=====灰=====

[[literature|CQ82]] really is the 灰 issue, covering types, history, and one instruction for 灰型. In 茶の湯, 5 types of ash are used. 

<WRAP alert>Ash is really not healthy; so when sieving it, you should wear a mask and eye protection!</WRAP>

For 風炉 and 炉, ashes are ideally made of oak (//Quercus acutissima// or //serrata//, though I'd really rather use the latter for storing whisky in it); but, kindly enough, they say that pine or any other wood are //satisfactory// 🤷‍♂️ Or, as 織部 did, you use ash from the Uji tea driers. Or, as Fabio does, get it from a Pizza restaurant.

   * **風炉灰** also called silky **ふくさ灰**
   * **炉灰**, which is the same (but coarser) as above, but coloured with cloves and ばん茶
   * **フジ灰** (white wisteria ash)
   * **わら灰 (藁灰)** (straw ash)
   * **ヒシ灰（菱灰）** (red caltrop ash)

There's also a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QYWvJdkFzU&t=2119s|lecture]] by Kimura, where he explains a little bit about ash and 炭.

^                    風炉 ^ 炉                                                       ^
|  80 holes per cm² | 40                                                       |
|             only sieved | sieved and washed                                        |
|            not coloured | coloured                                                 |
|              stored dry | stored in air-tight ceramics so it stays moist all year  |

====Washing====

👆 Only the 炉 ashes are washed, the 風炉 ashes are just sifted. After having washed and sifted the 炉 ashes often enough, you can even "upgrade" them to 帛紗灰!

For me, I found this approach works: All 炉 ashes are washed, and I don't make separate しめし灰. I do 3 turns with water, aromatising the ashes on the last turn. ⚠️ Wear kitchen cloves while working with the ashes ⸻ they don't tear, protect well, and you can mix the ashes in the water with them!

   - Gather ashes, sieve them into a bucket. (Maybe the sieving is not really necessary, because they get sieved afterwards.)
   - Prepare aromatising tea: I used cloves (traditional), saffron (smells heavenly) and juniper (didn't add much). So in 2027, maybe I find a third spice, which might just as well be annatto.
   - Fill bucket with water, mix well (just with the gloved hand). Skim off the shit on the surface. Wait a few hours, pour off the somewhat clear water. Add some more water, mix again, wait a few hours, and pour off.
   - For the third rinsing, use the aromatised water. Dump it all into an Utz box lined with a burp towel, hang the towel overnight to drain. 
   - Then dry either in the sunlight or the oven at 100°, breaking up clumps every now and then. At > 30°, the 炉 ashes were fine after about 4 days.
   - Because I don't have a specific sieve for the 炉 ashes, sieve them with a kitchen sieve.

====ふくさ灰====
Sieved and washed, that means, put in a bucket, pour water on it, churn and skim off debris. Strain, dry in the sun; repeat; then finally put through a silk sieve (see video below).

☝️ Sieved with 80 holes per cm²

{{youtube>fp4U5xb9Xx8}}\\
When 風炉 ends, ash should be sieved and stored in an air-tight container; and used over and over again until it becomes greenish-yellow.

====炉灰====

The ashes for 炉, however, are not stored in an airtight container, but in a ceramic jar; and then in the summer it is treated: Washing, coarse sieving, and sprinkled while drying with clove or ばん茶.

☝️ I probably would've just washed it in clove juice, and then dried, but someone in Hurtebise 22 said it might grow mould in this way.

☝️ Sieved with 40 holes per cm²

☝️ Someone on discord said they are stored in sake barrels, which I like.

====フジ灰====
Made burning from wisteria (フジ) bean pods; or dried cedar needles (then it's technically せん香灰, incense-stick ash). So clean, sometimes some ふくさ灰 is mixed in to make it more interesting.

At the beginning of summer, you use less; toward the middle you use more, and towards the end less again. Always add this just before you begin, not the night before.

====わら灰====
Made by soaking straw, ideally wheat or rice, remove husk and soak in salt water for one hour. (About 70 grams salt per litre, to stiffen them up.) Half-dry the straw and bake in an almost airtight container until no smoke emerges any more. Open only when cooled down, otherwise they will ignite. ({{ ::warabai.pdf | See example}}.)

Used for the やつれ風炉 in October, by forming the ash with the 二もんじ, and putting it //on top// with tweezers, cutting each piece to size. Also used for the round がん炉 in the 水屋; and hand-warmers, in which case it is powdered or broken.

{{ ::warabai.png?600 |}}


====ヒシ灰====
Reddish ash made by roasting the shells of caltrop nuts (Trapa japonica, //Wassernuss// in German, ヒシ in Japanese) and grinding them; used for charcoal for 香 and on the タバコ盆. Could be mixed with fresh, uncoloured ふくさ灰 to give a bit of colour to the latter; but that'd be cheating.

{{ ::caltrop.png?400 |}}

====Palm ash====
Strictly not part of 茶の湯, but Christians use the ash from previous year's Palm Sunday on Ash Wednesday just before lent; it might be a cute idea to use it, too.

====Flexions====
風炉の七歪 or 七つひねり, differs from school to school, but here's a set of rules, mostly from the Almanac, that seem to make sense to me:

   - 風炉 turned towards guests (this one everyone seems to agree on)
   - 釜 turned away from guest
   - 五徳 slightly forward
   - 釜 slightly backward (far side higher)
   - 前瓦 away from guest
   - 灰型 highest in front left, lowest in back right
   - 柄杓 a bit towards the guest