When Unique Tea Meets Beautiful Chair: A Fantastic Collaboration

What turns an ordinary moment into a memorable one? Is it the warmth of a freshly brewed cup of tea, the comfort of a favourite chair, or simply the opportunity to slow down for a while? Through the meeting of Japanese tea culture and Danish furniture craftsmanship at the ‘Nakagawa & Carl Hansen & Søn Breakfast Event’, the event invited visitors to reflect on the rituals that bring comfort to everyday lives.  In ‘When Unique Tea Meets Beautiful Chair: A Fantastic Collaboration‘, discover how two distinct worlds, Japanese tea culture and Danish furniture craftsmanship, come together for a unique event celebrating comfort, ritual and design. 

Summer Time

It is supposed to be summer, and yet outside, rain traces slow patterns against the windowpane, blurring the outline of the city beyond. The sky is a familiar shade of grey, the kind that lingers over Britain long after the forecast has promised sunshine. 

Rainy Day

Inside, however, time seems to move differently. A kettle whistles softly in the background. A cup of tea warms your hands. Nearby, the fireplace crackles gently, casting a golden glow across the room. You settle into your favourite chair, the one moulded over years of reading, thinking, and quiet afternoons spent listening to the rain. It is more than a piece of furniture; it is a place of comfort, a familiar refuge from the weather beyond the glass. 

Comfort Zone

In moments like these, the smallest rituals become meaningful. The choice of tea. The weight of the cup. The chair that supports you as you sink into a few uninterrupted minutes of stillness. It was this feeling, this appreciation for the everyday ritual of sitting, sipping, and slowing down, that formed the heart of the ‘Nakagawa & Carl Hansen & Son Breakfast Event’, where Japanese tea culture met Danish furniture design in an unexpectedly harmonious conversation about comfort, craftsmanship, and the spaces we inhabit. 

Bancha Tea

Hosted at the Carl Hansen & Søn’s London showroom, Nakagawa invited visitors to explore Japanese knowledge through one of its most everyday rituals: tea. The workshop centred around Bancha, a traditional Japanese green tea made from the mature leaves and stems harvested after the season’s earlier pickings. Long considered a tea for daily consumption, Bancha embodies a mindset that resonates strongly with Nakagawa’s vision of craft, one rooted not in rarity, but in the quiet value of everyday use. 

Sensory Experience

Guests were first introduced to three distinct varieties from Nara Prefecture: Aoyagi Bancha, noted for its fresh and clean aroma; Hoji Bancha, offering gentle sweetness and a rich roasted depth developed from tea trees aged between forty and fifty years; and Tenpi-Boshi Bancha, distinguished by its intense roast, lingering astringency and full-bodied character resulting from a traditional sun-drying process. The tasting unfolded as a sensory exercise. Three teapots circulated among guests, who were invited to identify each tea through aroma and flavour alone, guided only by a series of descriptions. The experience encouraged a slower form of attention, transforming an everyday act into an exercise in observation. 

Visitors were then invited to create their own personalised Bancha blend using a selection of natural ingredients, including Japanese Lemongrass, Rose Peppermint, organic roasted rice and pesticide-free Yuzu peel. The event concluded with an introduction to Hana Fukin, the traditional Nara textile from which Nakagawa’s history originates, before turning towards the furniture of Carl Hansen & Søn. While tea, textiles and furniture may appear unrelated at first glance, the event revealed a shared commitment to craftsmanship shaped by daily life. Bringing together Japanese and Danish traditions, Nakagawa and Carl Hansen & Søn demonstrated how objects bring meaning not through spectacle, but through repeated use and thoughtful making.

Both Nakagawa and Carl Hansen & Søn are rooted in an appreciation for the moments we often overlook: the comfort of a chair that welcomes you at the end of the day, the soft sound of rain beyond the glass, the gentle warmth rising from a freshly brewed cup of tea. Bancha belongs to the rhythm of everyday life. This philosophy can be traced back to the company’s origins in Nara, where for over three hundred years it has worked to support and preserve Japanese artisanal traditions.  

Tea occupies a special place within Nakagawa’s universe. Like the textiles, ceramics and household objects the company has championed for generations, it represents a form of craftsmanship designed not for display but for use.  

At its core, Nakagawa is less concerned with preserving objects than with preserving ways of seeing. The company upholds an approach to design that encourages attentiveness: to materials, to processes, and to the people whose hands shape them. Rather than viewing craft as a marker of luxury, Nakagawa presents it as a means of fostering connection, whether between maker and user, tradition and innovation, or object and environment. The result is a philosophy grounded not in consumption, but in appreciation, where value is measured through understanding, care and the relationships that objects help cultivate over time.

If Japanese tea culture brings ritual and precision to the act of drinking tea, Danish design translates a similar mindset into the objects that surround it. Carl Hansen & Søn has been one of the key names shaping Danish modernism since 1908, building its reputation on craftsmanship, natural materials and furniture designed to last both physically and emotionally.

That philosophy is present here without needing to be announced. It sits quietly in the room, in the grain of the wood, in the simplicity of the forms, in the way nothing feels excessive. Around the table, the furniture does not compete with the moment; it holds it together. Far from trend-driven design, the brand has built its identity on a consistent dialogue between craftsmanship and modern living. Its pieces are not created to stand out visually, but to endure, in homes, in public spaces, and in the everyday rituals they quietly support. It is this long-standing presence in the language of Scandinavian interiors that has made the brand a reference point in Danish design, where furniture is understood less as decoration and more as an essential part of how life is lived.

You sink slightly into the chair as you lift the cup again. The rain outside has not changed pace. The Wishbone Chair by Hans J. Wegner, created in 1949 and still produced today, supports the body with an ease that feels almost instinctive. Its curved backrest and handwoven seat are familiar in the way certain objects become familiar over time, not through attention, but through repetition. Wegner, who collaborated closely with Carl Hansen & Søn throughout his career, designed with a simple belief: that a chair should serve the person using it, first and foremost. In this moment, that idea is not explained; it is felt. The chair does not interrupt the ritual of tea and rain; it allows it to continue, quietly and naturally. 

In the end, the Nakagawa & Carl Hansen & Søn Breakfast Event was about more than tea or furniture. It offered a reflection on the rituals that quietly shape our everyday lives and the objects that become part of them over time. Though rooted in different traditions, both brands share a belief that craftsmanship finds its greatest value not in display, but in use. Through a cup of Bancha or a well-crafted chair, they remind us that comfort is often found in the moments we return to again and again.

Here was an overview of the collaboration between Nakagawa and Carl Hansen & Søn. To learn more, you can visit their website: ‘nakagawa1716‘ and ‘carlhansen‘

If you enjoyed reading the article ‘When Unique Tea Meets Beautiful Chair: A Fantastic Collaboration’, then why not read ‘London Craft Week 2026: Made With Love and Time‘

.Cent Magazine, London. Luxury Mindset