Is there a guide or thread discussing which kind of tea goes with what teaware? Inquiring minds want to know!
Which Teaware?
Okay, I'm sure this is a newbie question, but I see a lot of the experienced members here talking about using different kinds of teaware for different teas. I know what you use effects the flavor of the tea to some extent. Clay pot for this one (has to be the right type of clay), cast iron for this one, glass or porcelain for this, a gaiwan for this one.
Is there a guide or thread discussing which kind of tea goes with what teaware? Inquiring minds want to know!
Is there a guide or thread discussing which kind of tea goes with what teaware? Inquiring minds want to know!
Re: Which Teaware?
One man's highly biased opinions.
oolong, Chinese red, aged/raw puerh, green - Porcelain Gaiwan. Buy the medium size from the Tea Gallery (not just because I love them, but because you can find strong support of this all over the Teaware forum).
cooked puerh - just about any Yixing is a decent start. can be made in Gaiwan at first, but Yixing helps smooth it out a bit.
sencha, gyokuro - kyusu, Tokoname preferred, skip the fad of the day
Indian/Sri Lankan - larger pot 8-10oz and up. Porcelain or stoneware will do. Glass discouraged. Built in filter a huge plus.
Things that aren't cool - glazed kyusu, glass pots, glass gaiwans, lined cast iron teapots with tiny little baskets.
oolong, Chinese red, aged/raw puerh, green - Porcelain Gaiwan. Buy the medium size from the Tea Gallery (not just because I love them, but because you can find strong support of this all over the Teaware forum).
cooked puerh - just about any Yixing is a decent start. can be made in Gaiwan at first, but Yixing helps smooth it out a bit.
sencha, gyokuro - kyusu, Tokoname preferred, skip the fad of the day
Indian/Sri Lankan - larger pot 8-10oz and up. Porcelain or stoneware will do. Glass discouraged. Built in filter a huge plus.
Things that aren't cool - glazed kyusu, glass pots, glass gaiwans, lined cast iron teapots with tiny little baskets.
Re: Which Teaware?
Is there a bias against glass? I would think it flavor neutral and perhaps an ideal way to taste just the tea (with the proper water).
Thanks for the feedback, though I'm interested in some other "highly biased" opinions as well!
Thanks for the feedback, though I'm interested in some other "highly biased" opinions as well!
Re: Which Teaware?
For Western style brewing of Indian teas (high heat for several minutes) glass does not have the same heat retention of ceramics. For gong fu, you have much better options. I also just plain don't like glass teaware aesthetically when there is a world filled with beautiful hand made ceramics.
Re: Which Teaware?
And I'd say they are a must for the flower teas.xmfi wrote:I like glass teapots for Chinese whites and greens.
I'm not sure that heat retention is such a huge factor, but I bow to the wisdom of the more experienced tea drinkers.
Re: Which Teaware?
And I'd say they are a must for the flower teas.xmfi wrote:I like glass teapots for Chinese whites and greens.
I'm not sure that heat retention is such a huge factor, but I bow to the wisdom of the more experienced tea drinkers. I'm particularly interested in the Yixing/shu combo, and why it is not so vital for aged raw pu or other older teas.
Aug 12th, '10, 12:44
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Re: Which Teaware?
Heat retention is important.TwoPynts wrote:I'm not sure that heat retention is such a huge factor
Re: Which Teaware?
I'm sure it is important, but for shorter steeping times, I can't see that it makes a huge difference. Teas that require longer infusions at a high temperature, absolutely.
Re: Which Teaware?
I´ve mostly used porcelain and glass pots and I´ve not experienced a noticiable difference in heat retention between similar sized glass vs porcelain pots...at least over the 3-5 minutes that black teas are brewed for. I use the same parameters for both and get the same results. I think unless the porcelain is very thick it will bleed off heat just as quickly as glass. Heavy western glazed ceramic pots definitely make a difference vs porcelain and glass. With those heavy ceramic pots I use less leaf and more time compared to porcelain and glass.
Sencha is definitely easier to brew in a Tokoname with a steel filter...pour is a lot easier. I´ll see if the clay affects the taste when I get more Yutaka Midori in the house....I haven´t brewed any same sencha in both yet...or I could do a comparison with one of the new senchas and my glass pot. But just the smooth pour makes a kyusu worthwhile for sencha drinking. I´m just starting to venture into greens but already I can tell the kyusu makes a difference.
I´ve never really tried yixing so I can´t comment on that...I have one but I smashed the lid pretty early in it´s career so it´s not useful for tea brewing. I´m too clumsy to buy expensive pots I think.
Sencha is definitely easier to brew in a Tokoname with a steel filter...pour is a lot easier. I´ll see if the clay affects the taste when I get more Yutaka Midori in the house....I haven´t brewed any same sencha in both yet...or I could do a comparison with one of the new senchas and my glass pot. But just the smooth pour makes a kyusu worthwhile for sencha drinking. I´m just starting to venture into greens but already I can tell the kyusu makes a difference.
I´ve never really tried yixing so I can´t comment on that...I have one but I smashed the lid pretty early in it´s career so it´s not useful for tea brewing. I´m too clumsy to buy expensive pots I think.
Aug 12th, '10, 14:18
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Re: Which Teaware?
I like my little glass pots, but have broken many of them. That delicacy is my primary frustration with them. I get a nice version with a little glass strainer built-in, but it is not a large enough strainer surface or fine enough holes for japanese senchas. Otherwise, it seems adequate for just about everything, perhaps because I mostly use quite short infusions, whether for greens, whites, oolongs, or puerhs, and I love watching the tea infuse.
