Tea whisk
The tea whisk ( Japanese 茶 筅 , Chasen ) is a bamboo stirrer for preparing Japanese teas such as matcha with 60 to 130 bristles.
Manufacturing
Tea whisks are made by hand. For this purpose, three-year-old bamboo is cut in winter and stored and dried for a year. From soft pliable bamboo fist-wide pieces are cut, one half is carefully peeled and softened, and then the first bristles with a special knife cut, depending on the thickness of the timber between twelve and 24. Then, the are bristles bent outwardly and again cut lengthways along the edge to remove the inner part. Now the bristles are cut again several times and carefully separated from each other, so that fine bristles are created that are soaked in water. The bristles are scraped off so that they are ideal for whisking . The outermost bristles are connected to each other with a wire and stabilized, then this is repeated again to ensure good stability. Although such a broom takes a lot of effort, it can only be used about ten times in the end.
When choosing a broom, the following applies: the more bristles, the finer the foam.
use
The chasen is used, for example, for the traditional frothing of matcha tea together with a tea bowl so that it can develop its full aroma . Its use avoids the formation of lumps that can occur with a spoon. It is mainly used in the traditional Japanese tea ceremony .
cleaning
After use, the tea whisk is rinsed with clear water, drained and allowed to air dry to prevent mold from forming. Alternatively, you can “whip up” clear, lukewarm water, as if you were preparing matcha.
