Something More Significant than the Taste of Tea

Delightful Reception

Despite we are still in the rainy season, it was damn hot in these past few days. This Sunday, I went to Toki, Gifu for a thing that I look forward to every month. An ice block welcomed me, which I found at the entrance of the tea house. I was captivated by the delightful art work. It is the host’s consideration for guests to feel cool. It won’t help much to drop down the actual temperature physically but it gives a visual refreshment. The guests can feel coolness in their mind. I thought it was quite sophisticated.

Cool Even Though It’s Hot

In the tea room, as I wiped the sweat off my forehead, I listened to the host talking and watched her prepare. Another surprise was in the room. Usually, the lid of the water container is made of ceramic or wood but it was a dewy green leaf which was as large as a baseball glove. It looked fresh and cool. This can be another ingenuity to create a sense of coolness. Also, the chakin linen cloth came in the bowl which is filled with water. When the host picked up the chakin, the dripping water made a refreshingly cool sound. The cool rendition was provided even by sound.

Images on Google:
- The leaf lid 
- The chakin linen cloth in water

Preciousness in One-time Use

I have seen pictures of the leaf lids. However, this was my first time to see the actual performance. It must have been troublesome for the host in preparing the leaf from picking and cleaning it. I was curious how to handle the leaf in the ceremony. After taking off the lid, she folded it a few times. What surprised me was that she stab the folded leaf with its stem, probably not to open back. Wow, she is not going to use it again!? Then, she put it in the waste-water receptacle. I was impressed with the decisiveness of single-use. You might have an image that old and rustic utensils are appreciated in The Way of Tea. However, the value of freshness also receives recognition, and some of items made of bamboo or solid wood are meant for one-time use. Same goes with the leaf lid. The leaf was prepared just for us. I was thankful for the effort and hospitality of the host.

Not Only Tea but Sensuousness

This ceremony was a great example in practicing the concept of “Make it seem warm in winter, and cool in summer” which is one of the Seven Essentials of The Way of Tea by Rikyu. The host tried to provide the sense of coolness. It was held in Urasenke tradition and the leaf lid seems to be a special arrangement for summer. I was very much impressed and amazed by it. I wish that Omotesenke that I practice had this kind of procedure. Anyhow, what I experienced this month was the principle of chanoyu. The sensuous artifice or the consideration to your guests is what we should care about. It will be more crucial than the taste of tea. The solicitude will definitely enrich your tea and make it alluring.

Related link: The essentials: 4. Make it seem warm in winter, and cool in summer

Way of Whisking

Graceful Whisking

In a movie “Ask this of Rikyu”, there is the scene where Ms. Miki Nakatani as Souon prepares tea. When I watched it, I thought that her performance was not so significant. However, the other day, I had a chance to watch the scene again. I realized how gracious her whisking sound and tempo were. It is sometimes said “Whisk lightly” in Omotesenke tradition. It was kind of hard for me to get a sense of it, but how Ms. Nakatani whisks struck me. This is it! It was comfortable and natural like the way a bird or an insect sings. She starts whisking it slowly, and gradually quickens her pace to the peak. Then, she keeps the constant beat. Again gradually it slows down and the whisk leaves the bowl gently. People are sometimes too busy about making froth. I wonder how many people can actually care about the grace and pace when they whisk. Whisking is my recent interest.

Good Matcha and Bad Matcha

In my tea class, I noticed that the tea taste differ, depending on student preparing it even though we use the same utensils, water and matcha. It is no wonder that the amount of water and tea are the most influential factor. However, I also noticed the way of moving the whisk differs among the students. I wonder if the way of whisking gives certain impact to the taste. I often find the tea brewed by a particular classmate bitter.

Experimenting on the Way of Wishking

I made three servings of matcha with different strength of whisking.
A: Harsh 20sec
B: Medium 20sec
C: Light 10sec
I try to peg my ideal whisking by Ms. Nakatani at “B”. I tried the other two, “A” and “C”, to imitate the way of two students from my tea class. Do you think I will find a certain difference among the three, or my ideal whisking makes better tasting tea? Let’s take a look at the result.

My Presumption Failed

One of my classmates whisks matcha hardly and I sometimes find his tea bitter. So, I expected a harsh whisking makes matcha bitter. Unfortunately, I could not find a significant difference in taste between the harsh whisking “A” and the normal whisking “B”. My presumption was wrong. I could find some texture in “C”, and the water and the tea were not blended well. What I can say from today’s test is “whisk well”. Despite of the result, I still believe that the way of whisking affects the taste in some degree, so I’ll keep seeking this issue, and I’m still attracted to Ms. Nakatani’s whisking.