But because I like my daily sencha, I keep a kyusu at home and at work. And because I generally prefer gongfu style when I have time, I like a smaller pot, brew more often than not in small (60-80mL capacity) porcelain gaiwans. I'd use glass if I could find an aesthetically pleasing version that was also practical--my local chinatown shop has some with ridges built to hold the lid that make the proper tilt-to-strain maneuver difficult, and others with clumsy shapes,and the nicest one has a lot of black writing on it.
And because of lot of my tea drinking is at work, by necessity it is bulk brewing, filling a thermos that follows me through the day, and though the aesthetics are crummy, I drink more tea infused in a kamjove 'gongfu art' plastic filter pitcher than any other pot or gaiwan or whatever.
My little 'yixing' pots--they're labelled that by the shop price tags, but they're not of a price and quality consistent with the kind of pots most people are thinking of when they recommend yixing pots--mostly sit neglected in the back of the cupboard. The glass pot comes out when I want a little more at one time of a particular tea, and am at home.
In the end, if it makes tea that makes you happy, that's good!
But because I like my daily sencha, I keep a kyusu at home and at work. And because I generally prefer gongfu style when I have time, I like a smaller pot, brew more often than not in small (60-80mL capacity) porcelain gaiwans. I'd use glass if I could find an aesthetically pleasing version that was also practical--my local chinatown shop has some with ridges built to hold the lid that make the proper tilt-to-strain maneuver difficult, and others with clumsy shapes,and the nicest one has a lot of black writing on it.
And because of lot of my tea drinking is at work, by necessity it is bulk brewing, filling a thermos that follows me through the day, and though the aesthetics are crummy, I drink more tea infused in a kamjove 'gongfu art' plastic filter pitcher than any other pot or gaiwan or whatever.
My little 'yixing' pots--they're labelled that by the shop price tags, but they're not of a price and quality consistent with the kind of pots most people are thinking of when they recommend yixing pots--mostly sit neglected in the back of the cupboard. The glass pot comes out when I want a little more at one time of a particular tea, and am at home.
In the end, if it makes tea that makes you happy, that's good!
Re: Which Teaware?
Japanese tea:
A Tokoname or Banko kyusu with the metal screen is a convenient and less frustrating way to brew Japanese teas. I prefer the clay sasame filter, but they can clog and this can be very frustrating. I would not brew sencha or gyokuro in a cast iron pot, especially the lined ones.
Chinese-Taiwanese teas:
Although I like my Yixings, it's a lot less fuss to brew everything in porcelain or glass, as you can cross-brew everything. This will also let you know what the basic tea tastes like without the affects of clay, and can be used as a reference point later if you move on to Yixings.
I don't see a problem with glass. I use it occasionally and I do prefer porcelain over glass for asthetic reasons, but the glass has worked fine. It is pretty cool watching the leaves dance around with certain types of tea.
For green tea, white tea, and lightly-oxidized or "green" oolongs, I prefer porcelain. For darker oolongs, aged oolongs, or high-fired oolongs I prefer to use an Yixing.
For Oriental Beauty and black teas I'm undecided as I haven't yet done a legitimate comparison. What I have found from the experimenting I've done so far is that I prefer an Yixing for OB and porcelain for black tea.
Other things to consider overall:
The shape, thickness, and weight of the brewing vessel is important, as is the size and material it is made of. With green teas of all types, I find that thin and light usually gives noticeably better results. I purchased a Bizen kyusu with a sasame clay filter with holes small enough to brew shincha and first-pick sencha, and it did a pretty good job. However, it was very thick and heavy so I did a comparison with a much lighter Tokoname kyusu. I felt the brewing results were much better when done in the Tokoname (made by Hokujo). The Bizen is now used for Japanese teas that can be brewed with hotter water such as Houjicha and Genmaicha. It works out much better with these teas.
A Tokoname or Banko kyusu with the metal screen is a convenient and less frustrating way to brew Japanese teas. I prefer the clay sasame filter, but they can clog and this can be very frustrating. I would not brew sencha or gyokuro in a cast iron pot, especially the lined ones.
Chinese-Taiwanese teas:
Although I like my Yixings, it's a lot less fuss to brew everything in porcelain or glass, as you can cross-brew everything. This will also let you know what the basic tea tastes like without the affects of clay, and can be used as a reference point later if you move on to Yixings.
I don't see a problem with glass. I use it occasionally and I do prefer porcelain over glass for asthetic reasons, but the glass has worked fine. It is pretty cool watching the leaves dance around with certain types of tea.
For green tea, white tea, and lightly-oxidized or "green" oolongs, I prefer porcelain. For darker oolongs, aged oolongs, or high-fired oolongs I prefer to use an Yixing.
For Oriental Beauty and black teas I'm undecided as I haven't yet done a legitimate comparison. What I have found from the experimenting I've done so far is that I prefer an Yixing for OB and porcelain for black tea.
Other things to consider overall:
The shape, thickness, and weight of the brewing vessel is important, as is the size and material it is made of. With green teas of all types, I find that thin and light usually gives noticeably better results. I purchased a Bizen kyusu with a sasame clay filter with holes small enough to brew shincha and first-pick sencha, and it did a pretty good job. However, it was very thick and heavy so I did a comparison with a much lighter Tokoname kyusu. I felt the brewing results were much better when done in the Tokoname (made by Hokujo). The Bizen is now used for Japanese teas that can be brewed with hotter water such as Houjicha and Genmaicha. It works out much better with these teas.
Re: Which Teaware?
Thanks for your feedback and sharing your experiences everyone. I'm getting a clearer picture now.