Tea and Zen Introduction

Lecture Notes

At a formal tea gathering both thick tea (koicha) and thin tea (usucha) are served. Thick tea is customarily made from higher quality tea than thin tea. There are hundreds of different kinds of tea rituals performed by the matcha schools. They differ by season, according to the utensils used, in purpose, and by their level of formality; however, making a good bowl of tea is essential to all.