Hatsugama

It is again the season where Hatsugama is the main event in the tea room. For some of you the Hatsugama (first tea ceremony of the year) may have finished already. But mine will be on the 17th of January and it will be the only tea gathering in this month so we'll have to make the best out of it.
Last year was a busy year and I haven't been able to go to every Keiko. I have completely forgotten what we did at last years Hatsugama, so I hope to get some advice from fellow tea ceremony practitioners out there. If you have any tips or pointers for me, please leave a message on this blog entry. Thank you!

Remembering the steps

I have been practicing the Japanese tea ceremony for more than four years. From this spring however, I had been unable to attend my teacher's lesson for about four months. Doubting if I would be able to perform the basic sequence of the tea ceremony I felt a little nervous. Once I sat down to begin, my hands moved without thinking about it. Even my teacher was surprised at how fluent, maybe more than before, my movements were. I realized there that preparing tea at the tea ceremony comes not from the mind but from experience and is expressed from the heart. I realized that thinking would only create confusion, as that is something our mind is very good at. Once we start to think what the next step is or where we should place the tea tools, our mind would come up with several options and create confusion.
Tea is prepared from the heart with the guests' pleasure and enjoyment at the core of every movement. Fluent movements to please the guests' eyes and sounds of various tea tools to signal the progression of the preparation of tea.

Tea Ceremony Procedures

Japanese Tea Ceremony Procedures

The steps to the ceremony are quite simple: Start with cleaning the serving bowls as the Japanese tea ceremony is all about cleanliness, boil some water, serve a sweet treat produced locally or something more exclusive to guests before the tea, mix powdered bitter green tea (Matcha) and water to make a frothy tea. To make the best frothy tea, using a traditional Japanese whisk called Chasen is recommended. Serve the tea to guests. The flavors of the sweets and bitter tea compliment each other. This is a sign of balance and harmony.

How to receive the bowl of tea as a guest at a Japanese tea ceremony:

• Bow when you receive the cup of tea which is called a Chawan.
• Take the chawan with your right hand and place it in the palm of your left hand.
• Turn the Chawan clockwise two or three times( depending on which school of tea the teacher belongs to) before you take a drink.
• When the tea is gone, make a loud slurp to inform the host that the tea was truly enjoyed.
• Wipe the part of the Chawan your lips touched between the tips of your thumb and index finger of your right hand.
• Turn the Chawan counterclockwise and return it to the host.

Matcha or coffee

Lately I seem to become more fond of the Japanese tea ceremony. Surely, I have been studying it for more that four years and have been to various tea events and Chaji meetings. But since the age of five drinking coffee has been a daily necessity. My morning cup is loaded with four sugar cubes and rich cream, it really gets me bouncing off the wall in five minutes. Whenever I have coffee in the morning, I need another cup between 10 and 11 am and a third one around 3pm. It's the caffeine and sugar boost which wares out after a couple of hours. Leaving me needy for a fresh boosting roast.

The soul of the Japanese tea ceremony is not the perfection of the ritual preparation, it is the time and efforts made to entertain and satisfy guests. This is what my tea teacher taught me and what I slowly begin to understand. For about two weeks now, I have been drinking a bowl of Matcha in the morning instead of coffee. It feels really good!! Matcha contains some caffeine which is however released over a longer period of time. Caffeine from Matcha is released over approximately 8 hours. See Matcha health and nutrition. Matcha contains a lot more that caffeine, it is filled with minerals, aminos, and vitamins. This is because Macha is powdered made from the whole leaf.

I felt really satisfied with drinking Matcha in the morning and didn't feel the need for drinking coffee. Last Monday two friends came over and instead of serving them coffee as usual, I brought my Chawans, Chasen, Chashaku, Natsume, and a pot of hot water. I tried very hard and had bought Manju which were on a Kaishi. This from was really simple and I should deliver a bowl of green tea in a minute.

Here we go... Some of you who have some experience with making tea know that after 5 - 7 seconds of whisking with the Chasen, the tea will start foaming (which is good). But as some might have noticed here, there wasn't a Kensui, which means that I couldn't warm the Chawan before making the tea. I tried very hard to get it foaming without appearing too desperate, but my efforts were in vain. I could get only a few foamy bubbles which were not enough even for Omotesenke which usually calls for foam around the edges and a little spinning foam in the center. It was apparent that the bowl and the Chasen need to be warmed to achieve the best results. This is something i learned the embarrassing way. My friends told me that the tea was good, but I know better...

