Looking for a nice, versatile oriental Teapot.

[Onlycoops]

Hi all!

I have really wanted to get into the world of tea for awhile. I was wondering if someone could reccomend a nice oriental styled teapot? Inspiration for one kind of came from Iroh from TLA but also my fiancée is from the east and now that we live together, we don't consume as much tea as she would like.

Does anyone have any reccomendations for a nice starter teapot with a infuser? I really appreciate it!

[Frisbeehead]

Not sure if it's considered oriental necessarily, since to my knowledge that typically refers to Chinese things, but Artistic Nippon is a great place to get a quality, handmade Japanese kyusu (teapot).

They have more than a few Tokoname teapots (the town they are from) on their site that are reasonably priced, and are great quality for the price.

Examples:

http://www.artisticnippon.com/product/t ... rings.html

I actually own this one, and I love it: http://www.artisticnippon.com/product/t ... kanna.html

http://www.artisticnippon.com/product/t ... hazen.html

http://www.artisticnippon.com/product/t ... akura.html

I would also highly recommend checking out teaware.house as they have a large selection of really cool teapots that are very reasonably priced.

If you have any other questions let me know. I might edit in some teaware.house links to some teapots I think are cool.

Edit: For more Chinese teapots (especially porcelain ones) I would also check out JKTea. Here's a link to their teapot selection:

http://www.jkteashop.com/tea-pot_c20.html

[Onlycoops]

[quote="Frisbeehead"]


Oh man, those handmade teapots are beautiful. I am all over those but my only concern is, if they're clay doesn't that mean I can only do one kind of tea or is the material they're made out of okay to make multiple kinds of teas?

My budget is about 125 for a solid first teapot. Those hand made ones from Nippon are unbelievable and if you think that they'll make a good first solid teapot I will take the dive into one of them. Thank you again!

Edit: this is the one I have my eye on!

http://artisticnippon.com/product/tokon ... uplum.html

[steanze]

What tea do you want to make? This seems to be the first question to ask.
If you don't know yet, a porcelain gaiwan is the way to go.

[Onlycoops]

What tea do you want to make? This seems to be the first question to ask.
If you don't know yet, a porcelain gaiwan is the way to go.

Predominately green tea is going to be what I brew. It's by far my favorite.

[steanze]

Chinese or japanese?

[Onlycoops]

Chinese or japanese?

No particular preference! I have seen some I like from both countries.

[steanze]

For Chinese green tea, I'd use a thin walled porcelain gaiwan.
For japanese tea, I don't really drink a lot of it, but:
if sencha usually a kyusu
if gyokuro usually a small shiboridashi

then there are exceptions

if matcha a chawan

[Frisbeehead]

Oh man, those handmade teapots are beautiful. I am all over those but my only concern is, if they're clay doesn't that mean I can only do one kind of tea or is the material they're made out of okay to make multiple kinds of teas?

My budget is about 125 for a solid first teapot. Those hand made ones from Nippon are unbelievable and if you think that they'll make a good first solid teapot I will take the dive into one of them. Thank you again!

Edit: this is the one I have my eye on!

http://artisticnippon.com/product/tokon ... uplum.html

Tokoname teapots are fired at a high temp and thus aren't so porous, so you should be fine using it for multiple kinds of tea. I use mine for sencha, as well as other kinds of tea (black, oolong, etc.). I definitely recommend trying some sencha if you like green tea. Sencha goes very well with these teapots imo.

If your budget is that high then get a nice teapot! There's plenty of really nice ones on artistic nippon. That would be a great first pot.

You'll be able to test it out with different teas and see what you like best in it. I would even recommend getting something that is made from porcelain, like a gaiwan (or a porcelain hohin if you're drinking mostly sencha) with your pot. You can find them for pretty cheap, $20 or less (way less for a standard porcelain gaiwan). Set aside some of your budget for a porcelain piece, which will be neutral, then use the most of your budget for a nice kyusu.