Chasen Cream No. 8 · Golden Bamboo, 60 Tines · Usucha

Warm golden bamboo · black thread · 60 very fine, deeply curled tines · one of a kind

A generous, deep-bellied whisk in warm golden bamboo, bound in black thread. Its 60 very fine outer tines sweep outward and roll into tight curls at the rim, giving a large working surface — excellent for drawing a thick, fine-bubbled foam on thin matcha (usucha) in a wider bowl.

Hand-cut from a single piece of bamboo in Takayama, Nara — the district that has made Japan's tea whisks for five centuries. We spent three days there going workshop to workshop; four artisans agreed to sell to us, several met through the town's chasen museum where the makers gather. One of a kind — we have only this piece.

Five years from standing bamboo to the first cut, then split by hand tine by tine with a single blade. Why a Takayama chasen costs what it does →

Care: rest on a whisk holder (kusenaoki), rinse in warm water only, air-dry. Never soak or machine-wash.