Spring has silently arrived with the sign of slight decline of seashore ice. While Finland may face the second curfew in upcoming March, due to the daily raising numbers of pandemic, with the possible further business restriction upon public pubs, pastry shops and restaurants, it would’ve been a less risky idea to enjoy afternoon tea time at home sweet home. Based on Japanese tea specialist Yamada Utako’s advices, collecting porcelain tea sets to enrich matcha experiences is yet another amusing way to know the connoisseur culture of Japan.
MUJI white dishware collection, made by high quality Amakusa porcelain天草陶磁器, is always my top choices to shop for Zen-theme decoration. Located along the coastline of Yatsushiro Sea八代海, Amakusa islands produce certain amount of coal and pottery stone, both being used by the potters of Hirado ware and Satsuma ware. Many kilns remain on the islands today, and pottery stone and porcelain productions are internationally exported. Muji brought out its own line of Hakuji home ware, which is produced out of ground translucent Amakusa stones kneaded into clay, smooth touch and less weighted, its surface reflects a vague glimpse of pale blue under the sunlight. I make MUJI mini saucer cups as macha tea mugs and the square bowls to place Hokkaido apple biscuits, the porcelain caps are the best to display the rose buds; the tea pot with rather convenient handle was the bargain deal at MUJI Helsinki seasonal sale.
MUJI also collaborates with South Asian craftsmanship, such as bamboo coaster and beech mini spoon are handmade in Indonesia, and natural acacia wood bowl is from the Philippines. Those finely manufactured table wares are always fun to handpick them, since the finished sizes and colour tones are slightly various, so there is no doubt that hand wash is highly recommended.
Together with MUJI porcelain shall be served with Matcha of Miho Matsubara! Traditionally consumed in East Asia, matcha is finely ground powder of specially processed green tea leaves, which the plants are shade-grown for three to four weeks before harvest; their stems and veins are removed during processing. During the Tang dynasty (A.D 618–907), tealeaves in China were steamed and formed into tea bricks for storage and trade. In the Song dynasty (A.D 960–1279), the method of making powdered tea from steam-prepared dried tea leaves and preparing the beverage by whipping the tea powder, infused with hot water together in a bowl, became popular, which, is very much similar to our modern way to enjoy matcha tea. Shizuoka matcha from Miho Matsubara is considered premium grade, which contains young tealeaves from the top of the tea plant. It is characterized by a fresh, smooth, subtle flavor, usually perfect for the daily consumption. University of Shizuoka, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences has announced that matcha tea contains Theanine, catechin, epigallocatechin gallate, these antioxidant are able to mildly prevent cancer, chronicle diseases, skin aging, aid in weight loss and stress reducing.
Afternoon tea time today I prefer thin matcha (薄茶) due to the macarons of dark chocolate from More Tea, raspberry & blueberry from Maxim’s are rather sweet and rich, so I prepare about 2-4g of matcha, placed into a wool bowl, grind the powder with a bamboo whisk, chasen (茶筅), and add about 60–80 ml of hot water.
The basic equipment required to make matcha tea are as following, together with MUJI Amakusa white porcelain collection, surely it adds more fun to learn the Dao of matcha tea:
1. Tea bowl (茶碗chawan)
Large enough to whisk the fine powder tea around
2. Tea whisk (茶筅chasen)
A bamboo whisk with fine bristles to whisk or whip the tea foam, my tea whisk is a gift from Kumamoto, a 72-whisks called Kazuho (數穂), which is able to make rather less rich match tea
3. Tea spoon (茶杓chashaku/tea scoop)
A bamboo spoon to measure the powder tea into the tea bowl
4. Tea caddy (棗 natsume)
A container for the matcha powder tea
5. Tea cloth (茶巾 chakin)
A small cotton cloth for cleaning tea ware
1. Hold the tea whisk by thumb with forefinger and middle finger lightly. Use the tea whisk to whisk the bottom of the tea bowl so that the matcha powder can be well mixed with the water. Gradually increase the speed of whisking by drawing a “W” to make the matcha powder blend perfectly thoroughly in the water.
2. Maintain the same speed until there is abundant foam on the surface and pull the tea whisk gently out of the bowl then your matcha is ready.
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