Been studying Japanese for about 18 months now, trying to read stuff beyond textbooks. Got into reading about traditional arts-書道, 華道, that sort of thing. Tea ceremony (茶道) kept popping up everywhere so started reading more about it.
Learned all the vocab- 茶室 (tea room), 茶碗 (tea bowl), 亭主 (host)-but never actually tried making proper matcha myself. Figured I knew enough from reading, right? Bought some powder ages ago and just mixed it with hot water like instant coffee. Tasted rank. Thought that's just how it was.
Finally watched some videos of actual tea ceremonies and realized I'd been doing it completely backwards. Wrong temperature, wrong amount, no whisking, just stirring with a spoon like an absolute muppet. Felt proper stupid.
Ordered fresh matcha from Fukuoka and got a bamboo whisk. Did it properly this time-80°C water, whisked it into foam. Completely different drink. Sweet, smooth, actually understand why there's a whole ceremony around it now.
Reading about something in Japanese vs actually experiencing it hits different. Anyone else had this with other traditional stuff?
by ykz30