cup or bowl to taste?

Owes its flavors to oxidation levels between green & black tea.


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Sep 22nd, '17, 16:11
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cup or bowl to taste?

by LAC » Sep 22nd, '17, 16:11

Hello,

I try to decide for a cup or bowl to taste
oolong-puher; I have my special cup for me
is from a Japanese potter (SATOKO SUZUKI)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/1y8wneomqk3e2 ... 1.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9wpui1dwgty7a ... 2.jpg?dl=0

Is it better ceramic, clay, crystal?
And where can I get one, my choice is for personal use.
Some photograph of your cup or special bowl can show.

Always grateful for your advice.
Lluis Abad

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Sep 22nd, '17, 16:30
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Re: cup or bowl to taste?

by pedant » Sep 22nd, '17, 16:30

it's hard to give universal recommendations for cup material.

but generally if you want a more neutral effect and want to preserve the top notes of the aromatics: glass or glassy glazes (like porcelain) are a safe choice

other materials are good too, but they may or may not play well with a particular tea and your personal tastes. try different things and compare.

i recently got some cups and gaiwans from here, take a look if you wish:
http://www.mudandleaves.com/store/c13/J ... elain.html
it's kind of pricey, but they do have some pretty nice jingdezhen porcelain

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Sep 22nd, '17, 17:11
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Re: cup or bowl to taste?

by victoria3 » Sep 22nd, '17, 17:11

I go for extremes in cup choice, a very thin, very light weight porcelain Seifu Yohei III cup, and then a robust sculptural chiseled Akira Satake yunomi. I love using both every day with my morning oolongs. The thicker walled Akira cup absorbs heat really well and its shape funnels aromatics perfectly. The Seifu white porcelain cups are perfect for all types of tea so I use them also for our tea tastings here in Los Angeles. They are a perfect shape and proportion to sip from. I collect Canton blue and white 1800 porcelain cups and have a few special Japanese porcelain cups like this 200 year old one with Mount Fuji.

Here is Seifu Yohei cup
IMG_2268.JPG
IMG_2268.JPG (252.19 KiB) Viewed 1366 times

Akira Satake yunomi
Akira Satake Yunomi IMG_5854_sm.jpg
Akira Satake Yunomi IMG_5854_sm.jpg (196.79 KiB) Viewed 1366 times

& Bunka era Mount Fuji porcelain
File Apr 18, 12 25 00 PM.jpeg
File Apr 18, 12 25 00 PM.jpeg (111.59 KiB) Viewed 1366 times

Sep 22nd, '17, 17:45

Re: cup or bowl to taste?

by Steve@Adagio » Sep 22nd, '17, 17:45

victoria3 wrote: I go for extremes in cup choice, a very thin, very light weight porcelain Seifu Yohei III cup, and then a robust sculptural chiseled Akira Satake yunomi. I love using both every day with my morning oolongs. The thicker walled Akira cup absorbs heat really well and its shape funnels aromatics perfectly. The Seifu white porcelain cups are perfect for all types of tea so I use them also for our tea tastings here in Los Angeles. They are a perfect shape and proportion to sip from. I collect Canton blue and white 1800 porcelain cups and have a few special Japanese porcelain cups like this 200 year old one with Mount Fuji.

Here is Seifu Yohei cup
IMG_2268.JPG


Akira Satake yunomi
Akira Satake Yunomi IMG_5854_sm.jpg


& Bunka era Mount Fuji porcelain
File Apr 18, 12 25 00 PM.jpeg
Personally, I prefer earthenware bowls for tea. There is no real taste difference, but it is something I picked up with my background in archaeology. Redware is the preferred choice, reproduction of course.

Sep 22nd, '17, 19:29
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Re: cup or bowl to taste?

by LouPepe » Sep 22nd, '17, 19:29

For me, drinking oolong and puerh, there is what I call the big 3. Porcelain, Celadon, Tenmoku. Preferably smaller cups, thin, small base flaring out to rim. Drinking gongfu style they are what feel best to me. Nice plain, thin, old (or new) porcelain cups are a must have. The old cups go so well with yixing and give an antique/wabi feel to the tea session. Celadon with an opaque/velvety/satin finish and crackly glaze, preferably on a porcelain or thin stoneware base. The beautiful natural green, gray, blue colors lend a soothing feel. And Tenmoku, last and trickiest to choose. Most mass market chinese jian zhan are thick glaze on thick clay body and quite heavy, a bit too thick for my taste. I have to go japanese tenmoku to find thin enough for my preference. Kamada Koji is a dream but there are other more affordable options. Dazzle and behold the landscape in your hand and you will know why many shoguns and monks alike once preferred this old glaze style.

I do have some traditional Japanese kiln cups that I use occasionally. I adore shino, kiseto, iga, shiga, bizen.. they are magical. But for oolong and puerh, they feel better as a casual rotation item. Now if it's matcha (or any Japanese tea) or sake, that is a good fit.

Sep 22nd, '17, 21:28
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Re: cup or bowl to taste?

by Bok » Sep 22nd, '17, 21:28

Steve@Adagio wrote:
Personally, I prefer earthenware bowls for tea. There is no real taste difference, but it is something I picked up with my background in archaeology. Redware is the preferred choice, reproduction of course.
Depending on the clay and glazing there can actually be a very big taste difference! So I'd be careful with the earthenware I pick, some can make the teas horrible. Especially some of the western potteries are not made for hot drinks.

Porcelain is the safest choice.
Glass is ok but can be a bit bland.
Metals are usually not ideal either.

As for teapots, shape is actually quite an important factor as well...

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Sep 24th, '17, 11:49
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Re: cup or bowl to taste?

by LAC » Sep 24th, '17, 11:49

Thanks for the feedback
and for the contribution of so pretty
cups and bowls.

Lluis Abad

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Sep 24th, '17, 19:13
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Re: cup or bowl to taste?

by debunix » Sep 24th, '17, 19:13

For a comparison tasting like this one, I pull out the matched sets of porcelain gaiwans and use some for brewing and some for drinking.

For tasting a single tea, first time, always a fully glazed interior cup.

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