Rhythmical Pace

In the movie, the camera doesn’t capture her hands entirely so I don’t know her specific moves. However, from the sound, I can tell that she whisks constantly with a comfortable rhythm. I don’t hear any irregular stroke. I actually timed her whisking. It was 20 sec with about 70 strokes. She changed the pace gradually and gracefully from the beginning to the peak, and the peak to finish. In my case, to try not to make lumps, I used to whisk with strokes like the letter “M”. It sounded kind of unsteady. Moreover, sometimes when a lump gets on the wall of the bowl, I try to get it down with an irregular stroke while whisking. It is quite difficult to whisk constantly and without getting any lumps. That is my challenge for now.

The way of whisking differs depending on school traditions. What I talked here is not an absolute way.
I took a video of the test I did. If you don’t see the subtitles, please check the setting of your YouTube.

Konmari decluttering

Cleaning in Japan

Some tourists from abroad find the cities in Japan relatively clean. Some people get surprised that in schools, kids usually clean their class rooms on their own. Japanese might have a keen sense in cleaning. However, it is not always the case. I’m not good at keeping my room neat actually. My grandparents’ and parents’ generations don’t seem to be good at throwing things away. It is because they experienced the time where they were short on things during and right after the world war. My grandma kept even used gift-wrapping paper. Some households are filled to capacity with material possessions.

Konmari

Some of you might already heard of the name, Kondo Marie, or KonMari. She is an organizing consultant and her book “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” has got No.1 at amazon best seller ranking.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Life-Changing-Magic-Tidying-Decluttering/dp/1607747308/ref=zg_bs_books_1
Her method is that you keep only the things that spark joy and you get rid of the other stuff. You do it by categories; clothing, books and so on. You collect all of your items in the same category into one space. You pick up one by one from the pile and determine if it really sparks joy. You will realize that expensive things or new items are not always valuable to you. How do I know about it? I actually practiced her method and decluttered my home last year.

Zen saying

When I read her books, I recalled two Zen saying in my mind‏.
知足 or chisoku; Realizing that you already have enough.
People tend to want things that they don’t really need. If you know what and how much you need, you can always live in great satisfaction.
放下着 or hogechaku; Throw things away.
By discarding unnecessary things, precious things to you emerge. You can feel the lightness and briskness, you will realize that your own naked self is more than enough.

Enhancing what you really care for

The best benefit from Konmaring is that I feel really good about not possessing too many things or being free from things. I think Konmari is borrowing the ideas from Zen and Shinto. By Konmari’s organizing, you can have the exhilarating experience like Zen. I feel intoxicated at my closet that has one third of clothes that I used to have. It is only filled with the brightest clothes now. Certainly, they have been always in the closet but they had a low profile buried in other clothes. Purging the things that you don’t need enhances what you really care about. This kind of spirit can be an important hidden theme of chanoyu. For instance, we don’t display many flowers in the tea room. We borrow only a few flowers from the fields that one thinks really appealing. That is why even though the arrangement is simple, it looks so brilliant. You can be spiritually full filled without a lot of materials. Actually, it might be even better not to have many. I guess this idea leads to Wabi-Sabi.

Try organizing your home and experience Wabi-Sabi yourself. You can get a highly-sensitive space for chanoyu.

Konmari website: http://konmari.com/en/

Zen Sayings or Zengo

 

What a shame!

You usually see a hanging scroll displayed in a tea room. From the scroll, you are supposed to read the host’s mind or the theme of the ceremony that you are attending. In a tea ceremony, bokuseki or calligraphy, especially of a Zen monk is often preferred rather than drawings. The calligraphies are zengo, Zen Sayings. I often have hard time to understand what it means. Moreover, I’m ashamed to admit that I can’t even read it sometimes. I need to learn about zengo or at least just the basics.

This might not be zengo, but bokuseki looks something like this.

