Using and cleaning a kyusu

Do you need to warm the pot first?

It helps. Swirl a little hot water around the empty pot and tip it out before you add the leaves, so the clay or porcelain is not pulling heat away from the water the moment it goes in. This matters more for a thicker stoneware pot, like our Shigaraki or Iga-ware pieces, than for a thin porcelain one, since a cold thick wall drops the water temperature further.

How long do you leave the leaves in?

Not long after pouring the last cup. Tea left sitting in a wet pot keeps steeping past the point you wanted, turning bitter. It also starts the pot down the road to a stale smell. Tip the spent leaves out as soon as you have poured the final cup, rather than leaving the pot to sit on the counter with them still inside.

How do you clean the strainer?

Rinse it under running water straight after you empty the leaves, working your fingers or a soft brush gently through the mesh to clear anything caught in it. A built-in strainer is the part most likely to hold old tea residue, since the mesh has far more surface area than the smooth walls of the pot. If a stain builds up over time, a short soak in warm water with a little baking soda loosens it better than scrubbing does.

Should you use soap?

Sparingly, and only on the outside if at all. The maker's care line on our own listings is consistent: our Arita, Fukui Craft and Iga-ware pots are all listed as hand wash. The Arita listing goes further and rules out the microwave and direct flame as well. Soap left inside a kyusu can sit in the porous glaze or the strainer mesh and carry a faint smell into the next pot of tea, so a plain hot water rinse is usually enough on the inside; save the soap, if you use any, for the outside of the pot.

How do you dry it?

With the lid off, upside down or on its side, somewhere air can move through it. A kyusu left to dry lid-on traps moisture inside the body and around the strainer, which is exactly the damp, dark setting that grows a musty smell over weeks of otherwise normal use. Give it a few hours uncovered before you put it away, longer if the room is humid.

What about the unglazed style?

If you already own or later buy an unglazed shudei kyusu from Tokoname or Banko, the advice changes: those pots are traditionally never washed with soap or detergent at all, since the raw clay absorbs a little of the tea with each brew. Soap would work its way into the clay the same way. None of our current stock is that unglazed style; the glazed stoneware and porcelain pots we do carry do not have that concern, so a light hand wash on the inside is fine for them.

Quick answers

These are the questions people ask us most often about using and cleaning a kyusu, answered briefly.

Can you leave tea leaves in a kyusu overnight? Better not to. Leaves left sitting keep steeping and turn bitter, and a wet pot with old leaves inside is how a musty smell starts.

Should you wash a kyusu with soap? Lightly if at all, and mainly on the outside. Our Arita, Fukui Craft and Iga-ware listings all call for hand washing rather than a dishwasher; a plain hot rinse usually clears the inside well enough.

How do you clean tea stains out of the strainer? Rinse it straight after use, working the mesh gently with your fingers or a soft brush; for a built-up stain, a short soak in warm water with a little baking soda works better than scrubbing.

Why does my kyusu smell musty? Almost always damp trapped inside from being put away lid-on before it was fully dry; dry it lid off, upside down or on its side, with air moving around it.

Do you wash an unglazed clay kyusu the same way? No. An unglazed shudei kyusu from Tokoname or Banko is traditionally never washed with soap, since the raw clay absorbs a little of the tea itself; we do not currently stock that style, so the advice does not apply to what is on our shelf.