This sense of authenticity and history pervades my thoughts and feelings about tea and its practices, including my reluctance to engage seriously with “colonial teas” and such abominations, so far, as “Chinese Sencha”.
Matcha is drunk in two ways, traditionally, as koicha, literally “thick tea”, and as usucha, “thin tea”. This latter is the most commonly consumed, thick tea being largely confined to formal events of the Way of Tea, Chaji. Koicha is the earlier version of matcha, being the result of kneading the powdered tea with water using a chasen (bamboo tea whisk) to create something almost beyond a beverage. Koicha is truly thick, varying from the consistency of single cream to thick custard. The limit is only that it will flow towards the rim of the teabowl when tilted towards the eagerly awaiting mouth. At least mine always is. Koicha is generally made as a shared bowl.
Drinking from a common vessel represents a powerful communion, a bonding of spirit through shared time and action. Almost uniquely in the Way of Tea, the bowl is passed from hand to hand, requiring a particular focus and respect for bowl, tea and fellow guest. The final guest to drink, at most the fifth, generally, must leave as little in the bowl as possible to be returned to the host. For some, like me, this is a real treat.
Alex Fraser runs east teas, now relocated in the new Jubilee Market of Borough Market, London, on Fridays 12-6 and Saturdays 9-4; contact via epoch@eastteas.com.