Incomprehensible Zen

It is said that Zen cannot be explained by words. Someone also says that while you are seeking what Zen is, it is not Zen. Um…. When I read books about Zen, I often have difficulty to understand them. Zen might not be a thing to comprehend intellectually and it may be a thing to realize from your experience. However, books are still the easiest way for me to know about it. This time, I got five casual books that have easy descriptions on various zengo (Zen sayings). By reading the five books, I realized two things. First, the descriptions among the five books are sometimes different even for the same saying.　How it is construed might vary with the individual. The other thing is that there are some lessons that show up repeatedly in these books. These lessons can be a clue to understand Zen.

"Now", "Let it go" and "Don’t distinguish"

The three most memorable keywords and phrases I found in the books are “Now”, “Let it go” and “Don’t distinguish”. They are something like the following;
“Now”
Do the best for now. You don’t need to be bothered with the past nor worry about the feature. Live for now. 
“Let it go”
Just follow as things go. “Be as you are.” “You already have everything.” “Discard things.” These are also the lessons that I found frequently in the books which are similar to this lesson in nature.
“Don’t distinguish”
It is not good to view things in two aspects; beautiful or ugly, in or out, or bright or dark. People tend to be obsessed too much about distinguishing things. Embrace things as they are. This lesson might lead to the lesson of unity or oneness.
There might be one truth in Zen. Words can only describe a certain aspect of it. These keywords are saying different things, but actually they might be describing the same truth from different angles. That’s what I feel.

行雲流水or kounryusui

Here, let me introduce one of my favorite zengo related to the lesson of “Let it go”.
–行雲流水or kounryusui –
It literally means “Clouds move and water flows”. This lesson means “Live without fixating and go with the times.” Clouds and water don’t stay at on place. They travel even if there are obstacles. They change into any shape and flow with the grain of nature.

Influence of Zen

Even though I can’t still understand what Zen is, I can sense that Zen has a lot of influence on chanoyu and today’s Japanese culture. It kind of make sense. For example, a host tries to have a bud that just started blooming for the tea flower. Usually, the blooming is quite short and with the host preparing the young bloom just for the very moment makes it even more special‏. This preference might come from the lesson of “Now”.
For an example of the lesson of “don’t distinguish things”, Japanese are not good at giving definite yes or no for an answer. We might feel comfortable by making things a bit ambiguous.
A lot of people don’t know much about Zen even in Japan. However, there are many traditions and attitude of ours that comes from Zen idea, and we benefit from it spontaneously. Knowing zengo might help us to realize the underlying principle behind chanoyu and Japanese culture.

Trying a tea ceremony in Japan

Public tea ceremony

The best places to try Japanese tea ceremony are the casual ones which are held as a city event or monthly gatherings at a local tea house. They are often reasonably priced. Maybe it is around 500yen and you get to have one sweet confectionery and a bowl of matcha. Those places usually welcome anybody even those who are not familiar to the tea ceremony. You can tell its causality by the admission. The formality is often proportional to it. The downside is that they are held only on certain days. Check the city information where you are going to visit. The monthly gathering of tea houses can be a bit formal. In that case, it is better to go with a person who is familiar to The Way of Tea. 

Otemae and tatedashi

A tea-ceremony workshop can be another place where you can try it. However, it costs more, probably a couple thousand yen.　 Some temples in tourist sites or some cafés also serve matcha (500-1000yen), but they are not usually in a ceremonial style. The tea is just served from the back and you don’t see the host preparing in the room. However, some tourist sites might serve it in the traditional fashion. Useful Japanese terms for you to remember are “temae” and “tatedashi”. In Japanese, we call the procedure or performance of preparing the tea otemae or temae. On the other hand, the way of serving the tea prepared from the back is tatedashi. You can ask if the tea is served in otemae or tatedashi style.

The main guest

I sweated at the tea ceremony that I attended this weekend. In the session that I was in, there were some elderly ladies wearing kimono and looking obviously experienced. However, unexpectedly I got to be the main guest. I get stage fright easily. In the ceremony, I could have talked about the weather as a greeting. Also I could have asked about the hanging calligraphy scroll or the amorous water container with a brown luster glaze. Fortunately, the host was friendly and led the conversation. I didn’t make a big mistake but I could have done better. I don’t remember much about the taste of sweets and tea. After the ceremony, one of my co-guests came to me and told me that she had a good time. I realized again that it is important to simply enjoy it, which I could not do myself. 

