Chasen — the matcha whisk
Takayama chasen: why a real bamboo whisk is dif...
Nearly every real Japanese tea whisk comes from one town in Nara. Here's what that means, and why it's worth it.
Takayama chasen: why a real bamboo whisk is dif...
Nearly every real Japanese tea whisk comes from one town in Nara. Here's what that means, and why it's worth it.
How often should you replace a matcha whisk (ch...
A chasen is a consumable, like a good brush. With daily use it lasts a few months — here's when to replace it.
How often should you replace a matcha whisk (ch...
A chasen is a consumable, like a good brush. With daily use it lasts a few months — here's when to replace it.
Tomari (とまり) is an old word for a mooring — the place a boat ties up for the night. A bowl of tea is meant to be the same: a few minutes to put the day down. You do not need to know the rules to begin.
Who chose this
I choose everything here by hand, in Japan. I practise tea rather than simply selling the tools for it — I am not a tea master and I do not claim to be. I am a practitioner, which mostly means I have ruined enough bad whisks to know what a good one feels like in the first second of holding it.
Nothing is drop-shipped and nothing passes through a third warehouse. I pack each order in Tokyo and post it from Japan, ceramics double-boxed by hand. If something arrives broken, send me a photograph and post the piece back — I cover the return postage — and I replace it. Who writes and chooses all this, and the longer version of why this shop exists.