Let us enjoy making matcha green tea on a table at home. This is not an official tea serving procedure a free-form tea serving method, which is aimed to make a good bowl of thin green tea at home. The only item you need is a tea whisk.
Everything else can be substituted with items found at home as for the utensils you can use a placemat instead of a tray, an electric pot instead of a kettle and any small jar with a lid to keep green tea powder inside. You could also find a small teaspoon to scoop green tea powder if you do not have a bamboo tea scoop. Now let us move on and make a bowl of thin tea, take the spoon with your right hand and pick up the tea container with your left hand. First watch this video below.
Japanese Tea Ceremony using Tools You Have at Home
- Take the spoon with your right hand.
- Pick up the tea container with your left hand.
- Bring the tea container close to the tea bowl at its 9 o’clock position.
- Open the lid of the container and place the lid in front of the tea bowl.
- Adjust the way you hold the spoon.
- Scoop green tea powder twice from the tea container into the tea bowl.
- If you are using a metal tea spoon, you may want to use your left hand finger to tap the spoon to get rid of the excess tea powder.
- Lift the tea bowl with your right hand.
- Transfer to your left hand.
- Bring it under the dispenser.
- Pour hot water from the pot.
- Place the bowl down with your right hand.
- Take the whisk with your right hand.
- Secure the bowl with your left hand from the top.
- Start whisking the tea with a rapid back and forth motion inside the tea bowl.
- Once the green tea powder is mixed well with hot water and there is froth on top, lift the whisk slightly up to brush the surface of the tea.
- Make a circular motion with the whisk inside the tea bowl before taking it out.
- Pick up the tea bowl with your right hand.
- Rotate the tea bowl on your left palm twice clockwise so that the center of the tea bowl faces your guest.
- Serve the tea.
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Click here>>>Japanese Handcrafted Matcha Tea Bowl Brown
Click here>>>BambooMN Japanese Matcha Whisk Chasen
Click here>>>Matcha Green Tea Gift Set – Bamboo Whisk and Scoop
Things to Keep in Mind
There are a few things to keep in mind before making a good bowl of thin tea.
- It is best if you sifted the green tea powder before preparing it inside a tea container. This is to avoid having lumps of tea powder in your tea.
- It is recommended that you warm your tea bowl using hot water before making tea. You can also rinse the tea whisk inside the tea bowl to allow the tines to pass through the hot water before making tea.
While you are making tea, please bear in mind the following points.
- Items on the mat are not supposed to collide with each other, for example, when moving the tea bowl close to the pot, make sure you do not touch the tea container.
- When one hand is active and the other hand is not doing anything, make sure to rest the other hand on your lap with fingers and thumb aligned and closed.
Simple Japanese Used in the Tea Ceremony [How to Make Tea]
- Take the spoon with your right hand.
- 右手でスプーンを取る。
- みぎてですぷーんをとる。
- migite de supu-n wo toru.
- Pick up the tea container with your left hand.
- 左手で茶入れを取る。
- ひだりてでちゃいれをとる。
- hidarite de chaire wo toru.
- Open the lid of the container.
- 蓋を開ける
- ふたをあける。
- futa wo akeru.
- Place the lid in front of the tea bowl.
- 茶碗の前に蓋を置く。
- ちゃわんのまえにふたおく。
- chawan no mae ni futa wo oku.
- Adjust the way you hold the spoon.
- スプーンの持ち方を調整する。
- すぷーんのもちかたをちょうせいする。
- supu-n no mochikata wo chouseisuru.
- Scoop green tea powder twice from the tea container into the tea bowl.
- 抹茶を茶入れから茶碗に2杯入れる。
- まっちゃをちゃいれからちゃわんににはいいれる。
- maccha wo chaire kara chawan ni nihai ireru.
- Tap the spoon.
- スプーンを軽く打つ。
- すぷーんをかるくうつ。
- supu-n wo karuku utsu.
- Lift the tea bowl with your right hand.
- 右手で茶碗を持ち上げる。
- みぎてでちゃわんをもちあげる。
- migite de chawan wo mochiageru.
- Transfer to your left hand.
- 左手に移す。
- ひだりてにうつす。
- hidarite ni utsusu.
- Pour hot water from the pot.
- ポットからお湯を注ぐ。
- ぽっとからおゆをそそぐ。
- potto kara oyu wo sosogu.
- Place the bowl down with your right hand.
- 右手で茶碗を下に置く。
- みぎてでちゃわんをしたにおく。
- migite de chwan wo shita ni oku.
- Take the whisk with your right hand.
- 右手で茶筅を取る。
- みぎてでちゃせんをとる。
- migite de chasen wo toru.
- Secure the bowl with your left hand from the top.
- 左手で茶碗を上から押さえる。
- ひだりてでちゃわんをうえからおさえる。
- hidarite de chawan wo ue kara osaeru.
- Whisk the tea with a rapid back and forth motion inside the tea bowl.
- 茶碗の中で素早く泡立てる。
- ちゃわんのなかですばやくあわだてる。
- chawan no nakade subayaku awadateru.
- Make a circular motion with the whisk inside the tea bowl.
- 茶碗の中で茶筅で円を描くように動かす。
- ちゃわんのなかでちゃせんでえんをえがくようにうごかす。
- chasen no naka de chasen de en wo egaku youni ugokasu.
- Pick up the tea bowl with your right hand.
- 右手で茶碗をとる。
- みぎてでちゃわんをとる。
- migite de chawan wo toru.
- Rotate the tea bowl on your left palm twice clockwise.
- 左手の手のひらの上で茶碗を時計回りに2回転させる。
- ひだりてのてのひらのうえでちゃわんをとけいまわりににかいてんさせる。
- hidarite no tenohira no ue de chawan wo tokemawari ni kaiten saseru.
- Serve the tea.
- お茶を出す。
- おちゃをだす。
- ocha wo dasu.
If you want to learn the basics of the tea ceremony, this book is for you.
Click here>>>Urasenke tea procedure Guidebook 1 Introductory Level