Matcha Bowls (Chawan)

A chawan is a Japanese matcha bowl: wide enough to whisk in with a bamboo chasen and comfortable to drink from, the two things a mug cannot do at once. Ours are handmade across Japan's pottery regions and chosen by Taka. Choose the one you want to hold every morning.

New to bowls? Know Your Chawan explains what makes a bowl work for whisking, how pale and dark glazes change what you see, and how to care for handmade ceramics.

Choosing a Chawan

A matcha bowl is shaped around the whisking motion. It needs a wide mouth and a rounded inner wall for the chasen to move freely, and enough depth that nothing escapes when you whisk briskly. Too narrow and the whisk catches; too shallow and you wear it. That is why a chawan looks the way it does.

Ours are made across several of Japan's ceramic traditions, and each brings something different: glazes that pool, break and speckle in their own way. Every bowl is handmade, so the one you receive will differ a little from the photograph. That variation is the point rather than a flaw: wabi-sabi, the aesthetic these bowls come from, treats the irregular and the individual as the more beautiful thing.

Caring for it

Wash by hand in warm water and dry fully before putting it away. Skip the dishwasher, and avoid sudden temperature changes. Warming the bowl with a swirl of warm water before whisking is both proper technique and kind to the ceramic.

Pair a bowl with a bamboo whisk and a ceremonial-grade organic matcha, or choose all three together in the Organic Matcha Ceremony Kit. We ship Australia-wide and worldwide, with free Australian shipping over $100.