HomeAre you using a metal spoon to scoop your matcha powder? There are a few reasons why you may want to be using a chashaku spoon instead. In this blog, we’re going to be talking about what the chashaku is and why it works better for matcha than a normal metal spoon. This blog an excerpt from our book, Macha Masterclass, a 140-page guide on all things matcha. If you’ve ever wanted to learn more about matcha, like how it’s made or the health benefits of matcha, you can get this book for free when you sign up in the description below. So what is a chashaku? The chashaku is a bamboo spoon designed to scoop matcha powder during the Japanese tea ceremony. Although the origins of this bamboo chashaku date back to the tea ceremony, the chashaku is now used by matcha lovers all around the world. Although it has a simple design, there are a few features that make it the perfect tool for scooping matcha, which we’ll discuss next. The name simply translates to tea scoop, with cha meaning tea, and shaku meaning scoop. The other two important tea utensils in the tea ceremony are the cha sen, tea whisk, and chowan, or tea bowl.
The Chashaku originated in China. If you’re familiar with the history of Japanese tea, you’ll know that tea was originally brought to Japan from China by the monks. The Japanese monks would frequently go on missionary trips to China to learn techniques and philosophy from the Chinese monks. They found that the tea they were drinking really helped them stay alert and focused during long periods of meditation, and they eventually brought some tea back to Japan. The tea being consumed at the time was mostly ground, similar to what we would call matcha today. Of course, with ground tea, it becomes important to have a good spoon to scoop the powder, and so the chashaku scoop was a necessity. These matcha chashaku were originally designed out of metal or ivory, and they were introduced to Japan during the Muro-machi period, from the 14th to 15th century. Eventually, tea masters and monks found that wood was a more effective material to use for the chashaku, and the bamboo chashaku was born. Benefits of the chashaku. A chashaku should be 18 centimeters in length, long enough to reach into a container, but short enough that it can be easily wielded. The The tea is almost completely flat, with the exception of a 48-degree bend at the end of the scoop.
The chashaku gets wider towards the scoop, so it’s able to hold more powder. This more vertical design makes it easier to scoop matcha powder out of the more cylindrical containers. During the tea ceremony, the tea is brought out inside a natsume or tea catty. This tea catty is a deeper container, and it would be much harder to scoop out with a typical metal spoon. The tea ceremony is all about refined movements, so these subtle nuances actually make a big difference. When you prepare matcha tea at home, you’ll most likely be scooping the powder out of a matcha tin. Here you have the same problem as the matcha tin is a deeper cylindrical container. You need something that can easily dip in and out, like the chashaku. Another benefit of the bamboo chashaku is that it’s not made from metal. Most spoons are made from metal, and this is thought to react negatively when it comes in contact with the powder. The chashaku is made out of a slender piece of bamboo. The smooth outside of the bamboo is on the interior, and this is what is in contact with the matcha powder. On the exterior, you have the rougher inside of the bamboo with the grains of wood to prove it.
This has been sanded so it has a smoother texture, but it’s still not quite as smooth as the interior. Finally, the chashaku scoop is actually a great measurement tool. Later, we’re going to discuss how to use the chashaku as a measurement tool and how to use the perfect amount of matcha powder in every bowl of matcha tea. If you ever take part in a Japanese tea ceremony, you’ll notice that the tea master uses two scoops of matcha powder in each bowl of matcha tea. This may seem like an arbitrary amount of powder, but the chashaku scoop is a surprisingly way to measure out tea. The chashaku is much more elegant than a teaspoon measure, and if you get the technique down, it can be almost as accurate. One heoping chashaku scoop is equivalent to about a third of a teaspoon of powder. By using two scoops of the chashaku, you are between one-half and one teaspoon of powder, which is the perfect amount for preparing matcha in the osucha style. Why is the chashaku so small? The reason the scoop is so small is because if it were any larger, it would be difficult to maneuver in and out of the matcha tin or natsume.
The design is perfectly minimal, and the small chashaku scoop makes it easy to use and also practical as well. How to use the cha-shaku. Using a cha-shaku is quite simple. All you have to do is hold it by the thin part, just like you would a pencil, and dip the scoop into the matcha container. It makes no difference whether you’re using the cha-shaku in a matcha tin or natsume as they both have the same general shape. Next, push the edge of the chashaku into the matcha powder until you have as much powder on top as possible. Then you can simply lift the chashaku scoop out of the container and very carefully place it over the matcha bowl or matcha sifter to dump it out. The hardest part about using a chashaku is keeping the powder from falling off. It’s very easy to scoop, but once you have a lot of matcha powder piled on top of the chashaku, even the slightest mistake can cause it all to come falling off. It may take you a lot of practice until your hands are steady enough to scoop the powder without dropping any. How to Clean the Cha-shaku.
During the Japanese tea ceremony, the tea master will clean off the bamboo scoop with a fukusa. This is the towel that’s kept completely dry, and it’s meant to purify the Chashaku not only physically, but symbolically as well. Purity is one of the four core principles of the Japanese tea ceremony, and one of the ways it’s demonstrated is through the purification of the chashaku. You can do this as well at home to clean your chashaku. The most important thing is to not get your chashaku wet. Because it’s made out of bamboo, the water will really soak into the chashaku and cause some problems over time. As long as you’re only using it for matcha powder, it should really never get that dirty. Just simply wipe it off with a dry towel or tissue from time to and you should be able to keep it nice and clean. Of course, you’re always going to have a little bit of a green tint to the chashaku, but this just means that it’s well loved. Just like with the chasan or matcha whisk, the chashaku is made out of a single piece of bamboo. A single strip is taken off of the bamboo, and it’s slowly shaped and carved to have a bend towards the bottom for the scoop.
If you briefly look at the chashaku, you can tell that it still resembles a stock of bamboo. The notch in the middle has become a key design feature called arigoshi or antsback hump. This was introduced by Sen Noriki in the 16th century and is now the standard across the chashaku. Many Japanese tea masters choose to carve their own chashaku to bring them a deeper level of connection to their tea wear. The face of the chashaku is smooth and sleek, whereas the back of the chashaku is slightly more rough, like partially-finished wood. The Chashaku has an aroma of young bamboo, which can enhance the matcha-making experience. You can get a free Chashaku with your matcha set when you order from neotis. Com. We offer a customizable matcha set where you can choose from many different styles of matcha bowl and choose your favorite ceremonial matcha powder. After traveling around Japan for the past few years, we’ve met with dozens of farmers and sampled hundreds of different types of matcha. We’ve ultimately selected a small handful of our favorites, and we’re so happy to share them with all of you with free shipping options worldwide. In the next episode, we’re going to show you all about how to make matcha.
But if you don’t want to wait that long, you can get the full book for free when you sign up using the description below. Until then, we’ll see you next time.
