Fanatical TeaDay Wednesday 6/23/10 Teacup requirements!

[jazz88]

I said: size and texture/touch. As s rather petit person I prefer larger cups.
I used to drink my tea from tall, modern Swedish glass + metal cups but then my husband broke one and my daughter the remaining two cups so now I use this: http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/glas ... -in-basket
Only when I bought my cup/glass they were available individually, $5 each so even if it breaks - no big deal.
I think I'm going to make Spring Darjeeling (Adagio) in a minute.

[brian]

I chose Shape, because I thought that best expressed the general feel of the cup in my hand. I think for me it's mostly shape and weight. I have cups with different textures, and appreciate them all. I do prefer a white/light interior, but one of my favs is darker. For me, if the cup just feels nice in my hand, it'll find a use. My cups seem to develop a favored context; the darker cup I mentioned earlier, rough stoneware with wood-ash glaze, is used almost exclusively in the evening, for houjicha. It'll work fine for other teas, but this just seems to be its intended role in my tea life. An informal (but beautiful), comfortable yunomi for an easy and relaxing cup.

Tea day started with OTTI shincha, as it did yesterday and probably will for a few more days. Maiko Kinari this morning, yum!

[Victoria]

2010 AliShan from Camellia Sinensis in my work cup this afternoon.
Favorite work cups rotate with my mood, but this hand painted
Japanese Seto cup has been in use for many months. And larger
than many of my usual cups. Yeah, not only do I cross brew,
but I cross drink!

[nickE]

First tea today was the last of the Yutaka Midori Classic from the Shincha OTTI. Quite good today.

Next was the Adagio Master's AliShan, also from OTTI. Not sure what I think about this one yet, need another session to be sure. So far it's alright.

Time for some studying, then shupu!

[Dreamer]

Ok, I cheated on the poll...I picked "size" first. Black tea goes in bigger cups; everything else in smaller cups. Then (here's the cheat) I picked "style", because I decided that includes everything else! I chose cups based on all kinds of ever-changing whims...If it is cold I want a bigger cup with a good hand feel to warm my hands. If it is sunny I may used the glass cups with the bubbles in them since they catch the light so welI. If it is later in the day I may use a cup with a darker interior because somehow to me that is warmer. With a new tea I want a cup with a white interior. With a black tea with a color I particularly enjoy I'll go for a white interior. With a nice "murky" fuka green, I LOVE my little blue hagi cup (from a TC Special Offer). Sometimes I pick what cup to use for my morning black tea by how the handle feels. This is just a partial list...and the decision gets made in a split second...almost as fast as if I picked at random!

Busy day today so the only good tea I had was Nilgiri Glendale.

Happy sipping, All,
Dreamer

[Skippyandjif]

This afternoon, I had some green tea with lotus petals in a standard mug (circular lip, white interior). Right now, however, I'm drinking a chrysanthmum tisane from one of my favorite cups-- it has a flared lip and grooves in the outside, and it's white on the inside. It also has strawberries on the front.

So... It satisifies my two top criteria, interesting style and light/white interior.

[LauraW]

Hm, hard to say. I like different things about each piece of teaware that I have. Unfortunately, price is the biggest factor for now, and after that, probably material, shape, along those lines. But that being said, it's not a particular material or shape or form that appeals to me - I enjoy the yunomi I have, my lonely gaiwan, English-style plain white teacups, my turquoise beauties from SplitFire which fit wonderfully in my hands, my bowls that match nothing but have beautiful color, and a couple big mugs just to round things out I think you see the trend... or lack thereof.

Snowbud all day at work, with a cup of MF Marco Polo along with dinner - though it got a little cold because I was trying two new recipes for dinner, one of which didn't turn out so well, but I know how to fix it!

[Chip]

Great TD ... well if not now, when?

Next up was genmai with sushi and sashimi followed by Shincha Sencha from Maiko with the Mrs.

Oh, great cups today. Used the first hagi I ever bought all day!

[Seeker]

Voted size and color, but 2 selections wasn't enough.
It's really a combination of several characteristics, additional ones being material, feel, shape, overall look/esthetic, heft.

A bit earlier had a mix of moonlight white and Yunnan cube puerh to accompany a bite of Vosges chocolate.

Think I'll taste an OTTI white in a bit here.

Cheers.