Inexpensive, small porcelain or glazed clay kyusu

[Cifer]

Hello everyone,

first off, here is what I am looking for:

- 100 ml to 180 ml usable volume (so about 130 to 200 max volume), the closer to 100 ml the better

- neutral material which doesn't alter taste or "store" the taste of other teas, so ideally porcelain or glazed clay (tokoname preferred)

- removable/replaceable stainless steel strainer; sasame might be acceptable if the kyusu is nice

- 50 euros max, including shipping, the cheaper the better; if it's sent from outside the EU, 19% import tax should be included in the price

- made in Japan

- ideally sold by a store in the EU

Please let me know of any kyusu which fulfill at least most of my requirements.

Secondly, I have two questions related to my search:

1. I found this ceramic kyusu selling separately for 50 euros which is an option:
https://hugthetea.com/en/product/theeservies/
Do stainless steel strainers like this one, which are essentially a removable cup strainer placed inside the pot, have a negative effect on the taste compared to steel panorama or spout strainers? I fear they might reduce the space the leaves have to expand, and I also don't know if the leaves mot touching the bottom of the pot would make a difference.

2. Is "chara", the thin layer of clay some clay kusu have and essentially a semi-glaze, nearly as good at making the teapot neutral and not prone to taking on the flavor of teas as a glaze, or would it be closer to an unglazed pot and not good for my purpose?

Thanks a lot!

[pamattey]

Something truly good at that price and including extra costs is extremely difficult to find in my opinion.
I'm not very fond of kyusuu teapots and there's probably good options out there, but because of that reason, i don't have something for you based on your specifications..
But from what I've seen, and my three porcelain teapots (and others I've regretted to buy and later thrashed) I'm not aware of any better option than this:
https://www.taiwanteacrafts.com/product ... ume=125-ml
Sure, both dehua and jingdezhen offer better porcelain , but i haven't found a better built porcelain teapot than this taiwanese classic. I've had it for about two years and it's still my best porcelain teapot.