What to enjoy

Feel the light from paper screen or listen to the sound of boiling water. You might find the contrast interesting between the primitiveness of bamboo scoop and the smooth glossy finish of urushi tea container. Greeting the guest next to you is simply heartwarming. You will see the host purifying and checking the whisk somberly but with heartfelt actions. While drinking the tea, you might feel and enjoy the texture and weight of the pottery bowl. What I needed to do was to savor the atmosphere. If you have a chance to join a Japanese tea ceremony for the first time, don’t worry too much about the manners and try to sense and appreciate these simple things in the tea room. It will make your experience profound and delightful. This is a lesson which I learned this time.

Related links

Tea ceremony manners for guests 1
 http://everyonestea.blogspot.jp/2012/12/tea-ceremony-manners-for-guests-1.html
Tea ceremony manners for guests 2
http://everyonestea.blogspot.jp/2012/12/tea-ceremony-manners-for-guests-2.html

The tea ceremonies around my city

- Links are Japanese.
- There are off months, check the schedule before you visit.

Seto
500yen, Few times a year
At the tea room in Seto Culture Center

Nagakute
250yen, The second Sunday of the month
At Koshoan in Iroganeyama Park
http://www.city.nagakute.lg.jp/gakushu/syougai_gakusyuu/kouminkankouza/iroganetyasitu.html

Toki
500yen, The second weekend of the month
At Bosetsuan in Oribenosato Park
http://www.toki-bunka.or.jp/?page_id=35#bosetsuan

Kasugai
400yen, The second Sunday of the month
At Shunshuan in Culture Forum Kasugai or at another place
http://sakadou.net/rink/d-detail/kasugaisadou.html

Common Beginner’s Mistakes in Making Matcha

Confident on your procedures?

This entry is for the people who havejust got started with matcha. They might have learned it from books or YouTube, and they might not have experienced people around who can give advice. How sure are you if you are doing the right way? There are some mistakes that beginners might make. I’ll show them on the following video. Please watch it and find the mistakes.



How many mistake did you notice?

Let’s take a look at the mistakes one by one.

1. Laying the bamboo whisk

At the beginning on the video, the whisk was laid. The tines are delicate. Do not rest it on the tines and keep it standing. Damaging the tines might shorten the life of the whisk.

2. Putting the lid of natsume container upside-down

Natsume is usually coated with beautiful urushi lacquer. By placing the lid upside-down, it might damage it. You don’t want to see scrapes on the top of your lid. When placing it on the table, place it just as its orientation.

3. Not fully wiping off the water

I’m sorry that it is difficult to notice it on the video and this image. After warming up the bowl with hot water, if the bowl was not wiped carefully enough, some water droplets will remain in the bowl. If you put matcha in the wet bowl, matcha might absorb the moisture and create some lumps. It doesn’t have a good effect to the taste of the tea.

4. Pressing matcha

When breaking the heap of matcha in the bowl, I used the flat part of the scoop tip. It was kind of packing the matcha. It can be an obstacle in mixing matcha and water well. Above all, the tea won’t taste good with compacted matcha. In this video, I also noticed that the packed matcha doesn’t get frothy much. Use the edge of the scoop, and try not to press matcha when breaking the heap.

5. Keeping the lid open

I didn’t put the lid of natsume back after putting the matcha into the bowl. I kept making tea with the lid open. You should not give your matcha unnecessary exposure to the air. Getting moisture and oxidation are not good for matcha. It might help the matcha go bad quickly. Put the lid back right after you put the matcha in the bowl. 

6. Placing the natsume with an impact

When I placed the natsume back on the table, I put it carelessly with an knocking sound. The impact may compact the matcha inside. Compacting matcha is not good for the taste and even more it doesn’t look nice. 

Consideration to the tea

Please pardon my skills if you can see other mistakes in this video. The examples that I introduced here are not rules. They just come from consideration to the tea and utensils. Treating the tea and utensil with care are not only for art form, but also it directly affects the condition of your utensils and the flavor of the tea that you are serving.  These consideration make a big change.

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

Every Day Matcha made easy! (video)

Matcha is too much of a bother!?

Lately, I hear many questions and opinions about preparing matcha casually. “Is there any way to prepare matcha easily?” “A hand-held electric frother might help.” “Making paste with a little bit of water can prevent getting lumps?” It seems people are looking for an easy way. Some people might also think the traditional matcha making has a lot of manners so it’s too much of a bother. In fact, I used to prepare matcha rarely because I find it kind of troublesome. However, now I have matcha almost every day without feeling troubled. I think it is easy as making instant coffee.

