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The Enshu school of the Japanese tea ceremony isn’t very well known, but I find it intriguing because it was founded by a feudal lord and hence it is a warrior’s school of tea.
What differences does this make? I asked Tyas Huybrechts of Tea Talk, who will soon become a teacher of the Enshu school.
Tyas is very knowledgeable about Japanese tea and I highly recommend that you take a look at his blog.
You can also interact with him though social media:
April 8, 2015
Thanks you both for this interessting podcast.
Tyas, when preparing Koicha are you using a Chasen for Koicha? Or are you using an Usucha Chasen like it is generally the case in the Omotesenke?
April 8, 2015
Hello Oca,
Thank you for the great question and thank. In the Enshu school we indeed use a specific chasen (tea whisk) for koicha (thick tea). The chasen for usucha standard has about 80 tines, whilst the chasen for koicha mostly only has 60. The reason for this is, as the stirring movement requires more strength, the tines are easily damaged. Therefore thicker tines are recommended. Also, by using a tea whisk with thicker tines, it becomes easier to break up lumps and to create a smoother surface on the thick tea.
I hope this answer suffices.
April 9, 2015
Yes, absolutely. Thanks 🙂