Keith Ti3910 Titanium Gaiwan Tea Set changes taste of tea?

[roygbiv]

Dear friends, dear community,

Today arrived a Keith Ti3910 Titanium tea set, complete with double wall gaiwan, 3 double wall 40ml tea cups, double wall pouring pitcher and filter cone.

Up to this point in time, I primarily brew all my teas in clay teapots. I notice that the brews from the titanium are what I perceive to be a little flat. It is by no means bad, just different. I think it benefits toning down the very green puerh tea.

Do you go for this gaiwan taste over Yixing brewing? I assume that glazed ceramic gaiwan said also have a similar taste profile, but do not have one.

It was $213, shipping to USA, direct from Keith. I was able to make a custom request that the set be free of their logos and they were very prompt, kind, and helpful.

I am about to travel internationally for some time, tea set in hand.

Thank you.

[wyardley]

I have no experience with titanium teaware, but I find in a lot of cases, glazed porcelain gaiwans will perform well with most teas (vs stoneware). In many cases, I prefer the outcome with glazed porcelain, though it's a matter of personal preference.

The metal teaware is obviously less likely to break, but if weight isn't a concern, you may get more mileage out of a cheapie porcelain set. I have brought some nicer porcelain on most of my trips (in the travel case that came with a cheaper set), and have mostly had good luck, though did lose a couple of nice tea cups recently).

I think metal will feel different in the mouth and give a different experience, whether or not it colors the taste differently from porcelain, but I am guessing not many on this board have experience, as this set is quite expensive, and there aren't a lot of titanium teawares out there.

While traveling, access to good tasting water may be more of an issue to tea brewing than your teaware.

[Evan Draper]

Photos appreciated.

[pedant]

it appears to be a ~$200-$300+ camping set..





hmm
interesting

[mcrdotcom]

Personally, I wouldn't put my tea anywhere near transition metals. I wouldn't be overly familiar with titanium and tea in general, but I've only ever found metals (stainless steel at least) have a negative effect on taste. Who knows what the surface of the metal is doing to the molecules in the tea, and of course nobody wants a metallic taste.

But, you say it seems to be good at toning down a tea, so perhaps just pairing it with young sheng and the likes would actually be beneficial

[.m.]

Personally, I wouldn't put my tea anywhere near transition metals. I wouldn't be overly familiar with titanium and tea in general, but I've only ever found metals (stainless steel at least) have a negative effect on taste. Who knows what the surface of the metal is doing to the molecules in the tea, and of course nobody wants a metallic taste.

That was also my thinking... Except i would just love to have a sterling silver set. But then, it might not be too practical as a gaiwan or teacups cause it could get pretty hot...
Some say pure tin is fine too. So in the end i do wonder what is the effect of titanium? (... not that i would really want it.)
And how is it with heat? Is it ok for fingers to hold it?

[debunix]

I've only ever found metals (stainless steel at least) have a negative effect on taste.

Iron tea kettles seem to be valued for their effect on water.

And how is it with heat? Is it ok for fingers to hold it?

It was described as a double-walled set.

[ethan]

I may need to apologize later, but this thread seems to be mainly mischief, which has become somewhat common here lately. Some other recent posts put on TeaChat by people who have not participated much or at all have been a bit provocative & against the grain of the forum. E.g., proclaiming supermarket teabags are great or asking overly vague or open questions.

[pedant]

the trolling kind of amuses me (good thing i'm not running things).
i just assume that every new member is a troll... yeah, i realize i'm a new member.

[Drax]

Personally, I wouldn't put my tea anywhere near transition metals.

Titanium being a transition metal is an odd reason to single it out. After all, silver is a transition metal (along with gold and platinum) -- and I wouldn't be overly concerned about those metals' impacts on tea. Or at least, much less than I would be concerned about all the iron that is in a lot of the clay of teapots.

So unless if you have any experience with titanium in preparation of food or tea, I'd say that your speculation is probably ill informed.

In fact, given that titanium tends to form a very hard (and unreactive) oxide on its surface, a titanium brewing vessel is probably quite inert.

[.m.]

It was described as a double-walled set.

Well, that's cool. I missed that point, thanks.

I notice that the brews from the titanium are what I perceive to be a little flat.

Perhaps the set might season a little bit with use, when it gets coated with tea?

[bonescwa]

It just seems like one of those things where just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

[mcrdotcom]

So unless if you have any experience with titanium in preparation of food or tea, I'd say that your speculation is probably ill informed.

Well I just mean I wouldn't spend money on it for fear of it having negative effects based on my experiences with other metals. I would be more likely to use metal to boil water, than to steep tea, this is a personal preference from my experience with other metals.

As it seemed like nobody with experience with titatium teaware was replying I thought I would offer my experience with other metals.

As for the transition metals thing, this isn't a philosophy I live by, obviously iron is used all the time in tea prep, and personally I would only use it in water preparation. Just my preference.

Iron tea kettles seem to be valued for their effect on water.

Yes as I said above in this reply, I would use metals with water but I just don't enjoy steeping tea in metals. Which I think is a fair comment based on my personal experience growing up steeping tea in metal teapots.

EDIT: When I say "steeping tea in metals" I mean a purely metallic vessel. Clay obviously has metal content, but it doesn't lend a metallic taste and I enjoy it compared to iron. Also, on reading my reply it seemed a little snarky or something, no passive agressiveness intended or anything, hope it doesn't come across that way!!