Don’t store in freezer nor sift it

The traditional way is easy enough. You won’t need to look for any alternative way such as using the electric mixer or the two-step method. Think about it. It’s basically just mixing matcha powder and hot water. How simple is that? The bother that I can think of are something like storing it in the freezer or sifting before brewing. Then, I would say “Don’t store it in the freezer nor sift it”. I don’t actually do them each time when I prepare.

My way of daily matcha

Today, I’m going to introduce how I prepare matcha at home. I’ll be glad if it could become some kind of hint for somebody by sharing it here. Of course, I’m not doing everything properly. What we need to do is just mix matcha, and other than that we would like to make it as simple as possible. 　There are three points.
1. Not sifting matcha every time
It is the best to sift matcha just before you brew. When I serve it for guests, I’ll sift brand new tea, but for daily tea I believe that being simple is more appealing. I sift matcha once before putting it in the container. I use the same tea without sifting later on, instead I handle the container gently. No shaking nor placing it on the table with impact.
2. Not storing matcha in the fridge
I keep matcha on the shelf with the utensils. I usually consume one package (20g) in about two weeks. If you don’t consume that much in two weeks, keep the amount for two weeks in the container, and store the rest in the freezer. You only do storing and sifting once in two weeks.
3. Store minimal utensils at an accessible place
What you need is a tea bowl, bamboo whisk, tea scoop and matcha. Secure an accessible space in the kitchen for them. You don’t have to store matcha in the refrigerator or freezer.

Making matcha can become very easy if minimal utensils and the tea are available. My method is not the absolute answer, you can try anything to simplify your preparation.

Please check the video for details. 

If you don’t see English subtitle, please check the setting on your YouTube.

 

 

Family Tea Traditions

Encountering a School

Your choice of tea school could be based on the atmosphere you get after visiting different schools or because you know someone taking classes in a certain school‏. Not many people know which school tradition they want to learn when they begin because they don’t know the differences. It might be something that you realize after you learn for many years. Choosing school is just an encounter. I’m no exception, and I'm learning Omotesenke because the nearest school taught that tradition‏.

The Three Sen Families

There are dozens of family traditions of tea existing in Japan. Most of them derived from Sen no Rikyu’s descendants or disciples. The three Sen families Omotesenke, Urasenke and Mushakojisenke are the major tea schools which are run by Rikyu’s descendants. I could not find any reliable data but it is often said that Urasenke School has the biggest population and then Omotesenke. Actually, most of the ceremony I’ve attended were held by either Urasenke or Omotesenke. I often see those two families in publications as well. Popularity of school might have regional differences based on historical background.

 

Differences on how you behave 

The tea ceremonies may look all the same if you are not familiar. However, tea practitioners will notice the small differences if the ceremony is served in a different tradition. They are quite minor differences such as; if the host enters the room with left foot or right foot, how the host folds his fukusa cloth, or arrangement and design of implements. It is said that Urasenke looks graceful and Omotesenke is modest on both behavior and implements. For example, during the flow, I see the host from Urasenke striking a pose at pivotal points. At Omotesenke, I have not been taught to make such pause. I often see the manner that four fingers tend to be beautifully straightened for Urasenke and gently curled for Omotesenke. Exaggeratedly speaking, they are different like marching and sauntering. Marching looks eye-grabbing.

 

What the grand master of Omotesenke says

I sometimes incorporate elegant manners and moves that I saw on TV or at some ceremonies even if it is from other tradition. Maybe I did it because I was not totally certain about Omotesenke tradition. However, my doubt was cleared when I read a book written by the grand master of Omotesenke. Once said “Oribe’s performance was conspicuous and impressive, on the other hand, Rikyu’s performance was smooth and it ended before you knew it.” Some people do admiring performance with varied pace and intensities, and some others do a flowing performance without a highlight. Our grand master said that we don’t go for prominent actions and we try to avoid unnatural things as possible. It was my “aha moment”.   It totally made sense to me.


I’m not trying to be offensive to other traditions nor to define others. What I introduced here is just an example.

Teatime in the living room made special‏

At a family gathering

One of my cousins got married. He came over to introduce us his new partner the other day. I planned to hold a casual tea ceremony to welcome them. I decided to serve tea in my living room. I had six people as guest. I invited them into the living room. When they got in the room, I could tell by their faces that they were all excited. They probably felt a different ambience than usual. I did nothing special. Maybe, they sensed it from the flower on display, steam coming from the kettle, dim lighting from half-closed blinds or the cleaned table without any finger prints. It’s needless to say that the tea gathering went quite successful and the guests left in awe.

