Yunomi (Japanese teacup)
A tall handleless cup for everyday Japanese tea, taller than it is wide and thicker at the rim than a tasting cup. Height over width means a smaller surface exposed to the air, so the tea cools more slowly than it would in a bowl — the opposite design intent from a chawan, which is meant to be drunk warm and quickly.
Identity
- Category
- Drinking vessel
- Native name
- 湯呑
- Romanised
- yunomi, yunomi-jawan
- Also called
- Japanese teacup, tall tea cup
- Material
- Glazed stoneware or porcelain; sometimes double-walled glass
- Typical capacity
- 100–220 ml
- Skill level
- Beginner
Porosity
Not porous. It contributes nothing of its own to the liquor, so it can be moved between teas freely and washed with detergent without consequence.
Where it comes from
Japanese, and everyday ware rather than ceremonial. A yunomi is not a chawan and is not used for whisked tea.
Named here rather than presented as generic equipment. The object belongs to a practice, and TeaHQ describes it from the outside.
If you do not own one
Any small cup. Handleless means you feel the temperature before your mouth does, which is a real if minor advantage with tea served hot.
This one is not marked essential. The tea can be made without it.
Brewing methods it is used for
- Kyusu brewing (Japanese style) — The Japanese domestic approach to green tea: a moderate quantity of leaf, water well off the boil, short steeps, and two or three infusions from the same leaf with the times adjusted each time.
- Korean green tea brewing — A low-temperature approach to Korean green tea in which the water is cooled through a separate open vessel before it ever meets the leaf, and the pot is emptied entirely into the cups each time. Darye names the etiquette; the brewing approach below is shared by everyday practice outside any formal setting.
Tea types it suits
Care and maintenance
Nothing unusual. Unglazed foot rings hold water — dry them before stacking, or the stack marks.
Other drinking vessels
Sources
This page is TeaHQ synthesis. No external source stands behind the description, the material or the account of how the object is cared for. Where the record names a tradition, that attribution is TeaHQ’s own reading of common practice rather than a citation.
TeaHQ names no maker, brand or shop and has nothing to sell. Nothing on this page should be read as advice to buy the object — the substitute note above exists because owning it is usually optional.
Written comparisons
Where TeaHQ has set this piece of teaware against something it is routinely confused with, and argued the differences out in full.
- Yunomi vs gongfu tasting cup — Two handleless cups from two traditions, sized by two different ideas of what a serving is. The yunomi is taller than it is wide and holds a drink; the tasting cup holds one infusion of a session, which is a smaller and more frequent thing.