After you realized the endless number of benefits from adding tea to your daily routine, you may start accumulating a number of various teas in the house and feel ready to call yourself an official tea lover. However, you also have probably heard that enthusiasts of this popular routine can go pretty deep, leading to a quick search online resulting in an overwhelming list of tea items for supplementing the precious time slot in our modern digital calendars still labeled as "teatime" just as it was by our ancestors. You might be unsure about which of these items to pick up to gain the most out of all the teas in your collection so below we wrote up some information about three amazing Japanese items from TIKUSAN that will add just what you need to get the most flavor, health and relaxation benefits from you tea. Note that these not only make great items to have at your home but also wonderful gifts for fellow tea loving family members and friends. If you know someone who says they are thinking to start drinking tea regularly, these would be more than excellent to add into a tea drinking starter kit.
As various kinds of teas start to accumulate in your house, you’ll want to have a few of these around in the kitchen. An airtight canister for tea like this one keeps not only your tea leaves fresh and fragrant but can be additionally useful for properly storing other kinds of food items such as home-baked cookies.
The design on this item is sure to add character and sophistication to your kitchen as it is a Karakusa pattern that was first seen in ancient Greece and made its way to Japan in the 8th century. The idea of endlessly spreading vines was popular because it is a symbol of prosperity and longevity - not really a bad thing today either, right? The pattern has been printed on traditional Japanese paper that completely covers the canister, giving it an elegant texture that will feel very nice in your hands as you prepare your tea.
This item is a high quality, Japanese-made tea strainer with a wide variety of sizes available to perfectly fit the teapot you already have at home. The reason these are preferred in Japan is because the mesh is made of a durable material that will not easily deform and it effectively prevents the leaves from escaping as it has been evenly weaved together, allowing for the tea leaves to mix properly. All of these details added to the construction of this little product of course result in you gaining the very best flavor and benefits from your tea leaves, which really could be any tea ranging from Japanese to herbal blends. There's not much else to say about this item except that it is an essential accessory to have in your Tea Lover Kit that will surely replace the strainer you already have. If you haven't purchased a tea strainer yet, just start with this one and enjoy a better tea experience.
This set includes two Japanese-style tea mugs great for those long winter days to switch out for a little variety or have an extra one for that occasion when a fellow tea lover visits your home. You get two variations of a dreamy and fascinating design that was made possible through Minoyaki techniques. They are similar enough to look great on the table together and avoid monotony as they are essentially two examples of approaches to the way the process of the design can be handled while sharing the same color palette and textured patterns. They are also one-of-a-kind products as the techniques used allow for intentional imperfections and interesting happy accidents which result in the fascinating and much appreciated look of these artistic cups. Minoyaki is a well-known and highly respected traditional form of Japanese pottery with a long history and tradition so each time you drink some warm tea with one of these, you’ll connect with a unique and inspirational piece of art and history as you relax or plan out your schedule.
Now after looking at the pictures of the set for a while, you may be asking yourself about the seeming contradiction of “mug” and “handleless”. Actually, in many parts of the world, handleless tea cups have been a thing for ages and even westerners today are finding that the warmth of the cup in the hands is more comforting and therapeutic than drinking tea from a cup with a chunky handle. However, there is an artful method from Japan with a few “manners” to learn for this situation of holding a very hot vessel of liquid that happens not to have any handle so be sure to follow the tried and true ways this has been accomplished in the past. Below are some of these good tips to get started.
1.) Sit up straight before drinking your tea. This might feel strange compared with the lazy Sunday style of drinking coffee slouched in the recliner with your feet propped up but tea is for health and reaching a higher standard of living while internalizing fresh, outside-the-box realms of thought...or something like that, right? So let’s try consuming it with a posture that has been scientifically proven to help both your mind and body. Of course the main reason it is step one in this list is because most importantly this posture will allow you to avoid tea drinking accidents. It is also notably an important gesture of respect to the server of the tea or your teatime companion.
2.) Wait until the tea is cool enough to pick up. If you had a handle, I realize you’d already be picking it up but really what is the point if it will just burn your lips? The trick is simply to be patient until the tea cools down a little then pick up the cup with your best hand (as in your right hand if you are right-handed). Wrap this hand around the side of the cup while using your other hand’s palm to support the cup from underneath. You can carefully use your fingers on the hand underneath the cup to touch the cup for extra support. This way of holding the tea is not only safer but looks undeniably more beautiful and elegant than just grabbing the tea and chugging it like some milk or root beer. It is in fact used in tea ceremonies in Japan and remains a standard way of drinking tea even today.
3.) But you are not actually quite ready to drink yet after completing the mannered “hold” of this hot vessel. In fact, it shouldn't be even near your face yet. Proceed to bring it up to about chest level and after this slowly bring it up to your face.
4.) Once it has made it to your lips... slurp your tea as loud as you want! Well… ok, not that loud but probably louder than your parents taught you, assuming you are not from Japan. Slurping is considered not rude in Japan and even other Asian countries but most importantly this keeps the tea from burning your lips and mouth. Like slurping hot noodles in Japan, slurping tea is also somehow a polite gesture and expected as the manner similarly shows you are enjoying it.
5.) After taking a sip, lower the cup down to chest level. Notice everything you do with this cup should be done slowly and methodically. This is not only more respectful and creates a relaxing tea loving atmosphere, but it also allows for safety.
Ultimately, the point of all of these manners for you is they are really the only way to successfully drink from a handleless cup without burning yourself. It is a bit of an art but not super difficult and easy to get used to once you try it a few times. Of course, these cups do in fact effectively keep iced drinks nice and cold just as they maintain the warmth of your tea so even though we wrote this long list of manners for drinking hot tea with them, you could actually enjoy some iced tea or any refreshing cold beverage with them during the summer just as well using any drinking posture you please ;)
So that was our list of three items to significantly improve your tea. We hope you got some ideas to elevate your teatime moments!