What is people’s opinion on glass for teaware?
From what I understand so far, as brewing vessels, glass seems to perform less well than porcelain or clay.
Not sure of the scientific reasons, but the consensus seems to tend that way.
I can attest from my personal experience that drinking from a glass cup flattens the taste a lot – unless it is cold tea!
Recently, I am seeing a lot of glassware used in Chaxis in Taiwan, a recent trend which is boiling over from Japan. Lots of very nice, at times paper thin glassware to be had there. Seems to overtake the previous wabi-sabi-rough-clay trend before it.
As I was looking for a good match for my antique cups, I was looking at glass chahai options.
Pitchers were not really used in ancient times, which is why I won’t find a qing dynasty tea pitcher as it simply does not exist. Glass would be easier to combine than a modern glaze.
Thoughts? Suggestions?
P.S. another big downfall of glass is that it is a b… to keep clean, unless one uses a dishwasher, rusty brown patina is inevitable over time and makes the teaware look shabby…
Re: Use of glass for teaware
I have a glass Hario pot I use for green tea--works fine. I also use a glass cha hai every day. If you wanna get glass sparkling clean again, you can use some alcohol and a test tube brush. It'll clean up very quickly indeed. You can add salt as an abrasive if you want. It'll be as good as new after a little scrubbing.
Mar 25th, '16, 10:21
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debunix
Re: Use of glass for teaware
I enjoy the use of glass cups on occasion, as well as brewing up in glass pots (mostly for herbal teas because my glass teapot is quite large), and I share tea up and down the hall with a glass pitcher. Most of my glassware does go into the dishwasher because it's easier, but the glass pitcher at work gets a rub with baking soda occasionally to keep it's sparkle.
Compared to glazed ceramic, brewing in it or drinking from it is very similar, and I would not consider it a lesser brewing material. It's mostly a matter of prefering an artisan ceramic over a the mass produced glasswares that are most easily found (and affordable). I still hope to find a fine glass gaiwan one day without any business's name painted or etched upon it.
Compared to glazed ceramic, brewing in it or drinking from it is very similar, and I would not consider it a lesser brewing material. It's mostly a matter of prefering an artisan ceramic over a the mass produced glasswares that are most easily found (and affordable). I still hope to find a fine glass gaiwan one day without any business's name painted or etched upon it.
Re: Use of glass for teaware
Thanks for your input guys!
Debunix, did you have a look at Taobao?
http://ai.taobao.com/cp/uFrXuuVluuD6urVs.html
Some nice ones there!
Debunix, did you have a look at Taobao?
http://ai.taobao.com/cp/uFrXuuVluuD6urVs.html
Some nice ones there!
Re: Use of glass for teaware
Glass is one of my favorite materials for a chahai. It makes it easy to see the color of the tea, which can't be seen in a yixing pot and sometimes can't be seen in the cups (for example if I'm using celadon or cups other than porcelain/glass). It's easy to match it to different choices of brewing vessels and cups (fits yixing as well as porcelain and celadon).
With respect to other teaware, I personally don't like glass gaiwan. Glass cups are ok, I find that I end up using the porcelain and celadon ones more frequently though.
With respect to other teaware, I personally don't like glass gaiwan. Glass cups are ok, I find that I end up using the porcelain and celadon ones more frequently though.
Mar 25th, '16, 15:35
Posts: 5896
Joined: Jan 10th, '10, 16:04
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Contact:
debunix
Re: Use of glass for teaware
I've never ordered off Taobao....but some of those do look very nice. I've bought at least one glass gaiwan online that turned out to be disappointing for reasons that I couldn't tell until it was in my hand--the clarity and fineness of the glass aren't so easy to distinguish well in a photo.
Use of glass for teaware
Thank you for the reply. That is actually why I was asking, because he didnt have information. This is my first test of the Forum as a resource Holly in Michigan, USA