Why does tea taste better in bone china?

[wyardley]

I would personally guess that the shape, thickness, and size of the cups are the most important things here (especially if you're comparing to, say, a coffee mug). So there are a lot of different factors here than whether the cup is made of bone china or not.

I have personally found that I feel like I can taste better from a smaller cup (probably much smaller than the china cups you're talking about); maybe it's psychological, but that's how it seems to me. I don't claim to have a sophisticated enough palate to (usually) detect differences in taste based on the glaze type or exact shape of the cup, though I don't doubt that these things can affect the taste as well. But certainly these last two factors affect the way the cup feels on your lips, as well as the psychological experience of drinking tea from it.

[Jayaratna]

Dear all teachatters,

a very interesting topic is developing here.

Given that for most of you shape is the most important thing in a cup, I would like to know your opinions on the following questions:

a) do specific teas do better with specific cup-shapes? Is there such a relation between cup shape and teas like there is (supposed to be) one between yixing-clays and teas?

b) if not, is there a specific cup-shape which is absolutely better for ANY tea?

Thank you all,
A

[Jayaratna]

Dear all teachatters,

a very interesting topic is developing here.

Given that for most of you the shape is the most important thing in a cup, I would like to know your opinions on the following questions:

a) do specific teas do better with specific cup-shapes? Is there such a relation between cup shape and teas like there is (supposed to be) one between yixing-clays and teas?

b) if not, is there a specific cup-shape which is absolutely better for ANY tea?

Thank you all,
A