Turn my living room into a tea space

Having tea with an extraordinary scenery or a tasteful tea room is awesome. But you can experience the principle of chanoyu even in an ordinary room. I believe that the essence of tea gathering is to create a special moment in your everyday living. You don’t have to do anything special to set up a tea space. It is simple but quite effective. What you do is clean the room, display a flower, adjust the lighting and you can light incense if you want. That’s it. There is no need for conspicuous decorations. Those modest but decent works will create the special atmosphere and I’m sure that your guests will notice your quiet attention to details.

 

Cold Matcha

It’s not formal

I want to introduce how to prepare cold matcha today. I have made cold matcha in the tea class at my previous school, but never learned it at my current school. The cold matcha is not a formal way of preparing tea, and it is a creative way of serving. I don’t remember exactly how I prepared cold matcha in the previous school. So, I searched about it on the internet.

Various way of preparation

I found many different ways of making cold matcha as I expected. There is even a method of making it by using a cocktail shaker. I thought that it's very interesting but I, as a tea person, tried to stick with the way using bamboo whisk. If I try to summarize the various methods, I can classify them based on two points of view. The first aspect is whether to use hot water or not‏. The other point is if it is blended with a small amount of water on the first step like koicha making. By considering these two aspects, I think that you can categorize most of the methods into the following four types.

		No.	Procedure
Cold water only	Simple step	1	Mix matcha and cold water by whisking
	Two steps	2	Mix matcha with a little amount of cold water well.  Then add some iced water and whisk more
Using hot water	Simple step	3	Make the matcha with hot water as usual.  Add ice cubes.
	Two steps	4	Mix matcha with a little amount of hot water well.  Then add some iced water and whisk more

I tried the four ways myself

Now, I wanted to know which way can make most delicious cold matcha! My first test failed. I used usual amount of matcha and water, but I felt that they were too thick in cold. I tried a few more rounds of test with less matcha to find better mixture.
For evaluating the four methods, I'll check them in terms of taste, texture and difficulty of preparation.
Taste
I didn’t find any big difference in taste among the teas prepared with only cold water (No.1 & 2). The flavor is quite mellow and not bitter at all. Sweet umami taste really stands out. The teas with hot water (No.3 & 4) were more intense with rich flavor. It also had some bitterness so it was refreshing. In No.4, I found a bit of off-flavor.
Texture
There was not much difference in texture between the cold-water preparations (No.1 & 2) and the hot-water preparations (No.3 & 4). I didn’t find any big lumps in either tea. It is maybe because I sifted the matcha before brewing. However, I noticed some tiny lumps remained in the bowl in No.1 and 3 after drinking, and none in No. 2 and 4. It was a very minor difference, though.
Difficulty of preparation
Of course, No.1 and 2, the methods without hot water are much easier to prepare. So to name them in order, starting from the most difficult‏, it will be No.4, 3, 2 and then 1.

		No.	Taste	Texture	Difficulty of Preparation
Cold water only	Simple step	1	Mellow with good umami, Not bitter	Slightly rough	The easiest
	Two steps	2		Smooth	Easy
Using hot water	Simple step	3	Refreshing rich flavor, Some bitterness	Slightly rough	Complicated
	Two steps	4	Refreshing rich flavor, Some bitterness and off-flavor	Smooth	The most complicated

If you want mild tea, try cold-water brewing (No.1 or 2). If you prefer refreshing tea, try No.3.  No.4 had an off-flavor and it takes a lot of fuss to make it, so probably I won't use it. I personally like mellow tea, so I recommend method No.2 the most.

Conclusion for cold matcha

The facts I found through these tests are:
-Cold matcha has mellow flavor and rich sweetness without bitterness, but less aroma.
-Matcha feels thicker in cold.
My recipe
-Matcha:1g
-Iced water: first-5ml, second-65ml
1. Blend gently the matcha with 5ml of iced water and make smooth paste

2. Add 65ml of iced water and whisk well

Tips:
-Sift matcha before making it
-Cool the bowl and dry it before using
-You may add some ice cubes when you serve it.
The cold matcha can give briskness like a cool breeze into your day. Enjoy!

