difference of conditions can affect tastes. Quality and amount of ingredients, water temperature and brewing time has much more impact. If you want to enjoy tea casually, you don’t have to be picky about the shape of the pot. 
However, it is also fact that I kind of find the tea brewed in the flat vessel tastes slightly better than the other one. I can’t explain the reason scientifically. A flat pot might encourage smooth draining. Water calmly flows off through the leaves and it doesn’t tumble the leaves around. It is good to brew tea slowly and carefully without damaging fine leaves. I could not clear everything up regarding this topic, please try it yourself to see how you like it. For people who are fond of gyokuro and premium sencha, the flat pot is definitely worth a try.

Really Need a Chasen Bamboo Whisk?

Hesitation to start matcha

I sometimes see people making matcha with an electrical milk frother. Someone even uses an ordinary beater. Matcha beginners might wonder if you really need a chasen (bamboo whisk) to make matcha. For the people who want to try matcha for a bit to see if they will like it, purchasing chasen can be a reason to hesitate to try it. People might have an electric frother, but not a chasen. If you can use the electric frother to substitute chasen, it will be wonderful, don’t you think?

Chasen vs Electrical frother

I have never used an electric frother or an ordinary beater for brewing matcha. Today, I tried making matcha with a chasen, an electrical frother and an ordinary beater. I took a video of it. Please check out what result I got.
If you don’t see the subtitles, please check your setting on YouTube.

Use electric frother

Here is the bottom line. The tea made with the beater was not delicious, so I don’t recommend it. The electric frother can make as tasty tea as a chasen does. So, if you want to try matcha just to see if you like it, use an electric milk frother. It won’t be a problem and helps you save money. However, there is still a certain difference between the ones made with chasen and electrical one. If you like matcha and want to continue consuming it, I recommend you to get a chasen. You will appreciate the gentle foam created with a fine art of bamboo.

Need Chasen? It’s available here >>> www.everyonestea.com

To Advance Your Tea Ceremony

Next phase

The three important elements for tea ceremony are space, utensils and manners. I have introduced them before (https://www.facebook.com/notes/everyones-tea/home-tea-ceremony/456225557746430). I would like to introduce one more thing to add in the utensils and the manners. It is going to enrich and advance your tea ceremony and take your tea ceremony to the next phase.

What is special about a tea ceremony?

What is the difference between just making tea and serving tea in a ceremony? You might have noticed it when you watch my previous videos. The five things that the host does during the ceremony are; 1. Bring the implements into the room, 2. Purify the implements, 3. Make the tea, 4. Clean and put the utensils together, 5. Leave the room with implements. Probably, you have no trouble bringing the implements into the room or making tea, but it might be difficult for you to imagine how and why you purify the implements. I think that it is one of the special things about tea ceremony and it makes a difference from just making tea.

Purifying implements

Before the ceremony begins, the implements are all cleaned. However, we dare clean them in front of the guests during the ceremony. We wipe the tea container and tea scoop with a piece of cloth. It is a 27cm (11in) silk, called fukusa. We rinse the tea whisk with hot water in the tea bowl. These steps make the tea which is going to be served special. Some people say that the host even purify his mind as well as he does it.

Just try it

If you want to serve tea with utmost hospitality for your guests, try to purify the utensils before making tea. If you don’t have fukusa, it’ll be okay to use any kind of cloth as far as it’s clean. As I mentioned before, you don’t have to worry about the detailed gestures. Just imitate how others do. What counts is your hospitality. Fold fukusa nicely and gently wipe the items. You guests will definitely notice and appreciate your solicitous consideration in preparing tea. It makes your tea so special and blessed. Purifying items will advance your tea ceremony. 

Fukusa is available on our shop >>> http://www.everyonestea.com/product-list/6


This is the video I’ve mentioned. You can see purifying the tea container and scoop at 0:57.



If you want to do it properly, refer the following videos.
- Procedure of Tea Ceremony
- How to fold FUKUSA silk cloth
- How to purify NATSUME tea caddy
- How to purify CHASHAKU tea scoop

Tea Bowl Making

Useless tea bowl

Have you ever tried making pottery? I guess that many of tea people have dreamed about making their own tea bowl. I’ve actually tried it by using a turning wheel at a pottery workshop. However, once the clay is baked, it shrinks and gets dense. I paid attention to forming my desired figure, but not to the size or thickness. So, the tea bowl got very thick and heavy. It didn’t even have enough space to move the whisk in it. It was useless, hahaha.

