Great quality Kyusu teapot and cup set: Japanese Tea Pots.
– Kyusu should always have a fine filter fixed at spout NOT removable basket filter to brew all kinds of Japanese tea, all grades of tea.
– It should have a wide opening to enable the easy disposal of used tea leaves.
– Side handle makes tea easy to pour.
Yunomi cups
– It is better for the teacup to be thin to enjoy the excellent and subtle flavour of high-grade Japanese tea.
– If the inside is white, you can appreciate the unique colour of each different variety of Japanese tea.
The Japanese tetsubin is a cast iron teapot that is intended to hold the heat in. It originates from the Japanese iron teakettle design called a tetsubin.
This dates back to the 1600’s when iron kettles were placed on the hearth.
The classic tetsubin is black with a pebbled surface. Japanese artisans began to embellish the teakettles as they evolved from kettles to teapots being placed on the table for serving. Many beautiful designs now incorporate colour and consist of cherry blossoms, the national flower of Japan.
Every culture has its own way of brewing, presenting and sharing tea. The specific tea ware used is critical to the entire process. Most western countries use porcelain teapots and English style brewing; the Chinese use gong Fu style brewing with a Gawain while Russia, Eastern European and Middle Eastern countries use a Samovar.
Traditionally the tetsubin design was made for brewing sencha.
Sencha is the most popular tea in Japan. Much different than matcha, it is a leaf tea, plucked and processed throughout the harvest seasons. The first and second sencha is considered the best, sweeter in taste and stronger in flavour than each subsequent.
Unlike China or India, the specific tea estate or region is not named in the selling of sencha. Almost always, sencha tea is blended with the signature touch of each artisan, creating a signature brand for the tea company or shop. No matter the grade, all sencha is high in vitamin C.
Entire books have been written on the Japanese Way of Tea called chanoyu, the Japanese tea ceremony.
Another Japanese tea ceremony uses leaf tea or sencha. A ceremonial grade sencha called gyokuro is used. This rare tea is shaded, like matcha, three weeks before harvest to increase the chlorophyll resulting in a sweeter taste.
Sencha was promoted by the Zen monks and it highly influenced Japanese arts. The Japanese tetsubin cast iron teapot was originally designed for sencha by the ruling class, in the 17th century. By the 18th and 19th centuries, the Japanese literati used it extensively and it became part of everyday drinking tea.
Although the original Japanese tetsubin cast iron teapot was a tea kettle for boiling water, today tetsubin are teapots made for brewing tea only. Manufacturers do not recommend using these as a kettle to heat water over a flame, glass or electric burner.
