Matcha Tea Bowl - Dark (Mino-yaki)

All Ippodo chawan are made exclusively for us by artisans in Japan, to our design specifications. We work with these artisans to develop wide and deep chawan, to make the wide motion of whisking matcha easier, whether you are making regular usucha matcha, or koicha thick matcha. Our bowls are also light, and feel satisfying to hold in your hands.

Gifu is a landlocked prefecture in the mountains in the central region of the main Japanese island. This prefecture is home to one of the most famous and storied traditions of pottery in all of Japan. Mino-yaki encompasses several distinct styles, each highly valued by the tea ceremony for centuries. The artisans producing our tea bowls in this region craft the clay for their works themselves by hand, from soil in the area.

This tea bowl has an elegant tapered profile, with a little lip that makes the matcha feel smooth when drinking. Its dark glaze makes every bowl of matcha look radiant.

Once you finish drinking your matcha, take a closer look at the glaze. This smooth glaze gives a glass-like surface to the bowl. Its mesmerizing dark color is spotted with gold-brown flecks, which also produce a few microscopic bumps of texture on the rim.

Depending on its placement in the kiln during the firing process, its color will appear between onyx and black-brown. The result is that each of these chawan is a unique, one-of-a-kind creation. It takes a little more effort for the artisan to create this glaze, specially made for this original chawan, but we think the result is stunning.

Note: The color of each bowl varies between onyx and black-brown, and there are a few tiny bumps in places on the rim. These unique characteristics are a result of how these one-of-a-kind creations each react to the firing process.