Surround yourself with what you love
I really believe that this is not only a good criterium for leading a happy life but also for making our world healthy again. We are surrounded by so much stuff and so much of it screams to be bought but ends up in cupboards that overflow. Or broken within a few weeks of use.
Unless… we try to choose one thing per item that we really need and that makes us happy just by looking at it. If I love the way my bottle opener looks and feels in my hand, it will make me enjoy every time I have to open a bottle. Plus I will probably only have one great one instead of three faulty ones. The same applies to a sponge. Or a toothbrush. Or a towel.
For my birthday my boyfriend gave me the most beautiful tiny teapot I have ever seen or touched: light blue, unglazed with a very fine texture, pretty details like a miniature spout and a round ball-like filter. The makers are TOKONAME, a Japanese brand of pottery that is trying (and very much succeeding at it) to renew the traditional Tokoname ware from Aichi.
All the steps you need to create a perfect cup of tea, are really worth it. It’s like drinking happiness.
- Use a good quality water, in Holland you can use Spa blauw
- Buy good quality green tea: I have recently discovered the shop Hug the Tea in The Hague, from two young and very sweet sisters who are very knowledgable. Their sencha, kukicha and guricha is really good.
- Only boil the water you will need
- After boiling let it cool to the perfect temperature for your tea (it depends on the variety)
- Use one full teaspoon per teapot
- Wait for one minute until it brews
- Pour the tea into each teacup alternately little by little, so that the quantity and taste of the tea is equal in each cup. Remember to pour until the last drop.
- You can repeat the steps but at different temperatures (again, this depends from the variety) for as much as three times, with the same leaves
teapot TOKONAME :: small wooden plate IRIS HANTVERK* :: starred cup LE PETIT ATELIER DE PARIS :: spoon 4TH-MARKET :: guricha HUG THE TEA
*Another beautiful brand: the core of their business is the brush binding manufacturing at Sandsborgsvägen, Sweden – here 5 visually impaired craftsmen from different cultures make brushes according to an old Swedish tradition. They also work with visually impaired craftsmen in Estonia. Everything they sell is handmade.
