I think I need a new tea pot.
I've been using a little Ingenuitea ever since my first-ever, cheap, cute, round tea pot shattered on the floor about six months ago. Now, the Ingenuitea's great, and it's been completely reliable, but lately I feel that I need at least an alternative pot. One that isn't clear. For some reason, on those days when I just need a nice, favorite tea to make everything better, preparing the tea in my Ingeuitea just doesn't feel as good as it used to with my round little pot.
I think watching the leaves unfurl in clear vessels is really cool, but somehow I just feel really comfortable and satisfied with rounded, fat tea pots in bright colors instead. I've got my eye on a red kyusu pot now.
So I want to know who else has a tea pot "type." What's your favorite kind of tea pot, and what about it appeals to you most?
Jul 16th, '06, 00:50
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hop_goblin
Tea pot
I only use yixing.. Can't make myself use any other. However, I do use a Gaiwan for green, white, yellow and flavored teas.
Yixing teapots are nice, but they are not for green tea being as the yixing clay retains heat too well, so it's not a good idea to use long jing in a yixing pot... a gaiwan is a great way for brewing that tea though, yixing teapots are good for blacks, oolongs, and pu-erhs.TeaFanatic wrote:I only have an ingenuitea at the current time, but in the near future, I really want to get a yixing tea pot for long jing and then a gaiwan after I get a yixing.
"It is never too late to be what you might have been." - George Eliot
Jul 17th, '06, 09:09
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klemptor
I use my People's Pot more often than any of my other teapots. I like the mesh brew basket it came with (now it comes with a stainless steel one, but you can still buy the nylon mesh ones). It's easy to just remove the infuser and rinse it out, and it makes about three cups of tea. I just throw the teapot in the dishwasher when I'm done. I have separate infusers for black tea, green tea, and white tea.
I also like my 32oz ingenuiTEA, but only if I'm serving all of the tea at once. I don't like having to transfer the tea from the ingenuiTEA into another vessel just to prevent overbrewing - why dirty two teapots if you don't have to?
I also like my 32oz ingenuiTEA, but only if I'm serving all of the tea at once. I don't like having to transfer the tea from the ingenuiTEA into another vessel just to prevent overbrewing - why dirty two teapots if you don't have to?
I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form.
Thanks Rabbit, I did not know that. I will use a yixing for one of my favorite oolongs then, and I will purchase a gaiwan for my greens.rabbit wrote:Yixing teapots are nice, but they are not for green tea being as the yixing clay retains heat too well, so it's not a good idea to use long jing in a yixing pot... a gaiwan is a great way for brewing that tea though, yixing teapots are good for blacks, oolongs, and pu-erhs.
"Make tea not war"
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Sippy,
Even though I use my IngenuiTea every day because it's so quick and handy, I still have to admit that I, too, really enjoy using a ceramic teapot.
I have lots of them in all sorts of colors and shapes and conditions.
My favorite is a beautiful old Blue Willow pattern made by Sadler, footed base with a gracefully rounded body that tapers toward the top, and lovely swirls from base to lid. It's my favorite for seveal reasons -- a gift from my parents many years ago, I've always loved the Blue Willow pattern -- but mostly because it's pretty and makes me feel special.
And after all, shouldn't a cup of tea help us feel special?
Even though I use my IngenuiTea every day because it's so quick and handy, I still have to admit that I, too, really enjoy using a ceramic teapot.
I have lots of them in all sorts of colors and shapes and conditions.
My favorite is a beautiful old Blue Willow pattern made by Sadler, footed base with a gracefully rounded body that tapers toward the top, and lovely swirls from base to lid. It's my favorite for seveal reasons -- a gift from my parents many years ago, I've always loved the Blue Willow pattern -- but mostly because it's pretty and makes me feel special.
And after all, shouldn't a cup of tea help us feel special?
"Top off the tea... it lubricates the grey matter."
(Jerry Ledbetter, "Good Neighbors")
(Jerry Ledbetter, "Good Neighbors")
I have a Teavana Easy Tea Steeper (similar to Adagio's Ingenuitea) when I want 1-1.5 cups of tea, like at night. I absolutely love my Chatsford 4 cup teapot with mesh infuser. I use it when I know I'm going to drink more tea, or if my daughter is going to have tea also.
I initially bought a Jenaer glass teapot, but I'm not crazy about the infuser or the teapot's ability to retain heat. The infuser is also glass and has little slits carved into the bottom to let the liquid infuse through. Little bits of tea sometimes clog the slits and make pouring water through it a bit slow. I think the mesh filters infuse into the surrounding water better, in my opinion. The cool thing about it is watching the tea leaves unfurl. I really don't use it much. I would use it more if I had company over and was infusing a "pretty" tea or the flower ball teas.
I initially bought a Jenaer glass teapot, but I'm not crazy about the infuser or the teapot's ability to retain heat. The infuser is also glass and has little slits carved into the bottom to let the liquid infuse through. Little bits of tea sometimes clog the slits and make pouring water through it a bit slow. I think the mesh filters infuse into the surrounding water better, in my opinion. The cool thing about it is watching the tea leaves unfurl. I really don't use it much. I would use it more if I had company over and was infusing a "pretty" tea or the flower ball teas.
Aug 6th, '06, 08:25
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Proinsias
I have a new teeny tiny yixing pot. I'm thinking of using this for pu erh as I've been switching between gaiwan and 500ml fake yixing pot, none of these are keeping me very happy, although the gaiwan is giving slightly better results.
The question is how restricted should I be? Is it going to make much difference if I use the pot for cooked and raw, young and old. The raw pu erh was by far my favourite but I was sent a 2001 cooked sample from jingteashop.com with my last order and was pleasantly surprised, so surprised that I would like to explore the cooked pu-erh further.
The pot is on the boil right now and will probably have some raw pu erh in it this evening. I've had it for four weeks debating over what tea to use it for and trying to decide just how anal I want to be about this whole affair - and they say tea drinking is relaxing!
The question is how restricted should I be? Is it going to make much difference if I use the pot for cooked and raw, young and old. The raw pu erh was by far my favourite but I was sent a 2001 cooked sample from jingteashop.com with my last order and was pleasantly surprised, so surprised that I would like to explore the cooked pu-erh further.
The pot is on the boil right now and will probably have some raw pu erh in it this evening. I've had it for four weeks debating over what tea to use it for and trying to decide just how anal I want to be about this whole affair - and they say tea drinking is relaxing!