Shizuku Series (雫) — Cortado & Matcha Cup
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Shizuku Series (雫) — Cortado & Matcha Cup
Shizuku means a single drop. It is the smallest cup in the range, made for the drinks where less is the point: a cortado, a piccolo, a double espresso with room to breathe, or a bowl of usucha whisked thin and finished in three sips. It sits low in the hand and holds heat close. Nothing about it is hurried, and nothing about it is wasted.
Each cup is hand-glazed in Mino, Gifu Prefecture, where kilns have fired continuously for more than 1,300 years. The artisan applies the glaze, the kiln finishes it at 1,200°C, and the two never agree exactly. Speckle, pooling and tonal shifts move from one cup to the next. Consider that a signature rather than a flaw.
Two glazes. Shima wears alternating indigo and cream stripes on a footed body, with the maker's stamp pressed into the base. Chikurin is shaped after a length of bamboo and finished in Oribe green, the copper glaze that made Mino famous, with a soft blue wash at the rim.
Highlights
- Capacity 160 ml to the brim, around 130 ml as poured
- Sized for cortado, piccolo, double espresso and usucha matcha
- Mino ware, hand-glazed in Gifu Prefecture, Japan
- Stoneware, kiln-fired at 1,200°C
- Glaze varies piece to piece. The photographed cup is a close representative, not identical
Origin & Craftsmanship
Mino ware is one of Japan's oldest living pottery traditions, produced in the kilns of Gifu Prefecture since the seventh century. Oribe green, Shino white and the ash glazes still in use today were all developed here. The cups in this series are glazed by hand in small runs, so surface, weight and tone carry the slight differences that only a working kiln can leave behind.
Overview
Overview
Stoneware with a thick wall and a proper foot ring, so it sits steady, holds heat, and feels substantial in the hand without being heavy. The glaze runs thin at the rim and pools toward the base, which is where each cup shows its character.
Every piece is glazed by hand and kiln-fired at 1,200°C. Surface, tone, and depth of color shift slightly from cup to cup. Consider that a signature rather than a flaw.
Provenance
Provenance
These cups come from the Tōno region of Gifu Prefecture, the heart of Mino ware. Kilns have fired here for over 1,300 years, and the towns of Tajimi, Toki, and Mizunami still produce more of Japan's ceramics than anywhere else in the country. Mino is where Oribe, Shino, and Kiseto glazes were born in the sixteenth century, made for the tea masters of the day.
Each cup is glazed by an artisan and fired in small batches. That is why glaze pooling, crazing, and depth of color vary from piece to piece, and why we photograph every glaze individually rather than showing one and promising the rest match.
We chose these pieces for Era because they sit between two worlds. The forms are yunomi, the everyday Japanese tea cup, but the capacities line up with how we actually drink coffee: cortado, flat white, cappuccino, latte. They pour well, they hold heat, and they look right next to a matcha bowl or an espresso machine. Small quantities, brought in directly from Japan, and reordered only when the workshop can make more.
Care & Storage
Care & Storage
- Hand wash gently with warm water and mild soap.
- Avoid dishwashers to keep the hand-glazed finish at its best.
- Not for microwave or direct flame.
- Dry fully before stacking or storing.
- Slight variation in color and glaze is normal and expected — it is the mark of a hand-glazed piece.
