Written by a mindfulness tea teacher, Miki Sensei.
You may be wondering where to begin making matcha at home: what to buy, and how to start.
It's an excellent question, and while it seems as though there should be a single "correct" answer, the truth is that nearly any beginning is the right one.
This is the beauty of tea, often called a "comprehensive art."Your reason for starting your matcha journey could be...
- You want to use your favorite tea bowl.
- Someone brought you matcha from Kyoto.
- You want to wear a kimono.
- You love Japan.
- You want to drink tea while looking at a particular painting.
- You want to enjoy a moment of shared connection with someone dear.
- Or maybe it just seems cool.
Regardless of your entry point or motivation, the Way of Tea welcomes it all and gives it form. (However, it is worth noting that the journey that begins with that initial spark is a long one…)
What truly matters most is that feeling of "I like this." I personally enjoy exploring exactly what I like about something, but you don't always need a reason. Sometimes your eyes, your body, or your heart draw you toward something. And within that impulse lies a seed, a spark, that leads you toward a world that feels authentic to you. Tea is a wonderful way to nurture that spark, gently and comfortably, as part of your everyday life.
So your starting point can be anything. Let's cherish those small moments of "I like this," "I want to try," "this seems fun," or "I want to know more."
To begin, all you really need are a tea bowl (or any bowl that could serve as one), a tea whisk, and hot water. With just these items, you can make tea.
Choose utensils that feel good to your eyes and hands.
Take the tea whisk, for example. If you appreciate the harmony between your matcha and the tool, and how you feel when whisking, your experience will differ depending on the whisk you use.
A bamboo whisk handcrafted by an artisan who understands the qualities of bamboo grown in the same culture that produces matcha will feel profoundly different from a mass-produced whisk from a factory. The taste of the tea, and even the effect on your body, will change more than you might expect.
This is why it's important to rely on your own five senses when choosing utensils. Not on whether the utensil is trending, opinion of others, or price, but whether the appearance, the feel in your hand, the weight, and how the tool moves in your hand naturally and comfortably.
In a previous article, I wrote about how drinking tea is a way to unite with nature itself. To achieve the connection, the utensils you use should gradually become an extension of your body—an intimate relationship cultivated over time.
We are creatures shaped by what we see, hear, and touch. That means that the influences we choose matter in determining the kind of person we wish to become. Understanding what we love helps us better understand ourselves. The intensity and frequency with which we surround ourselves with what we love significantly shape who we are, how our days feel, and the world we create around us.
Establishing a daily tea moment can be a perfect opportunity to refine that awareness.
"But...I can't gather all those things at once!"
That's perfectly fine. Japan has a beautiful cultural practice called 見立て (mitate): the art of creative reinterpretation. For example, hearths were once modeled on irori firepits, and tea containers were originally medicine or oil jars.
So if you don't have a matcha bowl, use a café-au-lait bowl. No tea scoop? A spoon will do. No iron kettle? An electric kettle or an insulated flask is completely fine. When you consciously seek out reasons to begin rather than reasons not to, the world tends to support you.
Let's consider it from another angle.
There is a poem from the Hundred Verses of Rikyu:
釜一つあれば茶の湯はなるものを 数の道具を持つは愚かな。
"With just a kettle, tea can be made—To own many utensils is foolish."
In the tearoom during the tea ceremony, the kettle sits quietly, often unnoticed, yet carrying weight, presence, and purpose. Being made of iron, it requires care to prevent rust and decay, embodying the aesthetics of tea.
To properly handle such a tool demands a matching level of character and depth from the practitioner. The poem serves as a warning against accumulating impressive-looking tools merely to show off, especially when one cannot truly use them.
Another famous story about Rikyu tells of a wealthy merchant in the Sengoku era who approached Rikyu with a large sum of money, asking him to select fine utensils for him. Rikyu silently returned a single piece of bleached cloth (the cloth used to wipe the tea bowl) and a note that read, "This is enough." As long as one possesses purity of body and mind, symbolized by that cloth, one can make tea.
In other words, even if you have nothing else, if you want to make tea and your body and heart are prepared, that is sufficient.
Cultivating this, physically and mentally, is the Way—the Way of Tea.
This philosophy embodies daily living.
What do you think? How do you live?
Whether it's matcha or a single cup of coffee, what vessel you choose, the room you're in, the clothes you're wearing, how you sit, how you brew, how you drink...
All of it is connected and reflects how you live.
吾唯知足ー足るを知る。
"Ware tada taru wo shiru — I alone know sufficiency."
Everything you need is already here.
If that's the case, then why not start? If there is no real reason within you not to begin, then there is no reason outside of you either.
There is no single correct "form" to begin.
Start with what you have and use what genuinely feels good to you. No need to overthink to take that first step, for the sake of the most important person: yourself.
And when you feel curious to explore further, consider attending a workshop or a class near you. chacha maimai and I are always delighted to travel anywhere in the world to share tea with you.
Written by:
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Miki Fujisaki, hibana to bloom founder, mindfulness tea facilitator/coach Website: https://www.hibana-to-bloom.com/ Instagram: @hibanatobloom |
Miki was born in Osaka and began her journey in Urasenke Chado while working as a Japan Airlines cabin attendant. During her time in London, she planned and managed Japanese cafes ("Matcha" and "Cha no Ma"), and after her return to Japan, she oversaw international project planning.
To deepen her understanding of spaces and relationships where individuals coexist, illuminate, and nurture, Miki studied coaching and facilitation. Currently, she holds tea gatherings and coaching sessions for individuals and companies in tea rooms, offices, online, and overseas. Her work is centered around the theme of interbeing, cultivating a sense of interconnectedness, mindfulness, and "here-and-now."