Buy the way, I have some new tea bowls on our shop. The white tea bowl in the photos is one of them. http://www.everyonestea.com/product-list/10

Matcha affogato

Encounter with affogato

I was fascinated by encountering a dessert called “affogato”. It was probably one or two decades ago: I can’t remember exactly when. I knew ice cream and I knew espresso but pouring the espresso on ice cream was a shock. It was terribly good. Europeans know such cool way of enjoying ice cream. I tried it at home. I even enjoyed it with matcha instead of coffee. Nowadays, I’m into mixing Oreo cookies into ice cream. I think that it’s better than getting a ready-made cookies and cream. Anyway, I forgot about affogato lately. 

Reunion with new version

This spring, a new Japanese-tea house opened in my city. I found “koicha affogato” on their menu. This is it! I ordered the koicha affogato. The ice cream came with shiratama dumplings and anko (sweet been paste), and koicha came in a different cup. Koicha is a thickly prepared matcha, against thinly prepared usucha. 　(Related link about Koicha and Usucha: http://everyonestea.blogspot.jp/2014/04/thick-tea-and-thin-tea.html) What I enjoyed in the past was one with thin tea, usucha. I have never thought of using koicha. This one is new to me. I poured koicha from the top of the ice cream. I like this new version better. I can enjoy rich flavor of green tea much better. Now I think that my affogato with usucha was a little watery and koicha goes much better with it.

I tried koicha affogato at home

I liked it so much and wanted to try it at home. I found the perfect thing at a supermarket. It’s dumplings on a stick with anko!

 It’s not shiratama dumplings but it’s similar. So I think that it’ll be all right. I didn’t have to buy a whole can of anko or make shiratamas from scratch.

I disassembled the dumplings and anko, and served them with ice cream in a bowl. I made koicha with the usual recipe (matcha:3.6g, water:36ml at 80C). 

It looks quite nice, doesn’t it?

The amount of koicha was too much for100ml (a half cup) of ice cream that I used.

It’s heaven

For the second time, I tried it with a half amount of koicha. It was perfect! The outer layer of ice cream was melted by the hot matcha. I scooped the melted creamy matcha sauce and lump of ice cream together with my spoon and put them in my mouth. It is wonderful to savor the cold part and the aromatic matcha sauce merging. I also put dumplings and anko into my mouth after dressing them with the sauce. It’s nice to have various change in temperature, texture and flavor. It is a very amusing dessert. Even if you don’t have dumplings and anko, it is going to be much more fun putting koicha on ice cream than just having ice cream only.

*If you try it, don’t use expensive matcha for koicha. Use inexpensive one. Bitter flavor goes better with ice cream.

My mixture
Vanilla ice cream: 100ml (a half cup)
Koicha: matcha 1.8g, hot water 18ml

 

Procedure of Tea Ceremony at Home (video)

The procedure is simple.

If you want to try Japanese tea ceremony, today’s post is perfect for you! Today, I’ll introduce the procedure of Japanese tea ceremony. I made a video that introduces the simplest way that you can try at home. Holding a ceremony is not difficult. They consists only of five steps. 
1.Bring the implements into the room
2.Purify the implements
3.Make the tea
4.Clean and put the implements together
5.Leave the room with implements
You do the things one by one, and after making tea, you just do everything backwards to put things away. How simple is that. You bring implements into the room, make tea and leave the room with implements. It begins from nothing and ends at nothing. I think that it is somewhat a Zen idea.

Benefit of making a video

I noticed some of my problems in my movements by taking videos from different angles. My fingers were not totally aligned at some points. Motion was not smooth and I had unnecessary‏ moves when I wiped the bowl. Noticing the problems is one benefit of making this video. I can make improvements on those parts. 　

Just imitate

You might think the proper gestures are too complicated. But watch the video, just follow the basic steps and imitate the motions. Don’t worry too much about the detailed movements. The important thing is your attitude for devoting to serve tea. Enjoy!

*If you do it properly, check the links pasted on the bottom of this entry.  

 


This is the script of this video for ones who want to review the steps.

What you need

Hot water in a thermos jar, tea bowl, linen cloth, tea whisk, tea scoop, matcha, waste-water receptacle, sweets

1. Bring the implements into the room 

Serve sweets
Bring the Jar, the tea bowl and the match, and then a waste-water receptacle in turns

2. Purify the implements 

Purify the tea container and tea scoop
Take out the tea whisk and linen cloth from the bowl
Purify the tea whisk
Warm up the bowl and wipe it.