Stimulating my creativity

There are always different types of tea bowl on the shelf at my tea class, which I can get to use. There is one particular bowl that I am fond of using‏. It is a flat beige bowl. It’s a small bowl that fits in the palms. The simple clay and glaze feel calm and gentle. It looks round but it actually has slight distortions and rough surface. Those imperfectness captures me. I learned that the bowl is made by hand forming, not with a turning wheel. Now, it makes sense why it has the primitive look. I’m thinking of making this kind of bowl myself, even if I failed once in the past.

The flat beige bowl

Pottery workshop

I visited the pottery studio again. The dimensions and thickness were the points for me to pay attention this time. I’ve actually measured many tea bowls and decided the size I want. I was thinking that clay was flexible, so you could easily form it into whatever figure you want. However, it was damn difficult to fix it once it got deformed. I had to do it from scratch for a few times. Anyway, I was absorbed in working on clay forgetting about the time.

Imperfection on a bowl

The instructor said that you should try to make the bowl as carefully as possible when forming it by hand. No matter how hard you try, the bowl will have a slight of distortion and roughness. Those primitiveness will become the charm of the tea bowl. I totally agree. I made the bowl with care. However, the form got too unbalanced and the surface is too bumpy to look charming. It looks like it has been made by a child‏, hahaha. I’m happy that at least, I got the size I desired, and it’s usable. Japanese bowls look rustic and imperfect so you might think that you can make one by yourself. It’s wrong. I keenly realized that the tasteful bowls can be created only with good skills. This experience gave me a new interesting aspect to appreciate when observing a bowl in the tea room.

My handmade bowl

Prevent a Crack on Your Tea Whisk

Crack on my chasen tea whisk
I got a crack on the handle of my chasen or tea whisk. For tea ceremonies, chasen is basically considered as a consumable item, so it’s probably not good to use a cracked whisk. However, it is impractical to have a brand new one at every occasion for personal use or at tea schools. So, I’m still using the broken chasen at home and I kind of find the crack even charming. 

Can’t think of what has caused the crack
I have heard that it cracks in a dry environment. I sometimes use my chasen every day and sometimes don’t use it for weeks. I thought that it cracked when it got too dry during the period that I didn’t use it. But then, I have a question. Why my unused chasens in the storage don’t get cracks and why only the one I currently use got the crack? I can’t think of a good explanation on that.

I asked a chasen craftsman
On Facebook, I was asked for an advice on how to prevent cracks of chasen. So, I called a chasen craftsman asked his opinion. According to him, good-quality bamboo can crack easily because it has fine and high-density fiber and it is hard and strong. He says that temperature difference is often the cause of cracks. In Japan, you often get the cracks between March and May and also in the season when you use the heater. He said that you can hear the whisks cracking at the department store in a winter season at night. It is because it is warm at daytime but at night, the air conditioners are turned off and it gets very cold.

Ideal storage for chasen
It seems good to keep your chasen in a place with low-temperature difference and without an air conditioner. The chasen craftsman recommends a cool and dark place for storing them. My storage of chasen stocks is exactly like that. It now totally make sense why my stocks don’t get cracks. Chasen is made of natural material. So, it gets moldy if it’s not dry enough and it has a risk of cracks if it’s too dry.
< Points for treating chasen >
1. After use, rinse it with water and air-dry well (Avoid putting directly under the sunlight‏).
2. Then, store it in a cool and dark place (Don’t store it in the refrigerator).
The tips are no surprise and very basic. However, I was not able to achieve these simple things. I’ve kept my chasen in the kitchen where I use an air conditioner. Drying could be one of the reasons but I learned that temperature difference is one of the biggest causes. We hope you find it informative.

How accurate is a teaspoon to measure matcha?

I encountered another surprise regarding preparing tea. My interest varies as well as my favorite tea. Lately, I drink matcha almost every day. Every time I prepare matcha, I scale the weight of tea that I scoop, because I want to be good at measuring matcha accurately with the bamboo tea scoop. After trying this habit for a while, I was kind of getting a good sense to tell the weight of the matcha visually by looking at the heap on my tea scoop. 

However all of a sudden, I could not scoop a desired amount. After a while, I earned the right sense back. It happened a few times. This kind of trouble arouses my curiosity with surprise. I realized that the reason of the miss-measuring is not me losing accuracy, but the volume and weight of tea are actually changing. The miss-measuring often happened after loading new matcha into my tea caddy.

The causes of different density of tea are as follows;
These are my mere guesses.

