This particular show of her work is themed around Chado, the Japanese tea ceremony, using the traditional practice as inspiration for the stark metal forms of her abstract steel and aluminum works, and more directly in the pieces that take the form of actual implements of the ceremony.

The tea tools, as re-worked by Ando, become something less and also more than their utilitarian counterparts, made more stark through a shift in their materials. One set has received a coating of graphite, creating a dramatic, fragile black sheen. Another set of pieces is recast in aluminum, replacing the warm organic bamboo with cold metal. In both cases the beauty of the forms of the tea tools is illuminated, while the functionality is absent, which is a curious transformation.

What does it mean for a tool – in this case one designed and crafted for the express purpose of preparing tea using a very specific and measured set of behaviors and protocols – to be reduced to pure symbol and aesthetic object? Does this allow for a more objective perception of the beauty of the object, or does it somehow lose a part of its meaning? It may not be so simple to determine, and it is possible that the symbolic aspects of the tea tools bear the greatest weight for Ando in their place in the traditional art forms of Japan, not in any contemporary application of tea practice.

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As I hoped and expected, the tea industry is responding to the crisis. Obubo Tea has set up product-linked donations which will directly help the Japanese tea drinkers and farmers affected by the disaster.

Funds raised thru this effort will go to the following in this order:

Obubu customers directly affected by the disaster

Tea farmers and tea businesses affected by the disaster

If the needs of the above have been met, we will donate the money to the Japanese Red Cross or other effort specifically related to the disaster

Please consider donating:

To donate to general relief efforts and find out more direct information about conditions and what is being done to help, visit Operation Sakura.

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*********************

“A musician can have Kung Fu, or the poet who paints pictures with words and makes emperors weep, this too is Kung Fu.”

As mister Jackie Chan said above, kung fu is more than throwing a punch or pouring a cup of tea. Everybody can learn the basic steps of gong fu cha, but how come the results are so different?

The answer to this question is well understood by somebody who practices any skill with diligence. I will focus on two skills today: martial arts and tea.

There are few kung fu movies, especially old movies, which don’t show any tea related item in them. In every movie, a master accepts a student only after he serves him tea from a gaiwan.  I think today, this custom has vanished, but the practice of drinking tea by martial artists has not.

I grew up reading Japanese books like Musashi and Taiko.  Tea is often mentioned in those books. I believe that the Japanese tea ceremony would not be the same without the centuries of war that Japan experienced.  Tea was truly a moment of peace in those struggling times.  I would go on and say that concepts like wabi sabi were created by warriors, and polished by artists.  The concept of finding perfection in imperfection would seem only natural in those conditions, as natural as finding peace in the middle of war.

Those warriors were first of all schooled in the arts of war. Of course, those skills are no longer necessary today, because if you kill a person with a punch you go straight to jail, no matter how skillful you are.  Martial arts have evolved into something else over time.  Rather than being skills used to kill, they become tools of self improvement. One can now train his mind, body and soul by practicing over long periods of time.

In martial arts, a fist hits or does not hit.  There is no “what if”. You learn to accept and work on your own mistakes. No matter the cause of being hit, the only answer to why that fist hit is: because you are not good enough. Skill doesn’t come in a day.  This is exactly how I see gong fu cha, and for me, it’s just a different ‘martial’ tool to practice, and both skills ‘brew’ me as a person.

Most of you who read this blog should already know how many things one should take into consideration when brewing tea.  I think you can agree with me that those skills cannot be obtained by reading books or by a scientific approach.  You cannot expect to obtain a perfect formula for tea brewing.

The only difference between you and a master is decades of practice. This is the only way of learning.

As in martial arts, the body learns, not the mind.  In both skills, practitioners learn to ‘shut down’ their mind.  Mistake by mistake, success by success, the countless hours spent practicing sum up and without knowing, you start to have results, but you realize you are far away.

One should accept his inability when it comes to tea.  For example, I often brew tea for people who have never heard of gong fu cha.  I do want to make sure that I don’t lie to myself, and I brew enjoyable tea.  It’s easy to build your own imaginary world and imagine yourself as a ‘tea or zen master.’ Reality checks are a must.

Martial arts teach you to accept yourself and work on your mistakes. So does tea. Trying to behave as something you are not reflects in your art. You, as a human person, are an indispensable element of gong fu.  Your essence is reflected in what you do.  As I read somewhere, “the cup of tea you brew will reflect all of what you are and will leave an impression on those who drink your tea.”

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At least four lovely infusions.  This is no fussy tea.