3. Make the tea 

Two scoops of matcha, 50ml of hot water
Whisk them to mix well
(The guest partakes the tea)
Rinse the returned bowl
Repeat making tea for the next guest
Rinse the returned bowl

4. Clean and put the implements together 

Rinse the tea whisk
Put the linen cloth and the tea whisk into the bowl
Clean the tea scoop

5. Leave the room with implements 

Take out the waste-water receptacle, the bowl and matcha, and then the jar
Leave the room with the plate for sweets

Related links
If you want to do it properly, check the uncut version of this video. 
Procedure of Tea Ceremony (uncut) http://youtu.be/l6ypZjjhjZU
I also have other videos to explain each steps specifically.
How to fold CHAKIN linen cloth http://youtu.be/Uv-wxLKVxuI
How to fold FUKUSA silk cloth http://youtu.be/kpIw1dvbcE8
How to purify NATSUME tea caddy http://youtu.be/i6VlPaRe7oc
How to purify CHASHAKU tea scoop http://youtu.be/-uX3xblTSek
How to purify CHASEN tea whisk http://youtu.be/aA5ydrmR4EY
How to wipe the tea bowl http://youtu.be/27vPiocBVxo

Tea Ceremony at Home (video)

Pleasure in serving tea

When you have company coming over, the tea ceremony is a perfect way to welcome them. Sharing a calm moment over tea has some magical effect. The time runs calmly but at the same time, you can feel some kind of excitement. I as the host, can tell the fascination in my guests’ eyes from the exotic tea serving. I also feel elated by seeing a joyful look on them. It is like watching a good film together and sharing the same excitement. 

Video of casual tea ceremony

I made a video about holding a tea ceremony at home. I’m an amateur on making videos so I could not express the fascination in the footage. However, I will be glad if you can imagine what a tea ceremony is like and learn what we do.

A Friend from Singapore

Meeting a new friend
Once I received a mail from one of my blog readers. He asked me if I knew any place where he can take a week of intense course to learn the tea ceremony during his trip to Japan. I didn’t know any, so I offered to serve him a bowl of tea if he can visit me. Here he came from Singapore last weekend! 

I found out that the tea room where I had tea the other day at our town festival is a city’s property and anybody from the area can rent it. It’s a small thatched hut and perfect for holding a private tea gathering for us.

Exclusive tea ceremony
From the preparation room, I heard that he and other two guests got in the room from the crawl-through doorway. Then, I opened the door of the host’s entrance and I saw him sitting nicely with his settled posture. The room was filled with a comfortable light from the paper windows and a bit of tension. Maybe it is because of the classic tatami room, utensils and me wearing kimono. The proper arrangement of The Way of Tea has some kind of magical effect to create the special atmosphere. I felt his gaze once I started preparing tea. With his both hands, he carefully held the bowl, which I served. As if he was trying to make sure of every essence of the tea, he thoroughly relished the bowl sip by sip. At the moment, we were isolated. There might have been some sounds of car outside but I didn’t hear them. I concentrated into the moment just for us. I cleaned the utensils as usual and left the room. I could see his fascination and excitement in his smile after the ceremony. I felt certain that he truly enjoyed this gathering. We went back in the tea room again and spent a relaxing moment, taking pictures and telling how to prepare matcha. Then, he served a bowl of tea for me. It was so much fun.

Limit of words
Once I saw a TV program about sado (The Way of Tea). An instructor explained reasons why we do this or that in the ceremony. His words didn’t appeal to my mind. The grand master of our school says that there are reasons for every single movement in the ceremony but he doesn’t like to give the explanation for everything. When I started learning sado, I wanted to know those reasons. But now, I’m kind of getting what the grand master was saying. Words cannot describe everything and even create a limit on things. When you watch a Picasso drawing or listen to a Mozart symphony, you don’t need someone’s explanation. You just feel and discern it, then you will find an overwhelming sensation. If you try to express it in words, it loses its profoundness. 

Fellowship
I and the friend from Singapore were together only for a half day but we could get on personal terms. It is because of the tea ceremony and the benefit of it. It’ll be vain if I say it in words that the tea ceremony is to escape from daily life and enjoy the fellowship. However, I’m sure that he realized the reason after experiencing it why Japanese do the tea ceremony. He mailed me a short massage the next day, “Words cannot describe my gratitude for a perfect day.” I totally understand what he means.