It's All About Tea — chanoyu

In our recent blog post, we talked about the history of the Japanese tea sage — Sen no Rikyu. Without a doubt, he had a significant effect on The Way of Tea in Japan, and his legacy continues to this day. Ultimately there are three separate schools of Chanoyu (Japanese tea ceremony) that follow his teachings to this day, although all slightly varying. These schools refer to "San Senke" — Three Sen Families. (Read more)

Sen no Rikyu (1522 – 1591) is known by everyone to have the most profound influence on chanoyu, the Japanese "Way of Tea". Also known as matcha tea ceremony. Rikyu took to tiny grass-hut tea houses for his tea practices and kept promoting the wabi-sabi style of tea ceremony that he and his tea master started. (Read more)

In the somewhat intricate world of tea ceremony, there exists a debate: incense or no incense? 

Personal preference aside, we decided to go deeper into why exactly incense can be burned during tea ceremonies. After all, this is a long tradition that has holds its roots in Buddhism and has made its way into the traditional tea ceremony. (Read more)

Gong fu cha refers to the Chinese tea ceremony, and it translates as “skillfully making tea”. Chanoyu, on the other hand, is the Japanese tea ceremony which literally translates as “hot water for tea”. What are some of the biggest differences between the two? (Read more)

The Japanese tea ceremony has a long and interesting history. Throughout the decades it has evolved from an expensive and lavish gathering, to a tea ritual that focusses on simplicity and nature. With it, the tea utensils have also evolved. When entering a Japanese tea house we may find a variety of tea ceremony utensils, each holding their own history and purpose. Not a step goes unnoticed. (Read more)