The Tetsubin of my dreams!
To start things off, the purchasing process was easy & no hassle at all, the customer service was very nice & helpful & even the delivery was, by international standards, quite fast for this one, which surprised me, so that was very nice as well! Even the box that came in was very gorgeous, to where one can tell that a lot of care was put into packaging this Tetsubin. It’s very much appreciated!
Now, for the Tetsubin itself, the fun part… Even though I've only had this Tetsubin for a bit more than a week now, I can say that, the part about water being boiled in a Tetsubin tasting mellow and sweet is totally true! For one of the Sencha teas I’ve been trying, when I brew it using the water boiled from the Tetsubin, it seemed, as though a lot of the strong flavor (Astringency, perhaps I can say?) was taken away, to where a sweet-like profile has mostly taken its place. For that particular Sencha Green Tea, it felt, as though it was a different kind of tea altogether. I was amazed at the flavor improvement, to put it shortly!
To name another example, when I brewed Matcha using the water boiled from the Tetsubin, I also really noticed a real improvement in the flavor profile of it. When I tasted it, it tasted quite sweet, almost as if I were having candy itself (The Matcha I was brewing has no sugar in it, as well as no sweeteners in it, also. It was Matcha by itself)! I was, again, amazed at the flavor improvement.
In-fact, even drinking the boiled water from the Tetsubin by itself was also a real delight, too! The hot water from the Tetsubin tasted noticeably mellower, smoother, sweeter & even “softer,” as well (Softer, but not in the sense, that the minerals that made the water hard in the first place were removed. Rather, it’s as if the minerals in the water interacted with the raw cast iron in a way, that it produced an effect that creates a profile similar to soft water). I never thought hot water could ever taste this good until I boiled it in a Tetsubin, so that was also quite the experience in itself, too!
The design of the Tetsubin itself is very beautiful, even more than what the pictures suggested! Very often, I find myself gazing into its Arare pattern and, if I must say so myself, looking into it is a calm & relaxing experience in itself. As I gaze into it, one of the ways I personally interpret its design is, as if the bottom part of the Tetsubin is the land & the Arare pattern is the snow falling into it. Considering that I understand it snows a lot in the winter at Iwate, Japan, that’s one of the ways I interpret its design.
I also very much love its gorgeous black color, to where I also find myself frequently looking at it for its beautiful black color, as well.
I also quite like the handle, also, as I’ve noticed, that, indeed, the handle doesn’t get hot easily, to where it doesn’t take long at all for it to cool to a point, where I don’t need to use a cloth to grip it, so that’s something I’ve come to appreciate very much!
I also love the lid design, too, in that, at least for me personally, it’s well-designed in a way, that its very foolproof, to where I don’t at all feel that the lid will just slip off while I’m pouring boiled water out of it (As I’m pouring the hot water out of the Tetsubin, I use my right hand to hold the handle, with my left hand holding down the lid using a cloth).
I also really like its large water capacity size, as it boils enough water to brew a satisfying amount of tea for everyone at home, so that’s also something I appreciate about this Tetsubin, as well!
All-in-all, it was absolutely worth the plunge to go for this particular Tetsubin! I couldn’t be more pleased, that this is my 1st Tetsubin I have ever gotten to own. It truly is a thing of beauty, as well as also being a functional piece at the same time.
Thank you so much to everyone at Oitomi for selling such a beautiful Tetsubin like this one, thus allowing those, such as myself, to be able to have a chance at getting to own one & I also want to thank Oikawa Kousei-san for handcrafting such a remarkable (while also functional, as well) work of art!
I’ll make sure to take good care of it, and I’ll always treasure it for the rest of my life! It is a true honor to get to have and use such a beautiful Tetsubin so early on in my tea-drinking journey (I only started picking up drinking tea as a daily habit since June 2024, so I’ve only just really begun exploring the world of tea). Now, I, too, look forward to seeing this Tetsubin improve with use over time (I’ve been using it every day since), as well as get to also experience the wabi-sabi aspects of this particular Tetsubin over time. It’s truly transformed my daily tea drinking habit on a fundamental level, I can say that much.
Indeed, in-short, I am totally pleased with my purchase. I hope I get to cross paths with the fellows at Oitomi again. I totally recommend them! Thank you so much again & take care!
