This sleek yuzamashi is well-shaped and pours easily. It has a pleasant yet difficult-to-pin-down color that is a mixture of purple, brown and grey color tones, plus a soft metallic sheen. A series of combed lines decorate the pitcher’s exterior, giving it both a lovely appearance and nice feel in the hand. All photos are of the actual pitcher that is for sale (we only have one, so act quickly!).
Japanese water cooling pitchers, called yuzamashi or samashi, are used to lower the temperature of freshly-heated water before using that water to steep the tea leaves. The idea is that after water is heated, it is poured first into the yuzamashi, and then from the yuzamashi it is poured onto the tea leaves in a teapot. Yuzamashi are especially helpful when preparing green tea and oolong, which require a slightly cooled water for traditional steeping.
These are also wonderful as an aesthetically-pleasing open teapot for steeping various of the Chinese green teas that do not like to be covered when being steeped, and when one does not want to steep the leaf right in the cup, as many Chinese tea drinkers do.
Yuzamashi come in many sizes, shapes and glaze colors. In the spirit of Japanese tea tools, these vessels do not need to match the teapot being used, and are purchased solely on the individual merit of design and appearance and the appropriate size of the piece.
Please Note:
Slight variations in the painting, colors, tooling, patterning and kiln effects of Chinese and Japanese tea wares are to be expected. We have carefully photographed this item as best as possible – please be aware that different device screens can render colors and subtle tones slightly differently.
Want to know more?
How We Determine the Size & Capacity of our Teawares