A chawan is the bowl matcha is whisked and drunk in, and its shape does most of the work: a flat inner bottom for the chasen, a wall high enough that the whisk does not throw the tea out, and a rim that sits comfortably on the lip. Around 100 bowls have passed through this collection. What is in stock is mostly Hagi ware from Yamaguchi, next to a few bowls by European potters, and a row of serving bowls for the table.
Which Chawan For Usucha And Koicha
The Hagi chawan here hold 300 to 450 ml at 10 to 14 cm across, which is the standard size for usucha, the thin tea with 2 g of matcha and 70 ml of water. The smaller ao hagi bowls of 300 ml (10 cm) are good for a single portion and for travelling, the 400 to 450 ml bowls give the chasen more room and are the ones we use in the workshop. Koicha, the thick tea, is easier in a wider, shallower bowl, where the paste is kneaded rather than whisked. If you prefer to whisk in a bowl with a spout and pour into a cup, the katakuchi for matcha whisking is the alternative.
Hagi Ware And What The Glaze Names Mean
Ao hagi is the blue-green glaze, shira hagi the milky white one, and gohon refers to the pink spots that appear where the iron in the clay reacts through the glaze in the kiln. All Hagi bowls have a soft, slightly porous body and a fine crazing in the glaze. Tea seeps into that crazing over the years and the bowl slowly darkens, which in Japan is counted as a merit, not a flaw. The prices for the Hagi chawan run from 59 to 175 euros, and our article on Hagi ware explains the clay and the firing.
The European Bowls
Michel François' chun-glazed chawan (350 to 500 ml, 240 to 320 euros) carry the thick blue-lavender glaze of the Song dynasty Jun kilns, built up in several firings. Nora Kain's wood-fired porcelain and soda-fired bowls, the Oribe multi-purpose bowl by Takuya Kanamoto (350 ml, 59 euros), the buncheong serving bowl by David Louveau and the tea bowl by Atelier Soobo are the pieces in the bowls row: made for rice, soup or fruit as much as for tea.
Our articles on the chawan and on chawan, spouted bowl or pitcher go into shape, size and the choice between the three, and the matcha collection holds what you whisk in them.
