Chado and Kodo (2026 Update)

In his excellent blog, MarshalN recently reported on the equipage and technique of traditional Taiwanese tea-roasting, alas growing uncommon:

There's an interesting parallel with the setup used in Japan's "incense game":

where grain-husk ash is also the damping medium. Instead of a large tempering volume topped with an open-weave basket of tea, the Kodo setup makes a fine chimney in the ash, which is then topped with a mica leaf to support gently warmed incense chips. Spent a fun day doing this about

20 years ago courtesy of the Japan Society of Boston; it would be fun to try the macro version. Apple wood-smoked Tie Guan Yin? Hickory Anxi Oolong? Rock Maple Wu Yi? And what about pre-bottled smoke essences for the toaster-oven set?

-DM