The Japanese Tea Lover's Christmas Gift Guide

Japanese tea is one of the easiest gifts to get right. This is the guide by budget, from a teacup to a matched tea set, with an honest note on what each thing is actually for.

One thing to know before December: when a piece sells out, it may not return. If something below is the gift, earlier is safer than later. We ship Australia-wide and worldwide, with free Australian shipping over $100.

Under $50: small, real, and actually used

• A yunomi teacup (from $20). The everyday Japanese teacup: usually without a handle, every glaze its own. The rare gift under $30 that gets used daily. Browse the teacups.
• A tin of ceremonial matcha (from $30). All three of ours are organic and first-harvest, the real thing. We buy each one directly from the people who make it, in Kyoto and Kagoshima. The matcha.
• A natsume, the matcha caddy. The lidded caddy that holds the matcha for usucha (thin tea) in the tea ceremony, and a small gift for anyone who already makes matcha at home. Ours are plastic, in glossy red or black with gold designs, and the matcha is sold separately. The natsume.
• Hojicha powder ($25), for the coffee person. Roasted, toasty, naturally gentle in caffeine, and it makes a latte that converts sceptics. The safest tea gift for someone who says they don't drink tea. The organic tea range.
• A chasen naoshi ($18–$35). The ceramic stand that dries a matcha whisk back into shape. If they already whisk matcha and don't own one, this is the most thoughtful small gift on this page. Whisks and holders.
• A tea spoon or cha-saji (under $20). Small spoons and scoops that take loose leaf tea from the caddy to the pot, in ceramic, wood or bamboo. A stocking filler for anyone who brews leaf tea. The scoops and spoons.

$50–$100: the tools that change how tea tastes

• A chasen, the bamboo matcha whisk ($80–$90). The one tool in matcha preparation nothing else replaces, hand-carved from a single piece of bamboo by Chikumeido in Takayama, Nara. We're their only Australian stockist, and whatever is in stock ships from Australia straight away. If the person you're buying for drinks matcha from a frother or a fork, this is the upgrade they'll feel the same day. Our whisk guide explains the differences.
• A chawan, the matcha bowl (from $45). Wide enough to whisk in, comfortable to drink from, and the piece people fall for. The bowls.
• A set of five yunomi (from $89). Several designs come as a set of five cups or as single cups. The Nunome-Ume is white Mino ware with indigo and pale blue plum blossoms, 100 ml each. The Nunome-Ume set.
• A kyusu, the Japanese teapot (from $59 for HARIO glass). Made for green tea's short steeps, and most of ours are Tokoname ware. The Yamazakura is dark clay with cherry blossom across the front and a basket strainer that lifts out. The teapots.
• A tea tray, or bon. When you brew for a guest, Japanese tea manners have the tea set ready on a tray. The Negoro Maru-bon is a shallow round tray in red, 21 cm across, with a low straight rim and a textured square in the centre. The tea trays.

The one-box answer: the Ceremony Kit (from $162)

For the person starting from zero, the Organic Matcha Ceremony Kit removes every decision: choose a matcha, a handmade chawan and a Chikumeido chasen, and it arrives as one complete, ready-to-use set. It's the gift that gets opened and used the same afternoon, and every combination is built from the same organic, first-harvest matcha, bowls and whisks that we sell on their own.

$150 and up: for the devoted

• A matched Japanese tea set (from $165). A teapot or a matcha bowl, with cups chosen to belong together: the considered gift for someone who already loves Japanese tea. With a teapot set, add a bag of organic sencha or genmaicha. With a matcha bowl set, add matcha. The sets, or our guide to what goes in one.
• A collector's kyusu. The dearest teapots in the collection are mostly Tokoname clay, topped by a cast iron kyusu in the Nanbu Tekki tradition of Iwate.
• A big bag of matcha. For the daily matcha drinker, our Kyoto and SEN matcha also come in a 200 g bag, ten times the size of the 20 g tin.

Questions people ask us in December

They already have matcha and a whisk. What now?

A naoshi if they don't own one, a natsume to hold the matcha, a second chawan in a different glaze (many people keep a pale bowl and a dark one), or a yunomi and a bag of gyokuro to slow a weekend down.

Will it arrive by Christmas?

We ship from the Shoalhaven, NSW, Australia-wide and worldwide. In December, order as early as you can, because carriers publish their Christmas cut-off dates each year, and a piece that sells out may not come back. Everything in stock ships straight away.

What if I choose the wrong glaze?

You won't. Glaze and colour can vary a little from piece to piece, and the photos on each page show the design you are choosing. Picking the one you keep coming back to is the method.

The Ceremony Kit  ·  All teaware  ·  Organic tea  ·  New arrivals

We ship Australia-wide and worldwide, with free Australian shipping over $100.