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The teaware in the above photograph may look like a teapot, but it is not. It is a Bofura (ボーフラ), which is a type of Japanese ceramic kettle used over a Ryoro (りょうろ), a specific kind of ceramic tea stove to heat water for tea. These implements are traditionally used in Sencha-do, the Japanese tea ceremony used for preparing loose leaf teas, such as Gyokuro. A large number of people (including myself) were presented with the rare opportunity to observe a Sencha-do ceremony at the Rishi Tea booth at World Tea Expo this past June. Surrounded by a chaos of people and tea stuff, the lesser known of Japan’s two most practiced ceremonial forms was demonstrated by Master Tadao Yoshikura of the Obaku Kofu Ryu school.

This particular Bofura is not an antique or a signed artisan piece. It is a contemporary item, although it is in a style and form that is seen often in teaware for sencha-do. It has a pure simple design that I find profoundly beautiful, and I have to be exceptionally careful not to mar its pure white surface by accidentally scuffing it on a piece of charcoal or anything else. It is unglazed, so the surface has a nice texture, and the shape of the entire object feels really nice to hold, at least when it’s at rest, not filled with just-boiled water on the way to the yuzamashi.

There are kyusu (teapots) made in a very similar form and design, and also pure white, but they are typically glazed on the outside, which changes the aesthetic considerably. There are undoubtedly some differences in the physical properties of the clay as well, since a kettle must withstand a tremendous amount of heat over a coal fire, while a teapot doesn’t have to endure such punishment.

A couple of things to note about the details of this wonderful utensil: the knob handle on the top keeps fingers further away from the hotter part of the lid. Also, the handle, while completely enclosed, is hollow, which keeps it from getting as hot as it would if it were solid clay. And the gently tapering shape of the bottom allows it to nestle safely into the top inner part of the Ryoro.

(Note: the Bofura shown in use on top of the Ryoro in the photograph in this article is not the same object as the one discussed, obviously. It’s a different, but also typical, style of Bofura.)

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Near the end of March I had the honor of attending the Urasenke-Foundation hosted Founder’s Day Tea Ceremony at Shoseian (“Arbor of the Murmuring Pines”), inside of the Seattle Japanese Garden. The following month I attended the lecture/demonstration of Chanoyu at Seattle Art Museum, again sponsored by the Urasenke Foundation.

Details on these two experiences can be found in the article I wrote for the May issue of Tea Muse.

The photograph above shows offerings of tea and sweets at the celebration honoring Sen no Rikyu, founder of the Urasenke School.

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In order to more fully appreciate the hundreds of teas available, here are 10 that will serve as guiding lights and points of comparison. As there can be distinction even between retailers’ teas, it is recommended that you try the same kind of tea from at least 2 different retailers or sources.

The list includes teas from the main 4 categories of tea: white, green, wulong (or oolong) and black.

1. Silver Needle: this white tea originated in China, although other countries are developing silver needles. Silver needle consists of the downy tips that are light green to silvery color.
2. Bai Mu Dan (sometimes Pai Mu Tan, White Peony): White Peony is the bridge between white and green teas. It includes more mature green leaves, silvery tips, and the stems that connect the two.
3. Dragonwell (or Long Jing, Long Ching): This Chinese green is pan-fired and shaped to give it a “grasshopper wing” shape. Fresh long jing has flavors reminiscent of steamed wild rice.
4. Sencha: A Japanese green. Sencha often resembles emerald green sewing needles. A good sencha, when prepared properly, delivers a creamy or brothy coating in the mouth and brings savory hints of seaweed and sweet spinach notes.
5. Li Shan: A Taiwanese oolong with fragrant floral scents. Li Shan usually consists of 2 leaves and a tender bud on a stem that is lovingly rolled into a compact ball resembling a small paper wad.
6. Tie Guan Yin (also Tie Quan Yin or Ti Kuan Yin): While the ali shan offers fragrant flower reminders, tie guan yin has a stronger roasted element with a rich woody or smoky touch. TGY resembles li shan in its paper-wad shape, but is distinguishable by its roasted smell and its browner colors compared to ali shan’s brighter green leaf.
7. Darjeeling 1st flush: While this Indian tea is usually classified as a black tea, it bears similarities to oolongs. 1st flushes deliver fruit notes of grape and some of the briskness of a black tea.
8. Golden Monkey comes from Southwest China, the suspected origin the tea plant. The name of this tea comes from the dried leaves that range from gold to a lighter brown. Golden monkey steeps to deliver a black tea liquid with malty, sometimes chocolate tastes.
9. Keemun: Keemun teas stand as shining examples of Chinese black teas. Several variations exist, most notably keemun mao feng and keemun hao ya, and they offer a range of aromas that extend from chocolate to peach/plum notes.
10. Puer (also pu’ erh): Puer is unique in its processing. While many teas depend on an oxidization process to develop flavor, puers rely on a bacterial process for fermentation (think wine or cheese). The result includes both sheng (i.e. raw) puer and shu (aged), the latter one known for earthy tastes and a dark, inky brew.

