Every tea lover should get a real tetsubin (鉄瓶, a cast iron kettle).
Not only does the tetsubin enhance both the tea and the drinking experience, but learning to use and care for it is a journey in and of itself. By owning one, we take a stand against rampant consumerism by buying something that lasts–but only if it’s cared for. Looked at in this way, the tetsubin teaches us to treasure things that may have lives far longer than our own.
The true tetsubin is a craftsman’s work. Like the cast iron pan, it’s not a fussy item but it does require some care and maintenance. Far from the household stainless steel kettle, which is easily discarded and replaced when a sensor breaks or a part wears out, the tetsubin is an heirloom in the making. I would go so far as to say it gets better with each use. Not visibly, mind you, but because every kettle full of water boiled is another memory made.
Truth is, well-made things often require care above and beyond your average Amazon product. It may not be much in real terms, but any deviation from the baseline can feel burdensome when the default is to discard and replace. But this hasn’t been the default for most of humanity’s history as far as I can tell. Rather, modernity moved the goal posts when we weren’t looking, offering us shiny new things while our old traditions withered and died on the vine.
As a result, we are divorced from the culture of craft. We want our power tools built to last, but we somehow don’t extend that same thinking to everything else we buy; nor do we think of mending or fixing rather than discarding and replacing. The tetsubin, therefore, represents something of a protest against modern consumption culture.
Purchasing a craft-made good like this is a commitment to caring for something because it’s important to me. Other than my Taylor guitar, I prize no other physical thing I own as highly as my kettle. Both things, when properly cared for, should outlive me by a significant margin. I can only hope that whoever takes possession of these things after me will take my spirit of love and caring along with them.
And in so doing, in some small way, I will have stood up against time itself.