For all of you reading this post, don't forget to warm the Chawan!

Hatsugama 2009

Finally, we had our first tea of the year during Hatsugama. Spirits were high and it was a busy morning getting the Chashitsu and utensils ready for this great event. Unfortunately we had some rain which resulted in the women staying indoors and not washing their hands and rinsing their mouth at the Tsukubai as is customary before entering a Chashitsu and especially during Hatsugama. All women wore their best and most expensive Kimono's which are made of silk and other fine materials and might get stains from the rain water. Entering the Chashitsu for the first time this year, we all paid tribute to the Kakejiku (hanging scroll), Chabana (flower arrangement) and the Kama (hot water kettle). Our teacher exchanged greetings with all students one-by-one, thanking for previous year's efforts and expressing wishes for a healthy and fruitful new year. First on the agenda was the re-firing/ re-lighting of the Ro (hearth). Before any tea is to be considered, water must first be warmed to almost boiling temperatures. Everyone gathered around the Ro to see the Sumi (charcoal) being arranged by our teacher around the few already softly burning pieces of charcoal. Since most of us are beginners, we awed at the teacher's smoothness and rhythm in which the charcoal was build. Returning to our seats, we we honored to view the Kogo (incense container) one-by-one.

Kaiseki

Hatsugama is similar to a Chaji (full tea ceremony with meal) and the different parts such as Sumitemae, Kaiseki, Nakadachi, Koicha, and Usucha come in the same order.

As I might have mentioned in a previous post, one of the students is a Sushi chef and always prepares wonderful food. This time he prepared a beautifully decorated tray with Sushi and Kaiseki meal in boxes. Kaiseki came with sake and a relaxed atmosphere. Kaiseki meal contained boiled vegetables, fish, pickled radish and boiled rice. It was an absolute feast for our mouth and satisfaction for our tummies. Actually, students of a certain tea class have to prepare the Kaiseki meal together and divide various parts of the Kaiseki meal among each other. Or the person in charge of preparing Kaiseki should be rotated on a yearly basis.

Fuchidaka

Next, we were presented with the sweets in a Fuchidaka. Every layer contains one or two pieces of sweets. Shokyaku has only one and most other layers have two pieces. The Fuchidaka is placed in front of the knees as usual, then the second layer is slid away from the body by just a few centimeters, just enough to place a Kuromoji (wooden chopstick) in the bottom box. The remaining boxes are passed on to the next guests. From here on most boxes contain two sweets, thus from below, the second layer from below is slid backwards and two Kuromoji are placed in the bottom box. Leaving the bottom box in front of the knees, the other boxes are passed to the next and the next guest who again places two Kuromoji in the bottom box etc. Most of us had never used this style and needed to be guided by the teacher.

Nakadachi

During Nakadaichi we all helped cleaning up the meal trays and prepared the room for Koicha and Usucha. It was still raining outside so we didn’t go out of the house.

Hatsu Koicha

To balance our pallets we were pleased with high-grade Koicha. However, there was a “special” guest invited by our teacher with almost zero experience, he was seated next to me but didn’t drink much Koicha and left a lot for me. Since I was the third guest to drink and finish the Chawan, it took me some time to drink about half a bowl of Koicha which is meant to be shared by three people.

Usucha

Finally it was my time to get to work, a bit tipsy from the Sake but fully aware and conscious enough to pour my heart in every bowl of tea. There were in all about fifteen people who were thirsty for Matcha after having eaten their tummies full with really great food. First I brought in the Tabako Bon (box with smoking ware), then a tray of sweets. My Hanto (assistant) was and experienced older woman who liked doing that kind of job. It took me much longer than I had expected to prepare Matcha for fifteen people. I remembered some advise which I got from my wife a few months ago that I should move quicker because people are waiting for tea. I tried to speed things up but still for me it seemed to take ages. At the end my legs were completely numb so it took a couple of minutes to get enough blood flowing through my veins again to stand up and bring Mizusashi, Chawan, and Natsume back to the Mizuya. After this, our teacher prepared some presents for us, expressing her gratitude and hopes for a fruitful 2009.