TeaChat

They look good to me. I'd be happy with those . Size wise is good for me as well. I mostly drink green and whites 90% of the time these days.

They are like the same studio as the painted gaiwans they sell

http://www.redblossomtea.com/teaware/ga ... ossom.html

Which again shows the difference in price quite well, and is basically the same as the plain ones I got Jerry to have made for me. $25 vs $100+

GARCH wrote:Well since we're on this topic, anyone knows where I can get a nice and small eggshell porcelain gaiwan? Volume range somewhere around 80ml to the brim? I've been looking high and low for them but can't seem to find any that small and with thin porcelain

So far I only managed to find one at Teahabitat and a mini qingbai gaiwan from Teamasters. Anyone knows if Stephane's gaiwan uses thin porcelain?

Hi Garch,

I have Stephane's gaiwan. It's quoted as 85ml, maybe 60ml usable. It's become my go to for solo brewing. Elegant feel. Maybe not the thinest gaiwan I have, but also not the thickest.

Best,
iGo

iGo wrote: Hi Garch,

I have Stephane's gaiwan. It's quoted as 85ml, maybe 60ml usable. It's become my go to for solo brewing. Elegant feel. Maybe not the thinest gaiwan I have, but also not the thickest.

Best,
iGo

Thank you iGo! If I really can't find anything else I will definitely try the mini gaiwan from Stephane

For proper gaiwan usage you really need to fill them to the top.

edkrueger wrote:For proper gaiwan usage you really need to fill them to the top.

To the rim or to practical fill to where the lid rests on the cup?

This is how I was taught. Has always worked for me.

http://teaguardian.com/how-to-make-tea/ ... tea-2.html

Chip wrote:

edkrueger wrote:For proper gaiwan usage you really need to fill them to the top.

To the rim or to practical fill to where the lid rests on the cup?

It depends on how careful I am being. If I am being careful I fill all the way to the rim and tip the excess into the saucer before pouring. (This is part of the reason that I think gaiwan with itty bitty saucers aren't the best, but its irrelevant if you have a place or teaboat to put the gaiwan on.) If I'm being casual, I just fill so its at the lid, but the tea isn't as good this way.

Thank you Noensis.

I will check more of the site/video out in a bit. Busy weighing oodles of beautiful NOTTI sencha at the moment!

[EDIT, was posting when Ed was posting] Thanks Ed. I never really thought about this too much, just filled it up to the lid ...

This is a good video, Chip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_x8hOPj0ziA

Careless tea tastes careless

I have been learning that the quality of the porcelain makes a huge difference in the taste, smoothness of the tea. I've side by side tested the cheapest white gaiwans alongside better quality ones and the difference is immediately apparent. Equally, if not more so, the cup and believe it or not, the saucer. I've got this this saucer called a "magic leaf" which is a leaf shaped glazed something or other. When you place your teacup on this thing for ten seconds, you sometimes don't believe it's the same tea! I've also acquired a "black porcelain" teacup which seems like heavy stoneware with high fire "porcelain" glaze on top that I use for Yancha that has a remarkable effect on tea taste. (As does, of course, the water, the vessel the water it's heated in, the type of heat, e.g wood fire, charcoal, candle) And I must say, the differences are not subtle, but night and day. I've had tea in antique porcelain gaiwan-they're not called treasures for nothing.

I had an interesting session in a tea shop recently. The owner was saying using the right yixing pot can make your tea taste 150% of what it is, but using a gaiwan you are only getting 80% and less depending on the technique. He then did several things, like rolling the leaves in between steeps in the gaiwan and filling the gaiwan saucer with water. The resulting tea had a much stronger lingering sweetness on my tongue than previous rounds. Would have loved to learn more from this guy and experiment what he troed but he seldom makes tea these says as he said his sense of smell is fading. His wive makes most of the tea in the shop now but had to go out for a bit in the middle of the session which is why her husband took over.

hi there,

can some one throw in some information about
higher end GPS Ubloc8 which comes standard on the 3610ME model
is that something which comes with mk8 on cf 19s ?
does that come with cf 19 mk7 ?
does that come with cf 19 mk5 / mk 6 ?

ubloc8 /ublox8 ?

any kind of information about this will be highly appreciated.

thanks again for all the help from this forum
may god bless everyone who is sharing all that valid info

zesk wrote: I had an interesting session in a tea shop recently. The owner was saying using the right yixing pot can make your tea taste 150% of what it is, but using a gaiwan you are only getting 80% and less depending on the technique.

Gaiwans have their benefits as you'll taste purely the tea you're brewing. Yixing pots strengthens the tea, but you'll not be able to judge a tea as objectively as with gaiwans. I think this is a decent guide regarding this topic:
https://www.teasenz.com/chinese-tea/gai ... ixing.html

oldmanlaurence wrote: I have been learning that the quality of the porcelain makes a huge difference in the taste, smoothness of the tea. I've side by side tested the cheapest white gaiwans alongside better quality ones and the difference is immediately apparent.

What also can cause the difference is how well one gaiwan retains heat, relative to the other, resulting in a different brew. Generally speaking, porcelain quality should not affect the flavor of tea.