Seasoning A New Kyusu

If you are new to tea this might be kind of useful, i hope!

Buying new teaware is a quest for it´s own…but using and treating it right is even more important.

So if you are planning on buying new tea ware, there´s a couple things you should keep in mind.

Make sure you get a teapot, thats big enough for your needs. If you are a regular drinker, and like to share a cup with your mates once in a while, you will be good with a capacity of 320ml.

Green Tea needs room to expand while steeping which makes a big pot even more reasonable. Kyusus, as the japanese call their traditional Teapots, come with a built in strainer which keeps the tealeafs in your pot.

There´s plenty of other japanese and chinese tea ware to choose from. But in my belief you should be fine with a “normal” Kyusu for the beginning.

Once you´ve found the perfect matching pot it´s necessary to season the same.

Let me shortly explain how to do that.

Seasoning your new Kyusu:

First:

Wash and scrub your Kyusus in- and outside carefully with hot water and a normal sponge. Don´t use any soap or cleaning solutions. Only water!

Second:

Fill a large pot with cold water. Pay attention that the amount of water you are adding to the pot is enough to fully immerse your teapot and lid. Bring water to boil, then put your tea ware into hot water. Make sure your pot is under water all the time. There should be enough space for the pot and lid not to be crowded during seasoning. After half an hour, turn off the heat and remove the tea ware from the water.

Third:

Allow your teapot to drain off completely. While making sure it´s not subjected to any drastic changes in temperature.

Fourth:

Remove old water from your pot and refill it with the same amount of cold water as before.

Add approx. 1 1/2 Teaspoons of Sencha tea. Bring water with leafs to a boil again. After 5 minutes gently immerse Teapot and lid into the teawater. Remove your pot from the stove and cover it. Let it soak overnight.

Fifth:

The next morning, pour the tea liquid from the pot. Pay attention on your kyusu and lid not chipping out of the pot or hitting each other.

Sitxth:

Again rinse your teapot with cool running water, not using any soap or similar solutions.

Let your Kyusu dry off completely.

Seventh:

You´ve successfully finished seasoning your new Teapot and are now ready to enjoy fabulous green teas!

Seasoning Video from “pausethe” on youtube:

See video.