Sunday, June 19, 2011

By the creek and by the forest





Just a nice weekend, spent away from civilization, surrounded by deep forest.
Accompanied only by the sound of the creek's pure water's flow, tea means so much more.



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14 comments:

  1. Sir William of the LeafJune 19, 2011 at 11:59 PM

    Serene...Tranquil...
    Looks absolutely beautiful! I must say, I envy your location!

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  2. vacuitheJune 20, 2011 at 3:04 PM

    Sounds great... Thanks for sharing !
    Your shiboridashi is bery beautiful.

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  3. Michal TalloJune 20, 2011 at 3:12 PM

    William,
    serene and tranquil really are the best words to describe this weekend. Staying at such location is often priceless - a complete mind-restart :-)

    Sébastien,
    thank you! I decided to use this particular shiboridashi mainly because of its natural roughness, which proved itself to be very suitable and fitting for drinking in the forest quite a lot of times, already.

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  4. Alex ZorachJune 20, 2011 at 3:39 PM

    This is beautiful.

    I love the juxtaposition of photographs here, the placement of the stream as the middle photograph, and I love the foliage visible in the reflections in the teacups here.

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  5. vacuitheJune 20, 2011 at 4:53 PM

    "I decided to use this particular shiboridashi mainly because of its natural roughness, which proved itself to be very suitable and fitting for drinking in the forest"

    Totally agree. May I ask you where did you find this great pot ? Maybe "Karatsu pots" listed in your blogroll ?

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  6. Michal TalloJune 20, 2011 at 5:04 PM

    Alex,
    thank you very much, I'm glad you like it. All this was even so much more beautiful live. :-)

    Sébastien,
    this Shiboridashi was made by Czech potter Petr Novák - this is his blog: http://potsandtea.blogspot.com/
    and his website: http://artkeramika.cz/keramikstudio/?lang=en

    Both of these links are really worth checking - amazing pottery, not only beautiful, but also perfectly functional. His pots and cups are among the most frequently used for my tea sessions.

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  7. vacuitheJune 20, 2011 at 10:00 PM

    Thank you for precision. I've already seen Petr's pottery on the internet. I missed a teaware sale on teachat forum a few days ago. Your shiboridashi is quite exactly as the one I imagine for me : natural colour, rough, like carved in a rock.
    In fact, I already own a japanese teapot for my japanese teas so I don't really NEED a Petr's shiboridashi, but it's difficult to resist to such a temptation, especially when I can see the kind of pictures that you posted on your blog :)

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  8. Michal TalloJune 21, 2011 at 11:30 AM

    Sébastien,
    few weeks ago, I actually bought another Shiboridashi by Petr, even though I don't need it at all, having, apart from this one, also two kyusu teapots for Japanese tea. You can see the newest Shiboridashi here: http://poemtea.blogspot.com/2011/06/new-teaware-again-question-mark.html
    As I stated in the post, buying things we do not need makes us happy... at least as far as we do not think too rationally. :-) Also, I feel that having an option to choose different pot even for the same tea makes tea-drinking even more enjoyable - I find it very interesting to observe how diversified can the drinking experience of specific tea be when brewed in two (or more) different pots at the same time. Moreover, certain teaware fits certain surroundings, mood, weather etc better than other. And I think the ability to choose which pot and cups to use according to actual mood and feeling is one of the most beautiful things about tea-drinking. :-)

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  9. lionelJune 22, 2011 at 10:45 AM

    Intersting discussion here, Michal and Sebastien !
    Is it rational to buy a new teapot (or shiboridashi) even if we don't need it ?
    I have 4 kyusus for my japanese green teas. 2 red clays, 1 yakishime (wood fired) and 1 by Petr...I don't really need all these...
    Every evening, before going to bed, I prepare my tea set for early morning sencha drinking. Which kuysu ? The red one or the brown one ? Which Yunomi ? Of course which tea ? I really like this moment !

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  10. Michal TalloJune 22, 2011 at 12:15 PM

    lionel,
    It may not be rational, but, for me at least, rationality has to step aside (to some extent) in many things - acquiring new teaware being one of them. Life would be boring and monotonous if I'd only consider the rational side of things. If possible (if my actual budget allows me to :-) ), I like to let my feelings and "heart" guide me and decide instead of brain - if there is something I like a lot and I know it is going to make me happy even though I do not necessarily need it, I usually do not fight this feeling and get it. That is my point of view.
    I have similar "ritual" early in the morning, preparing my tea set. If I have enough time, I spend quite a while examining details and touching the surface of different pots and cups and pairing them with the actual day, its weather, mood and season - it often happens that only after I choose the pots, I decide which tea to drink and like this, it often is teaware that chooses its tea instead of me :-) For me, this feels very natural and helps me enjoy tea sessions even more.

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  11. vacuitheJune 22, 2011 at 2:55 PM

    Since I'm a tea-addict, my behaviour is not very rational. For example, do I really need to buy so much pu erh ? Will I live long enought to drink all my cakes ? Not sure :)
    I have 2 yixing teapots for brewing my raw pu erh, one could be enought.
    I saw your post about the question mark shiboridashi, it's a terrific teaware. I will certainly contact Petr some time or another in order to ask him if he could make one for me. Maybe a mix between the question mark and the one you shown in the wild. I'd wish a dark and rough one, with a touch of white for keeping an eye on the color of my japanese potions.
    I agree with you : nice teaware can enhance a tea session. And Petr's teawares are really tempting. Some shibo sets are displayed on darjeeling.cz but these ones are "shino style", not my favorites.

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  12. Michal TalloJune 28, 2011 at 3:11 PM

    Sébastien,
    I agree with you - this also applies to tea. In fact, I think it's even more noticeable in tea than in teaware - do we really need to drink so many different kinds of tea? If we find one that we like a lot, one that suits our preferences, why do we continue to buy and taste more and more different teas? This also may not be rational, but it makes us happy - as we are eager to discover new things, which interrupt the otherwise monotonousness of just one option. And that is why I can hardly satisfy with drinking only one ore two teas over and over again, if I have the possibility to reach more interesting options. :-)

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  13. vacuitheJuly 29, 2011 at 10:39 AM

    Hello Michal,
    I finally did it ! I bought a shiboridashi set by Petr, and I really love it. Great tea sessions to come with my new tea utensil :)

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  14. Michal TalloJuly 29, 2011 at 12:36 PM

    Hi Sébastien,
    congratulations on your new acquirement - great choice I think, I really like Petr's pieces with Black Magda glaze (though I yet have to get any). Enjoy great tea sessions with it :-)

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