{"product_id":"chasen-red-box-11","title":"Chasen Red No. 11 · Purple Thread, 55 Tines · Both","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eNaturally dark bamboo · purple thread · 55 curved tines · usucha \u0026amp; koicha\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDark, almost black bamboo bound in \u003cstrong\u003epurple thread\u003c\/strong\u003e — the colour long associated with rank and ceremony in Japan — with the tassel left long at the collar. The binding in Takayama is tied by a \u003cem\u003eseparate artisan\u003c\/em\u003e from the carver, and purple is never an accidental choice. \u003cstrong\u003e55 golden-olive tines\u003c\/strong\u003e curve outward into a wide, open head, sturdy enough for a thick koicha yet lively in a thin one. Presented in its red brocade box bearing the Takayama traditional-craft designation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHand-cut from a single piece of bamboo in Takayama, Nara — the district that has made Japan's tea whisks for five centuries. Ours come from four artisans we met there, introduced through the town's chasen museum where the makers gather. \u003cstrong\u003eOne of a kind — we have only this piece.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhy this isn't a thirty-dirham whisk.\u003c\/strong\u003e Most chasen sold today — including many sold as premium — are produced at volume in China from bamboo cut months earlier, oil-drained with chemical help and boxed with a silica-gel sachet because it never fully dried. That faint stale smell doesn't stay in the box; it transfers into the tea. This one began as bamboo cut in its third year, sun-dried through the January cold of the Ikoma mountains, then stored two more years until the moisture was gone — roughly five years before the first cut was made. \u003ca href=\"\/ar\/pages\/takayama-chasen-masters\"\u003eHow we found the makers →\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCare:\u003c\/strong\u003e rest on a whisk holder (\u003cem\u003ekusenaoki\u003c\/em\u003e), rinse in warm water only, air-dry. Never soak or machine-wash.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Aicha Teas","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51322247741686,"sku":"CHASEN-R11","price":650.0,"currency_code":"AED","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0774\/9576\/3190\/files\/file-00000000e26881f4bc929fe233697c3f.png?v=1784706779","url":"https:\/\/www.myaicha.com\/ar\/products\/chasen-red-box-11","provider":"Aicha Teas","version":"1.0","type":"link"}