1. Movement
Once I’ve measured freshly sifted tea directly from the sifter can. Another time, I measured the tea after transferring into the tea container from the sifter. The tea was shaken and compacted when transferred. Also, the tea stored in the container for a while must have gotten moved during the storage. The vibration caused by those movements might have made them more compact.  

2. Stored old tea
Even though you sift matcha, the fluffiness of old tea is not the same as brand new one. Once I sifted old tea with lumps, and it became fine tea but I realized that the particles were not still as fine as brand new tea.

3. Moisture
Once I sifted matcha on a rainy day and I have also done it on a fine day. Maybe tea gets heavier when it has absorbed moisture.

Even with sifted matcha, the volume will vary from time to time. Nobody may not be able to measure the tea accurately with the bamboo scoop. There might not be a necessity to be so accurate, but I still want to try, hahaha.

Now, I got curious about the topic that I wrote on the previous post. I have to know what range does the weight of matcha has if measured with the 5 ml spoon. I actually measured it again.

The range is between 1.0g and 1.4g.

You might not find a big difference in taste between 1.2 tea and 1.0 tea, or between 1.2tea and 1.4tea. However, there will be a certain difference between 1.0 and 1.4. I just want you to be aware that there is a range, but I still think that the 5ml spoon is a useful item to measure matcha for beginners. 

Measuring matcha and water

Do you think you prepare delicious matcha with correct amount of tea and water? I have talked about this topic before. However, it might not be so accurate to judge the correct amount by its looks or weight. Who knows, maybe your scale doesn’t exactly point to the right digit. You might not still be sure if your tea tastes right. Today, I want to share things that I realized when I was preparing things for the tea ceremony that I held the other day.

By the way, have you ever heard of the term “tatedashi”? Tatedashi is a way of serving tea by making it in another room and bring it to the guests in the tea room. The host prepares tea in the tea room only for the first few guests and the tea for the rest are served from the back by assistants. It makes the ceremony runs fast and smooth, and it’s often preferred at a ceremony with a lot of guests.

For the tea ceremony that I had, an assistant needed to make a lot of bowls of tea promptly and precisely in the preparation room. For my assistant, I looked for the way to effectively measure tea and water accurately. It helps to serve consistent quality of tea for everybody. 

1.8g of matcha and 60ml water are standard amounts of ingredients. I wanted to serve tea with light flavor because most of my guests were not so familiar with matcha. To find the best mixture for this gathering, I tried different amounts of matcha and water. My choice was 1.2g of matcha and 50ml of water. This tea is very mild but you can still enjoy the essence of matcha flavor. You will beam with delight from its sweetness hopping on a comfortable grassy note. I found perfect items in the kitchen to measure the ingredients. They are a 5ml spoon and a small sencha cup. I found out that you can scoop around 1.2g of matcha with a 5ml spoon. Take note, I said spoon, not spoonful (^-^) If I fill 95% of the Wabi-iki small sencha cup which is one of the products of our shop, it is about 50ml. With the spoon and cup, I could get my assistant to serve consistent tea.  

If you are a beginner about matcha and not sure how decent matcha tastes like. You can try using 5ml spoon to measure the correct amount. You might not have a problem measuring water but it may be difficult measuring matcha. So, 5ml spoon is useful. Try the mild tea with one spoon of matcha and 50ml water, and see how you like it. Then you can adjust the amounts to find your best mixture! Good luck.

Note:
Sift matcha with a tea strainer before measuring with the spoon.
Scoop matcha gently when measuring.

Question:
In Japan, we have two scale spoons for cooking. One is called the small spoon which is 5ml and the other one is the large spoon for 15ml. I found the equivalent English words in my dictionary, a “tea spoon (5ml)” and a “table spoon (15ml)”. Are they really for scaling? Are they common in your county? I’ll be happy if you leave a comment on this post for the answer.

Related posts:
Correct amount of matcha
Volume of sifted and non-sifted matcha
Does sifted matcha really have more volume?
Correct amount of matcha on a tea spoon

Is it really Wabi-Sabi?

Is Rikyu’s tea really Wabi? I was shocked when I read such question in a book because I wondered about the same thing before. The author says that image of Chanoyu (The Way of Tea) is Wabi-Sabi or has a rustic ambience but when he saw a black urushi-lacquered water container which is one of Rikyu’s implements, he didn’t find it rustic at all. Urushi-lacquered utensils have luster and they are even amorous. It is difficult for me to consider them rustic, too.

