TeaChat

I've just received a new teapot from Den's, the $19 Kokoro (one of three $19 pots they sell currently with similar, but not identical specifications).

I don't know of anyone else who has one of these economy pots, but it seemed safe enough to take this one for the team.

It's a handsome little pot, as seen in this "fresh from the box" footage.

It pours just fine, as seen in this rare "first cup of tea from a new pot" footage.

Initial impression?

If you're looking for a sencha-friendly teapot that passes cost-benefit analysis, you could certainly do worse.

My wussy phone cam once again fails to do justice to a gorgeous cup of sencha, but whatcha gonna do?

That's is quite a good lookin' pot you got there, Padre! I really like the glaze color.

Congrats on your new kyuusu!
I was considering getting one of those glazed pots myself. Then I decided to get the Premium Sencha Teapot because it is smaller and I like sasame filters. To my surprise it ended up being glazed too.
Enjoy your new pot, I'm enjoying mine right now.

I looked mighty hard at that one.

In the end, I stuck to my budget. One of the reasons I was able to do this was the fact that we couldn't find anyone who had tried one of the $19 pots.

People pop into chat asking about cost-effective teapot suggestions, and eyes gravitate toward the $19 pots, but nobody could give a hands-down endorsement.

JT wrote:Congrats on your new kyuusu!
I was considering getting one of those glazed pots myself. Then I decided to get the Premium Sencha Teapot because it is smaller and I like sasame filters. To my surprise it ended up being glazed too.
Enjoy your new pot, I'm enjoying mine right now.

Is that really glazed, JT. Some of the finer tokoname clays can have a slight glow to them due to the ultra fineness of the clay.

I considered this one, but the little blue guy on the side of the pot kinda freaked me out. But it looks like an awsome kyusu. Bamboo Forest has this one, I willl have to ask him about it.

Padre, do they say where it is made? I wonder if it is made in China, but Chajin sells a lot of inexpensive kyusu pretty cheap too, and they are made in Japan out of a stoneware ceramic material I think. Regardless, it is a great kyusu for the money!!!

Nice. I may have to get one of those to brew houjicha.

To be completely honest, I plan to order at least one more when I re-up on tea soon.

One for the office, one for home, and maybe one more to leave at a place I frequent just for convenience.

Beats hauling around gear and breaking it getting out of the car.

The Premium Sencha Teapot is glazed. When I got it there was some discoloration under the rim and on the bottom of the lid. So I called and talked to Den about it. He confirmed that it is glazed and apologized that it wasn't listed that way. The discoloration was because the natural clay was showing through due to lack of glaze.
I had some reservations about buying it because of the little blue dude on the side. I would have preferred a pure white pot but they are hard to find. So i went for it. Glad I did. It pours great, easy to clean and since it's glazed I can brew different greens and whites.

JT wrote:the little blue dude on the side.

Is it actually a dude? It looks more like a kanji (or whatever they call them) character like the one on top. The character looks cool to me. I can't really see the side in the photo at Den's site. What, are you guys psychic? or you just have amazing peripheral vision?

padre wrote:One for the office, one for home

The simple brilliance of this statement astounds me. This would make an excellent work pot. It's attractive, has simple lines, is incredibly functional, and cheap enough to be effectively replaceable should it decide to go "a-wandering" as so many work things tend to do.

I think I'll put one on my list too.

Oh, and is the interior glazed?

I *believe* it's got a glazed interior. It's not ultra-shiny inside, but feels slick enough.

Dang you! I want the Yutori or the So-an. I didn't need to see this.

Salsero wrote:

JT wrote:the little blue dude on the side.

Is it actually a dude? It looks more like a kanji (or whatever they call them) character like the one on top. The character looks cool to me. I can't really see the side in the photo at Den's site. What, are you guys psychic? or you just have amazing peripheral vision?

Everyone got scared of the dude on the pot, so they deleted that pic. Or maybe I am all seeing and knowing as you claim. Or can we bend space???

Yes, I agree, those inexpensive kyusu would be kyusu enough and cheap enough to get several and leave them at frequented locations!!!

Aww man.. I would have jumped all over this, but it appears it's out of stock

Salsero wrote:

JT wrote:the little blue dude on the side.

Is it actually a dude? It looks more like a kanji (or whatever they call them) character like the one on top. The character looks cool to me. I can't really see the side in the photo at Den's site. What, are you guys psychic? or you just have amazing peripheral vision?

The little dude is Denchan, their mascot. He's a little kid sitting holding a cup of tea. You can see it if you zoom in on the pic or look at the Yuzamashi for a better view.

I'm resisting the urge to get get one of those $19 pots. Must resist...already have another kyusu on the way and I'm considering getting a few Tokoname pieces from artistic nippon as well. Then there are those yixing pots I've been looking at.