On Second Thought

[derk]

I've done a lot of thinking - often I do too much. Sometimes it pays off.

I'm reconsidering the creation of hot water in favour of the creation of tea. Still love the tetsubins, but the prices (of the ones that I'm excited about) are just a touch higher than I can manage.

So let's start again.

Kyusu is the word that I keep hearing.
Hojo has some that I like.
By Murata Yoshiki.




(the last one is listed as sold out)

Does anyone have experience with Yoshiki's products? What types of teas work best in these pots?

Secondly - the lady also likes iced tea. What are your preferred methods of creation? She likes the look of things like this:

http://www.teavana.com/tea-products/tea ... erralID=NA

Are these effective? Are there places that sell something similar that is not Teavana?

I am less worried about time at this point. Have a few other things up my sleeves that will allow me to postpone this part of her gift.

Thanks a million!
Derek

[Chip]

Big fan of Yoshiki!!! Although I have yet to purchase one. Just watch the size as some are pretty big.

ArtisticNippon has some too.

[derk]

What sizes are "good"?

What sizes are too big?

Also like some made by Sado Mumyoi





Bit cheaper - truth be told, though, I like the ones in the previous post better

[debunix]

Those pots ought to brew almost any tea well. But...they're unglazed inside, so will carry over some of the tea flavor from one tea to the next. In theory, they should each be dedicated to a more or less specific type of teas. Also, while a typical 10-12 oz kyusu is great for brewing a few infusions of sencha, it's not so efficient for a puerh where you might want to reinfuse the same leaves 20 times. So those are great looking and doubtless great functioning pots for brewing most teas, but they're not one-pot-for- all-teas at the same time.

For iced tea, I brew up a glass at a time in a glass mug with an infused insert, the only time the frequent clogging of the glass filter slits doesn't matter. Because it's one infusion, the design doesn't see to matter quite as much. And btw, the kyusu is also quite good at prepping one last infusion of sencha in the fridge, making a nice iced tea.

[AdamMY]

For Iced Tea, My favorite method is cold brew in a French press devoted entirely to Tea. By that I mean add leaf, add water, and stick it in the fridge for several hours to brew. I personally Wish I had a pitcher I could then pour it into because I do not have an extremely large french press and seem to go through an entire batch of iced tea in a day.

[entropyembrace]

You can get a Bodom french press for making ice tea instead of that thing from teavanna, they´ll work the same way, are fairly inexpensive and you can find them just about everywhere...even the supermarket.

[debunix]

Those pots ought to brew almost any tea well. ..... So those are great looking and doubtless great functioning pots for brewing most teas, but they're not one-pot-for- all-teas at the same time.

Not sure if what I wrote sounds quite like what I meant: if you're looking for the one pot to brew all teas, and that mix extends from sencha to aggressive young puerhs, this is probably not the way to go. But if there's room in the cupboard for several pots, or if the range of teas to be brewed is basically all green teas, one of the pots you started with should be marvelous.

[derk]

Like the french press idea - I think I can run with that.

@debunix - I understood (more or less) what you were meaning by the original post. Most of the tea we drink is pretty mild mannered. Thanks for the clarification, though.

If a stronger tea IS used in the pot - will the flavour of that tea eventually dissipate? Can this be quickened by flushings with clean water?

Thanks, as always, for all of your fine replys and suggestions!
What a great forum.

D

[debunix]

If a stronger tea IS used in the pot - will the flavour of that tea eventually dissipate? Can this be quickened by flushings with clean water?

I'm new enough to all this that I haven't yet had to answer that question. I brew a lot in glazed porcelain gaiwans, little glass pots, & my kamjove thingies, so most of my pots are lightly seasoned at best, and the few that are getting nicely seasoned have been used consistently with only one kind of tea.

[Mare of Earth]

Beware the glass pitcher listed above - I almost bought one last year, but there were many many complaints about the weight of the tea causing the glass handle to break off, taking a big chunk of the pitcher with it, that I decided to look for something else.
I ended up talking the Teavana people out of their floor model of one of the glass teapots, as the glass on the floor model was twice as thick as the ones in the boxes!

The teapots in the pictures are beautiful - I have two teapots with that handle style, and I have found I much prefer it to the arching handle styles (not that I don't have several of those - as well as one on order!)