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Sep 3rd, '10, 01:33
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Re: Tea cups for Oolong

by entropyembrace » Sep 3rd, '10, 01:33

tingjunkie wrote:
noname wrote:Anything smaller than 100ml is more for tasting than actually drinking.
Well... all semantics aside, smaller cups in the 30ml range are for gongfu tea preparation. In other words 5 - 15+ infusions of the same leaf. If you have 7 infusions at 30ml then you are looking at over 7oz of tea.
but where can you find a 30ml gaiwan or pot to make 30ml steeps with? My Impression is that the 30ml cups are for sharing with a small group of friends or family.

The smallest gaiwan I´ve found so far is a 60ml one from Ru Kiln on Dragon Tea House

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Sep 3rd, '10, 01:59
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Re: Tea cups for Oolong

by wyardley » Sep 3rd, '10, 01:59

entropyembrace wrote: but where can you find a 30ml gaiwan or pot to make 30ml steeps with? My Impression is that the 30ml cups are for sharing with a small group of friends or family.
Strain into two cups and then pour the second into the first. That's what I do at work. Or just use a sharing pitcher. You don't necessarily have to have the drinking cup and brewing vessel perfectly matched.

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Sep 3rd, '10, 02:10
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Re: Tea cups for Oolong

by entropyembrace » Sep 3rd, '10, 02:10

wyardley wrote:
entropyembrace wrote: but where can you find a 30ml gaiwan or pot to make 30ml steeps with? My Impression is that the 30ml cups are for sharing with a small group of friends or family.
Strain into two cups and then pour the second into the first. That's what I do at work. Or just use a sharing pitcher. You don't necessarily have to have the drinking cup and brewing vessel perfectly matched.
I know many people do that...but Tingjunkie was talking about 30ml steeps

If you make a 90ml steep, pour it into a fairpitcher and refill your 30ml cup 3 times you´re still drinking 90ml steeps.

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Sep 3rd, '10, 02:26
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Re: Tea cups for Oolong

by debunix » Sep 3rd, '10, 02:26

entropyembrace wrote: but where can you find a 30ml gaiwan or pot to make 30ml steeps with?
Got several travel sets just for the tiny gaiwans, holding 40-45 mL, but they came with even tinier cups!

Image

and here they are getting ready for a tasting

Image

Sep 3rd, '10, 10:34
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Re: Tea cups for Oolong

by noname » Sep 3rd, '10, 10:34

britt wrote:
noname wrote:I like the idea of Japanese or Korean cups. Have not found anything online yet...
Here are a few places that stock small Japanese cups:

Hibiki-an 100ml pair:

http://www.hibiki-an.com/product_info.p ... cts_id/469

Cool Japan (volume not stated in description but physical size is):

http://cooljapannow.jp/detail.html?KEY=NEOYADR-404

Everyone's Tea 100ml:

http://www.everyonestea.com/product/120

Yuuki-cha 60ml:

http://www.yuuki-cha.com/Japanese+Teacu ... aki+Teacup

Thanks! I actually found hibiki earlier yesterday before reading your post and ordered a small set from them. Not the cheapest ones around but the did look cool and re made in Japan.

Sep 3rd, '10, 10:39
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Re: Tea cups for Oolong

by noname » Sep 3rd, '10, 10:39

I don't pour directly from gaiwan into cups but rather strain in to a teapot. No real ceremonies if you will ;) And its simply a hassle to use really small cups because I would have to refill them every few seconds. I can see that working for tasting or ceremony, but for actual consumption... I don't know :)

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Sep 3rd, '10, 11:29
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Re: Tea cups for Oolong

by tingjunkie » Sep 3rd, '10, 11:29

entropyembrace wrote:
wyardley wrote:
entropyembrace wrote: but where can you find a 30ml gaiwan or pot to make 30ml steeps with? My Impression is that the 30ml cups are for sharing with a small group of friends or family.
Strain into two cups and then pour the second into the first. That's what I do at work. Or just use a sharing pitcher. You don't necessarily have to have the drinking cup and brewing vessel perfectly matched.
I know many people do that...but Tingjunkie was talking about 30ml steeps
Was not! :D

Your impression was correct though- 30ml cups are usually for sharing with others, or filling up several times with a fair pitcher... unless of course you have one of these, in which case we can talk about 30ml steeps (or even 20 when doing traditional kung fu brewing).

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Sep 3rd, '10, 12:02
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Re: Tea cups for Oolong

by entropyembrace » Sep 3rd, '10, 12:02

tingjunkie wrote:
entropyembrace wrote:
wyardley wrote:
entropyembrace wrote: but where can you find a 30ml gaiwan or pot to make 30ml steeps with? My Impression is that the 30ml cups are for sharing with a small group of friends or family.
Strain into two cups and then pour the second into the first. That's what I do at work. Or just use a sharing pitcher. You don't necessarily have to have the drinking cup and brewing vessel perfectly matched.
I know many people do that...but Tingjunkie was talking about 30ml steeps
Was not! :D

Your impression was correct though- 30ml cups are usually for sharing with others, or filling up several times with a fair pitcher... unless of course you have one of these, in which case we can talk about 30ml steeps (or even 20 when doing traditional kung fu brewing).
wow! those are tiny! :shock:

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Sep 3rd, '10, 12:03
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Re: Tea cups for Oolong

by Alex » Sep 3rd, '10, 12:03

DTH has a range at that size. I was really eyeing this bad boy up a month back

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Mini-Xi-Shi-Zhu-N ... 35a46b4bb9

Anyone chime in on what they think of the above pot.....I dont have much experience being more of a Gaiwan guy

Sep 3rd, '10, 23:16
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Re: Tea cups for Oolong

by steanze » Sep 3rd, '10, 23:16

For Taiwanese oolong I usually like using green celadon cups made in Taiwan. I got a set of a pitcher and 3 cups made by Xu De Jia from Hou De last year, and they match very well the color of the tea. I also like the fact that they are a bit thicker than the porcelain cups.

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Sep 4th, '10, 16:35
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Re: Tea cups for Oolong

by britt » Sep 4th, '10, 16:35

noname wrote:I Thanks! I actually found hibiki earlier yesterday before reading your post and ordered a small set from them. Not the cheapest ones around but the did look cool and re made in Japan.
Hibiki-an prices can be high but the quality of the teaware they carry is also high. They typically note that their cups are lead-free. I hope the cups you bought work out well. Even if they do, they may not be your last pair. Teaware can become very addictive!

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Sep 4th, '10, 18:15
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Re: Tea cups for Oolong

by nonc_ron » Sep 4th, '10, 18:15

Herb_Master wrote:+1
I would not use the words fickle, nor waiver, maybe 'choose according to mood, ambience, thirst, concentration level and whichever one calls loudest to me!'
Image Down with negativity. :D

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