Please help me resolve a confusing debate. My boyfriend is staying in China for three months and he has bought several of what are clearly identifiable as tea sets. There is another that he bought for me recently as a gift and we can't quite tell what it is. Please forgive my ignorance, but until we started looking at tea sets during my visit a few weeks ago, we didn't know the first thing about tea. I would say we still don't! Unfortunately, he bought this after came back home so I have only seen the pictures.
The middle piece looks to me like this would be a sake set instead of a tea set. Also, there is no handle on what appears to be the pot. The pot does not have a strainer, which makes me doubtful that it is for tea.
On the other hand, my boyfriend's theory is that the loose tea goes into the tall middle piece, and that hot water from the pot is poured into it. Then one should pour carefully out of the middle "serving" piece into the cup.
Another interesting feature is that the pieces all fit inside one another, possibly for storage. The tall thin piece fits inside the pot, balancing on the lip. The cup rests upside down on top.
So, the question is, does anybody have any idea what this is? If it's a tea set, do you know what kind and how we would use it? If it's a sake set, do you know how we would use it?
Thanks so much for all of your expertise!
Cynthia
