Teaware fundamentals: which accessories for which tea?

[fire_snake]

When setting up a "tea room" of sorts in a home, or even if only a small corner of a living space is to be devoted to all things tea (Chinese and Japanese), what pots, cups, warmers and other accessories are needed from a traditional perspective?

What do we need in order to brew and fully appreciate:

Chinese greens (i.e., Dragon Well)
Matcha
Sencha
Pu-erh
Oolong

Further, what table(s) do we use? How about cupboards and storage? What other furnishings?


It's a broad topic, I know. But I'd like to do it right and learn the process. I could always just throw together brews with all manner of pots and pans, but this isn't very traditional, and for me, would lessen the enjoyment of the experience.

Thanks.

[wyardley]

Like with buying pots and pans, avoid sets, and avoid trying to get everything at once. A few simple pieces of teaware are a good place to start, and you should start then to develop a better idea of what else you might like to have around.

[Nenugal]

Like with buying pots and pans, avoid sets, and avoid trying to get everything at once. A few simple pieces of teaware are a good place to start, and you should start then to develop a better idea of what else you might like to have around.

+1

Finding a suitable size of cups and pots is more important and complex than what I initially thought, so reading about recommended sizes for different types of teaware and for different types of tea, is a good idea. Look at the photos of TeaChat members' teaware in the show off threads, and some of the teaware sellers on ebay, to get a feeling for what looks good to you. My taste in teaware has evolved quite a bit during the last half year that I have been active on TeaChat, so I'm almost starting to regret a bit some of my early teaware acquisitions...

[wyardley]

And to answer your question more directly, a porcelain gaiwan or small porcelain teapot and a couple of tasting cups, something to boil water in, and a mat, tray, or dish of some sort, will enable you to brew almost all of the teas you mentioned reasonably well.

[JBaymore]

To deal with "traditional perspective"........ and the above list........ you'll need the bank account number of Bill Gates and the life span of Methuselah.

Start small and slow and work up. Learn as you go.

best,

................john

[tingjunkie]

To deal with "traditional perspective"........ and the above list........ you'll need the bank account number of Bill Gates and the life span of Methuselah.

Start small and slow and work up. Learn as you go.

best,

................john

Indeed! +1

[Oni]

I would buy a Banko kyusu from Horaido with 3 arita cups, a tetsubin, a houhin set, a small banko Jitsuzan houhin, a chawan, whisk, chasaku (spoon), whisk keeper, teacloth, and you are done and prepared for all kinds of Japanese tea.
For chinese tea I would buy a Lin`s Ceramic kettle from essenceoftea, a gaiwan set from dragon teahouse, and a big gaiwan for greens, later when you are a bit experienced, get a few good quality yixings.
It is important to by a good kettle and use soft water, from natural springs, not reverse osmosis water.

[fire_snake]

Starting small and then working my way up over time seems like a sound strategy, based on your kind replies.

I think I'll just concentrate on building a Matcha set for now. It's probably the easiest place to start and I enjoy Matcha quite a bit.

Oni: Thanks for pointing me to Horaido. They've got some lovely teaware, especially the Kuroraku-H Chawan, which also seems somewhat inexpensive compared to the rest.

A question about matching sets:

If I get, say, a Kuroraku-H chawan from Horaido and I want to get a second chawan for a guest, wouldn't it be customary to get the same chawan? Or would it be better to get a different Kuroraku chawan, or perhaps an altogether different style chawan? So in other words, do we mix-and-match, or do we try to match pieces together? For example, I see that Den's also carries Kuroraku chawans.

Thanks for all this food for thought, folks. Sound advice, I must say.

Christian.

[Oni]

I would like to point out that you should look at the japanese version of the site, Horaido`s site sells diffrent stuff from the japanese version of the page, but if you ask around all the products are for sale, just translate the site and look around and ask on e-mail. I own this set. Sofar this is my nr. 1 teaware and tea site.

If you serve koicha you drink from the same cup, if you drink usucha, than you can serve single servings from diffrent bowls to your guests.

[fire_snake]

I would like to point out that you should look at the japanese version of the site, Horaido`s site sells diffrent stuff from the japanese version of the page, but if you ask around all the products are for sale, just translate the site and look around and ask on e-mail. I own this set. Sofar this is my nr. 1 teaware and tea site.

If you serve koicha you drink from the same cup, if you drink usucha, than you can serve single servings from diffrent bowls to your guests.

That set looks fantastic. Even the table!

Horaido does have some nice pieces. But I notice no real difference in them from English to Japanese version.

[l8nytsimmer]

I would buy a Banko kyusu from Horaido with 3 arita cups, a tetsubin, a houhin set, a small banko Jitsuzan houhin, a chawan, whisk, chasaku (spoon), whisk keeper, teacloth, and you are done and prepared for all kinds of Japanese tea.
For chinese tea I would buy a Lin`s Ceramic kettle from essenceoftea, a gaiwan set from dragon teahouse, and a big gaiwan for greens, later when you are a bit experienced, get a few good quality yixings.
It is important to by a good kettle and use soft water, from natural springs, not reverse osmosis water.

Holy smokes! All of that must be expensive! And complicated!I am disabled and live on a fixed income. I don't have a lot to spend. I'd rather save most of my money for teas. I would love to have a traditional set, though, and learn the correct method of preparation. Does anyone know where I can get a small set? Temperature seems very important, as well. What sort of thermometer do I need?

[iannon]

Really..you can get down to the extreme basics..seriously..a soup/ceral bowl and a kitchen whisk will work! sure a nice set can enhance your overall experience..heaven knows I am a teaware addict.
honestly there are sets for just about every budget though... but when it comes down to it..J Baymore quoted such a good story in another thread about a master and a student talking about a chawan and what was most important about it. and to steal his quote:
"The master says simply, "It holds tea"
I LOVE that...

[Oni]

If I was to travel on an Island and I could only take one type of teaware, that would be a gaiwan, that is universal for leaf tea, one small gaiwan set for all types of gong fu tea, and one 200 ml for green tea. For matcha U need any bowl found in your home, and some type of whisk, small one, or a cappucino frother.

[MarshalN]

If I was to travel on an Island and I could only take one type of teaware, that would be a gaiwan, that is universal for leaf tea, one small gaiwan set for all types of gong fu tea, and one 200 ml for green tea. For matcha U need any bowl found in your home, and some type of whisk, small one, or a cappucino frother.

+1, you don't even really need that big gaiwan.

[the_economist]

+1 ^
its really easy to drop the large gaiwan. I just use any old glass i have to steep green tea.

small gaiwan plus small cup and you're golden. what i do when i travel is one gaiwan (90ml), three 30ml cups, and tea. that's it. the total cost of that can be well under 10 bucks. i use any old large plate in the hotel room to act as a 'tray' and any old bowl to pour away waste water