Yuzamashi/Pitcher (Matte Cream White)

Between the kettle and the kyusu, the yuzamashi holds the water while it cools — pour it in, feel the cream-white clay warm under your fingers, and when the heat settles, pour again into the pot. NANKEI POTTERY (南景製陶園) makes this one in Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture from Banko-yaki stoneware. The clay is dense and non-absorbent, carrying no flavour from one tea to the next. Hot water drops around 10–15 degrees in about ten seconds, putting you in the 50–80°C range where gyokuro and fine sencha open fully. Between brews, it works as a small pitcher or serving vessel.

Matte Cream White is an original NANKEI formula, reviving the "white mud" (hakudei) clay common in Banko-yaki from the Taisho era through the Showa period. New, the surface is chalky and pale greige; with regular use it develops a gentle gloss, it takes on the look of something used and kept.