When I see a black urushi tea container in a tea room, I’m captivated with its elegance. Its form is extremely simple and the coating is so black and smoothly glossy. The author of the book says that urushi products usually consist of exquisite curves, and the roundness is more emphasized by the profound urushi coating. Those utensils have warmness and power.

I imagined if you arrange all the implements with old-looking items in a rustic tea room, it would be just miserable or maybe boring. Having a few items with warmness and power makes the space alive and provides a sense of formality. The author says that the beauty stands out because the luster item is in the rustic space. This is my understanding of Rikyu’s Wabi-Sabi so far. His world is not Wabi-Sabi completely. 



Kiriaiguchi black chu-natsume

 



Blakck chu-natsume

How to tie the ribbon on a wooden box

When you buy a good Japanese tea ware, it usually comes in a wooden box.  It is nicely tied with a flat string.  Once you open the box, some of you might have trouble to properly retie the string when storing the piece.  Today, I’ll show you how to tie the ribbon. 

 

One advice!
Keep the string flat always not to twist it.



Place the ribbon like in the picture

Have the strings in the same length for both extending to the right and towards you
In my description, the string is put over the left corner of the box; there is a case wherein it starts with the right corner. If so, do the all the procedure in reversing right and left.



 

 

 

 

 

Try not to tie the knot too tight. It might damage the string

Have the ribbon symmetric

 

 

Face of tea bowls

Many books say that the face or front of tea bowl is the side that has drawing motif or distinctive pattern of glaze.  But, I don’t find much other detailed description about it.  It seems there isn’t any absolute rule made.  I myself am still on my training on sado, The Way of Tea.  I often experience difficulty in distinguishing the front part of tea bowls.

It is easy if the bowl has a distinctive form (distortion, dent, form of opening rim), drawing or glaze pattern.

Front

Back

What if the bowl has the drawings all around the walls?  I’ll consider that the front part is the side that has the main motif. 

Front

Back

What about the case with no pattern or no distortion?

Front

Back

Check the imprint at the bottom.  When you flip the bowl from your side, not side way, the imprint should be read facing the right direction, not upside down.

Some people say another rule.  The imprint is usually located left side of the foot. 

However, you cannot always determine the front basing on imprint shown.  Some tea bowls don’t have any imprint at all.  Some imprints are found in the middle of foot or at the right side.  And also for the tea bowls with no drawing, you might want to use your own discretion when it comes to deciding which the front for the attractive glaze pattern is.  A potter has to make the imprint before baking, but you don’t know how the pattern or design of glaze appear until it comes out from the kiln.  In this case, the imprint rule will not be applied.  I think you should remember this imprinting rule as preliminary information.  This kind of ambiguous rule makes it difficult.

To conclude, I consider that the front is the side with distinctive design that the host wants the guests to see.  If the bowl does not have a distinctive design, then you can follow the imprint rule.   My understanding may vary in the future as I study and experience The Way of Tea more.

My recent interest on tea whisk

There are usually two or three tea whisks that are ready in the preparation room at my tea class.  You can use whichever you want.  Lately, I realized that I’m often choosing the one with few splines.

Tea whisks usually have around 30 to 120 splines.  The whisks with fewer splines are used for koicha, thick tea.  The ones with many splines are often used for usucha, thin tea.  The rule seems to depend on school traditions.  I have never thought about specific rules at my school so far.  I believe that the whisks I commonly see at my class would have the splines in the range of 60 to 100.  

You will consider many aspects when you choose a tea whisk.  The number of splins affects the fineness of the foam.  The special effect and feeling of tea whisking oftentimes depend on what tea whisk you use; elastic or rigid. I preferred the whisk with a large number of splines (100-120) when I started Sado (The Way of Tea) because I thought that it can mix tea well.  These days, I seem to care about other things too.  The reason why I pick the one with fewer splines is that it has thinner handle.   I find that a thin handle fits in my hand better, and gives me a perfect grip.

This is figure of two tea whisks.  Left: 100 splines  Right: 70 splines

The one with many splines have a thicker handle.

I told to Hiro, my wife, about it who attends the same tea class with me.  She commented that she also prefers the thin-handled whisk for the same reason.  At the class, the thick-handled tea whisk is often wet, so I guess that another disciple who attends the class before me prefers the thick one.  The one Hiro and I prefer is about 60-70 splines, and the thick one has 90-100, approximately.  How about you?  Would the thickness of tea whisk handle matter?   Are you meticulous about the grip when whisking?

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.

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.