As you begin to taste these teas, don’t forget to make notes on the smells, textures and colors. A journal can help you immensely when you search for your perfect cup.

Guest post provided by Jason Walker of Walker Tea Review.  Jason’s site hosts online tea tastings and video tea reviews.

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After some conversations during which I determined that the attractive little teapot’s owner was open to the idea of letting me brew tea with it, I procured two ounces of Tao of Tea’s Precious Dew Pearl Gyokuro, a fairly easy task since I was in Portland, where there are two different locations where Tao of Tea sells their teas and teaware direct to the public.

In addition to a kyusu, there are other tools employed in brewing gyokuro (or sencha) in the traditional manner that were not on hand, so I had to do a bit of creative improvisation. I had spring water and a standard tea kettle with which to heat the water to boiling, but I did not have a yuzamashi (water cooling vessel). So I decided to employ one of the other unused pieces of Japanese teaware in the house – a small blue cast iron tea pot. This actually worked quite nicely, and the capacity of the iron teapot was very close to the capacity of the kyusu. It also retained the proper aesthetic, which would have been compromised by using something like a measuring cup as a substitute for a yuzamashi. For determining when the water was the proper temperature for brewing the tea I used the entirely unscientific method of waiting for a while and guessing, which also worked out well for me.

The tea itself was quite pleasant, and was enjoyed by the people it was served to. I brewed four infusions of the same gyokuro leaf, each of which had a luxurious brilliant green liquor with a lovely, refreshing flavor. And the neglected kyusu got its time in the limelight, out of the dark recesses of the cabinet.

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Shochu is a type of Japanese liquor, stronger than sake, and made from either rice, barley or sweet potato, or a combination of two of the three. The Iichiko shochu I used is brewed with barley, and is considerably smoother than shochu made with rice. There is at least one traditional cocktail served often in an Izakaya (Japanese pub-like establishment) that uses tea – the Oolong Hai, which is Shochu with pre-brewed oolong tea over ice, so there is some precedent for the drink I made.

One of the things I was curious about when I considered making this drink was how well and how quickly the tea would infuse into the room-temperature Shochu. I didn’t think it would infuse very fast or very effectively, and I was right, but the unfurling jasmine pearls did look pretty in the glass.

And it did taste quite good, just not as strongly flavored as I would have preferred. Tossing the tea in about three days or more before consuming is probably a good rule-of-thumb.

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• place dry tea leaves in a pot
• cover the tea with ice cubes
• wait

The result is a very enjoyable liquor, and probably not a tea that one would want to drink large quantities of because the ice-cold liquor is so intensely flavored. I believe that the method is most often used for Gyokuro, but it works nicely for preparing other high quality Japanese green teas as well. I have prepared Den’s Tea Premium Gyokuro Suimei, Mellow Monk Top Leaf Tamaryokucha and DAVIDsTEA Sencha Ashikubo using the Shinobi-Cha method and they were all very delicious.

There are a couple of important details that should be taken into account when using this technique. The method is easy to execute, but the elements and tools must be right for it. First of all you must use ice cubes made from good quality water. Use filtered water, or, even better, use pure spring water. The other important element is an appropriate brewing vessel. I have used both a tokoname kyusu and a banko-yaki houhin pot with great success. Both of these teapots have high iron content which mellows the tea pleasantly. A cast iron pot would probably work fine also, but the one I own is too large to work for Shinobi-Cha so I haven’t tried it. Brewing Shinobi-Cha in a glass teapot is likely to produce a cold, harsh unpleasant drink and using porcelain would be only slightly better.

There are two different ways to drink the tea. The first is more suitable to a solitary experience: pour tiny servings into a cup periodically as the liquid appears, and as the ice melts. This will stretch the tea consumption out for an hour or two. Alternately, one can wait until all of the ice has melted and then pour the tea into one or more cups, being careful to pour a small amount at a time into each cup until the liquor has been equally distributed, so that the quality and taste of the liquor in each person’s cup are the same.

Below is an instructional video on preparing Shinobi-Cha, by Masanari Higashi, manager of Bassaro:

His theory behind this brewing method is interesting:

There is a scientific background why an ice-brewing method keeps Gyokuro taste for such a long time. The signature of Gyokuro taste is coming from umami of L-Theanine. L-Theanine has very delicate taste and it takes long time to be extracted into water from leaf.

In case of hot water brewing, water “cooks” leaf to force L-Theanine out, then the leaf locks remaining L-Theanine in. So when it comes to the second infusion, we are actually using “cooked” leaf, which makes tea taste like Sencha rather than Gyokuro.

- from his article on bassaro.com

I can neither verify nor dispute the science behind this, but I can attest to the qualities that the Shinobi-Cha method brings out in the tea. For further reading, there is additional information on traditional ice brewing of Japanese teas on Hibiki-An.

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