Is it true that the foam should be a crescent moon? How to whisk thin tea (in the Omotesenke style).
Japanese tea ceremony is more sensitive to the things outside the tea bowl than what is inside it. For example, regarding guest etiquette, there are rules for every movement, such as how to lean your footwear against the wall after crawling through the entrance (nijiriguchi), (omitted) and turning the tea bowl 90 degrees to the left before bringing it to your mouth. (omitted) As everyone knows, it is particularly sensitive about tea utensils. While Chinese tea has developed by seeking the taste and aroma inside the tea bowl, (omitted) Japanese tea ceremony has developed by seeking everything from the tea bowl to the tea garden.
Doesn't this passage make you feel a bit startled?
It is an excerpt from a book called "Terunobu Fujimori's Tea Room Studies."
In this book, Mr. Fujimori, an architect and architectural historian, laments the waning interest in tea rooms in the modern tea ceremony world, but personally, I find myself drawn to the contents of the tea bowl as well.
It is true that compared to the tea preparation (temae) and the work in the preparation room (mizuya), we rarely cover the types of matcha itself or detailed whisking methods in our lessons.
On the other hand, when you search for "how to whisk matcha" online, there are many videos and blogs, including some general-purpose videos made by tea shops that do not specify a school of tea.
Since I want many people to feel free to whisk and drink matcha even if they haven't learned the tea ceremony, these kinds of videos are approachable and great, aren't they?
As an aside, I also started by trying to whisk matcha at home by imitating what I saw in videos, and the trigger for that was the question,
"Is matcha better hot or lukewarm?"
Before I started the tea ceremony, I only drank matcha at temples and shops in Kyoto.
Matcha served in such places is almost always served with sweets, so by the time you eat the sweets and have the matcha, it is already lukewarm.
So, many people might think that is what matcha is.
I thought so too.
But when I looked it up, the correct answer is, "Matcha should be made with hot water."
So, wanting to drink hot matcha, I started whisking it myself.
At first, the matcha you can buy at the supermarket is enough!
If you have leftovers, you can use them for baking, and matcha milk is also delicious.
Hot matcha is of course delicious, but if you brew tea with boiling water, the tannin, which is the cause of bitterness, comes out strongly.
That is why we eat sweets before the matcha "to enjoy the matcha deliciously."
Now, you can fully enjoy the fun of tea ceremony even with a casual tea preparation at home, but if you are doing tea ceremony anyway, you should also pay attention to the movements of the preparation and the beauty of the whisked matcha.
Just in time, the September 2019 issue of a tea ceremony magazine had a story about how to whisk tea, so I would like to post how to whisk thin tea in the Omotesenke style while quoting it.
When I tell people from other schools that I am learning Omotesenke, they often say, "You whisk it so that the foam becomes a crescent moon, right?" and I used to have trouble answering, but the answer was written right there in the tea ceremony magazine, so I will introduce it.
If you are interested not only in how to whisk tea but also in the production methods and quality of matcha itself, please take a look at these articles as well.
Reference article →About tea types and production methods
Also this →What is the difference between thin tea and thick tea? Where do tea names come from?
How to whisk thin tea (in the Omotesenke style)
First, the procedure for whisking tea during the thin tea preparation is as follows,
as follows.
Warming the tea bowl allows you to serve hot, delicious tea to your guests, and properly warming the bowl also helps it dry quickly after being wiped with a tea cloth, which prevents the matcha from becoming damp and clumping when you scoop it (put it into the bowl).
When pouring hot water, do not pour it directly onto the matcha as it will scatter; instead, try to pour it from the side or the back.
<Handling the tea whisk>
The basic rule is to handle the tea whisk lightly and broadly without shaking it too hard. I believe the way you handle the whisk affects the taste and aroma. When you think about it that way, the "crescent moon" is indeed a good reference for the right amount of foam. (Omitted) To achieve the right amount of foam, it is best to whisk from the elbow rather than using your wrists too much.
When placing the tea whisk into the bowl, do not put it in straight; tilt it slightly and insert it gently, then slowly blend the matcha that has settled at the bottom with the hot water.
After blending the matcha and hot water well, whisk the matcha by moving the tea whisk lightly and broadly. "Lightly and broadly" means "without tension." At this time, the whisk should barely touch or not touch the bottom of the bowl at all. If you press the whisk against the bottom of the bowl and scrub it hard, you will damage the whisk. In the worst case, the tips will break off and end up in the guest's mouth, so be careful!
Once the tea is whisked to the right consistency, rotate the chasen (tea whisk) clockwise (in the shape of the character 'no') several times, then turn your hand toward the front of the bowl, stop the whisk with your thumb facing upward, and slowly remove the whisk from the front of the bowl. (Omitted) Finally, by rotating the whisk in a large clockwise motion, any tea splashed around the edges is collected, resulting in a beautiful finish. If you whisk carefully and slowly, the tea inside will rotate clockwise along with the whisk, and the foam will gather into one spot. If you stop the whisk at the front of the bowl, while the tea is still rotating clockwise, the foam will catch on the tips of the whisk, and a streak without foam will extend along the left side of the whisk. Is this not the true nature of the 'crescent moon'?
When it comes simply to the taste of matcha, as is often said, having a fluffy layer of foam makes it less bitter and rounds out the flavor. There is also a theory that the fewer times you whisk the tea, the sweeter it becomes, but if you whisk it too little, it will have a powdery texture, which is not only unpleasant but also leaves matcha residue at the bottom of the bowl after drinking.
Therefore, the 'crescent moon foam' signifies that the tea is 'just right'—meaning it is not powdery, yet the whisk has not been overused.
However, perhaps there is also a deeper, more spiritual meaning behind it.
Since the Way of Tea pursues the 'beauty of imperfection,' perhaps it was intended not to completely cover the surface with foam. Or, since it is said that Sen no Rikyu's way of preparing tea was unobtrusive and flowed smoothly, perhaps spending a long time whisking to create a thick, fine foam felt out of place.
Conversely, one could also imagine that the Urasenke school began creating foam when incorporating tea into school curricula, so that many students unfamiliar with tea could enjoy it with a delicious taste and a visually vibrant appearance.
It is interesting to imagine various possibilities.
Now, the Chadō Zasshi concludes its piece on the 'crescent moon foam' as follows.
The 'crescent moon' is a shape that appears by chance when you handle the whisk carefully according to the basics. There is no point in trying to whisk tea with the goal of creating a 'crescent moon.' However, when you keep the intention of whisking carefully, don't you feel a sense of joy when you happen to encounter a moon floating in your bowl?
I, too, would like to put my heart into every bowl, looking forward to the moment I might encounter the crescent moon foam.