Glazed Teapot for Work (for oolongs)

[Noonie]

I would like a teapot for work that is easy to carry back and forth to the kitchen (one hand), can hold about 300ml of water, is easy to clean, and glazed so that I can use it for a variety of oolongs. Something the size and design of a yixing is fine except that I want it glazed. I use a kyusu at work in the mornings with Sencha and it's great. I could go for a glazed kyusu, but wanted to explore other options.

Regarding process (feel free to chime in) - because we can't have appliances at our desks, I would boil the water in a kettle in the kitchen, bring the tea ware to the kitchen, rinse the pot and leaves, add the leaves, flash rinse, and then pour to steep. I would be using for tea that takes less than two minutes to steep (as short as 30s) so I would stay there until brewed, and then carry everything back to my desk. I would use a little more leaf than gong fu method I would use at home, and would aim for a larger cup...and then maybe later (10 minutes, an hour) have one more steeping (re-boiling water).

[laura99]

Thought I would chime in with what I do at work. I use the thermos below to fill up with hot water. At my desk I can then brew up to four pots from this, eliminating the need to go back to the break room for water.

http://www.amazon.com/Thermos-Raya-Comp ... ermos+raya

Here is the pot I use, nothing special, but a good all around pot. Stuff tends to break more at work .

http://www.rishi-tea.com/product/shin-t ... ot/teapots

If I am brewing oolongs, I usually fill it half way, all the way for black or white.

[Noonie]

I hadn't thought of a thermos...how is the water temp on that fourth cup, or after 30-60 minutes? It's tea at work, so I don't have to be precise, so if the water drops a bit that's fine...

What kind of filter is in that pot? Nice and a good price.

[debunix]

I used a series of these inexpensive but very functional glass teapots from Wing Hop Fung at work



but after two fatal-to-the-pot episodes, which left tiny shards of glass in my office carpet--not easy to clean up when I don't have direct access to a vacuum cleaner--I started using a Kamjove



Sturdier but not as much fun. But now it's nearly all artisan teawares at work, and this Petr Novak kyusu probably the most used pot in my primary office--fully glazed inside, easy to clean (bought directly from Petr)



and at my other office, I use a little smaller pot by Yi Yong Cheol (via Tead Off), also fully glazed, and versatile enough for everything from puerh to sencha



Both of these are built sturdily enough to protect my fingers long enough to carry them down the hall full of hot tea--although I'm lucky enough to be able to keep an electric kettle at my desk, so I rarely need to do so.

[laura99]

I hadn't thought of a thermos...how is the water temp on that fourth cup, or after 30-60 minutes? It's tea at work, so I don't have to be precise, so if the water drops a bit that's fine...

What kind of filter is in that pot? Nice and a good price.

If the thermos is full it will stay hot for hours. Once you start to use that last pot may not be hot enough after 45 minutes or so.

The filter is a metal screen going all around the inside.

[GuyWan]

I use a number of teapots from Lin's Ceramics Studio that are glazed inside.

Like this one for example:
http://camellia-sinensis.com/en/teapot/ ... -cha-brune

[debunix]

I find my best use for a thermos is to fill it with hot tea, or even to pour hot water over tea in the thermos to brew directly in it, but this only works well for certain teas--greens and whites develop muddy or bitter flavors, and even green oolongs seem to lose their sparkle; roasted oolongs, and many puerhs, do quite well. It's not as fun as gongfu, but a lot more practical for those situations where you don't have access to hot water at your desk.

[TeaViking]

I think thermos are really good for work. I use two small ones (500 ml), because when its not full the heat will evaporate quicker. Its important to pre heat the termos, otherwise you´ll lose about 10-15 degrees celcius.

Most of the time you´ll have water within 80-90 degrees celcius, choose your tea acording to that. You wont have acess to boiling hot water.

Im thinking about having two teapots at work, one for oolong and one for green tea. Because then I can use the second pour from the thermos for the green, as you all know it benefits from lower tempertures.