ホモテナシ

• 1804, merchant style. Their 生菓子 are too simple for my taste, but they have a twelve month 干菓子 box that might be worth trying to get (probably by reserving it beforehand).
• I had another「草の露」金団 and a 水牡丹, both were just fine. I found the store a bit underwhelming.
• They famous 干菓子 is a 落雁-style cookie with some 大徳寺納豆 in it. It has a slightly caseous smell and a rustic appearance, but the salty bean balances the sugar somewhat making the whole affair slightly less boring.

• The “official” supplier of 干菓子 to 裏千家: It's their sweets that you'll see in the 淡交社 publications.
• You can't just walk in there; instead, you need to make a reservation and order by phone. They pride themselves in making 干菓子 for 茶事, so it's best to say that you have so-and-so-many 茶事 planned with so-and-so-many guests.
• They don't have a catalogue of their sweets, and explained to me that knowing what sweets they have for which season comes naturally with being part of the tea world. (But all the 淡交社 pictures provide ample of reference material.)
• When I visited, I got their iconic 滝 and 青楓. They are not classical 落雁, but taste like they've mixed in some egg whites and flour, possibly 寒梅粉. The 滝 is quite sweet, but they are, indeed, very nice.

• ともなが.
• Wasn't on my list, but stopped by there by accident.
• They seem to have nice 干菓子, but their 名菓子 was coloured icing sugar coated あん, which really wasn't anything to write home about.

• Founded in 1803, 8^th generation in 2026
• Has it's own spring water which they say makes their 羊羹 etc. particularly tasty. It's a nice water, you can taste it next to the main shop.
• Quite innovative, they've come up with a popular some butter-あん toast sheet.
• Famous for the 烏羽玉(うばたま), little balls of こし餡 dipped in coloured 寒天. The name comes from the glossy black colour (akin to the crow). They go as far as making different types of this concept for every season, adding cacao.
• When I visited, their 練り切り where:
  • A very simple yet effectful「夏の空」, which was 白あん wrapped with a bit of blue ぼかし, some lines added with a 千筋板(せんすじ) and two birds added with royal icing. It was very nice, even though it was so simple (I probably would have added just a bit of lime or yuzu to give it some lift in the summer heat).
  • A very good clear one
  • I also had their 竹おり, which was very nice (obviously on account of their superb water 🤪)

• Guardian of 京都's old 和菓子. Friendly elderly man. I thought it was quite a sleepy affair, but their 朝顔 干菓子 I absolutely love.
• I had a 錦玉羹 called「琥珀羹(こはく)」, which I really didn't appreciate, but which represents a very old style summer sweet that this shop preserves.
• Lots of famous 干菓子, such as the morning glory and the 表千家好み of the moon seen through the reeds. The former are made from what seems to be a egg white-ish shell filled with some slightly acidic sugar; akin to the silver 若鮎 from 俵屋.
• Also, their instant ぜんざい is quite fun and surprisingly tasty.

• Relatively new (1908), close to 北野, very nice neighborhood.
• One of their 練り切り was filled with さらし餡, which made it feel very elegant.
• Since they consider quite courtly, one of their famous 干菓子 is the 「御所車(ごしょくるま)」. It's an あん-filled らくがん, quite tasty, again with their quite subtle あん.

• Read しおよしけん, founded in 1882.
• Famous sweet is their 聚楽(じゅらく) sweet named after 豊臣秀吉's palace. I found it quite average, it's baked, yet tastes less elegant than a modern 桃山.
• Understated style quite suitable to tea.

• They are very famous, as is their Tiffany blue packaging. They are quite friendly, all Sprüngli-like with just women working the store.
• However, I found their store a bit uninspired. Some 煎餅, some どら焼き…
• As for 生菓子, at that time they had:
  • a 求肥 wrapped, purple coloured 葛 called 「夜の空」. It was too much of chewy textures, I would've prefered it with some さらし餡.
  • Clear 葛もち with just a few beans in it wrapped in 笹. That was a nice touch, since the bamboo leaves gave it a bit of fragrance. The little label was also quite cute since the string was the labels paper itself, just twisted. Not too sweet at 35° Brix.

• たわら　すえとみ.
• Famous for their 雲龍 sweet, which they make in white and black. I found that very underwhelming, just an unrefined blob of あん wrapped in some dough.
• They also had a ginger-filled 鮎 that looked very pretty, but was not very tasty or satisfying to eat (especially when compared to the real deal).
• They are quite close to the 裏千家 complex.
• Elegantly simple 練り切り, we had their 祇園祭 and 草の露. For the former, we were impressed with the two layers being precisely the same thickness; for the latter the subtle 暈し was quite effective.

Of course, you have 虎屋 here, but 山本や deserves to be mentioned for their 長命寺(ちょうめいじ) 桜もち.

• October: Sprüngli starts carrying the Quittenknoten
• November (middle): Schwarzenbach starts with the candied Angelica!