Tetsubins?

[chamekke]

That's interesting, but it seems to me that applying water to the outside of the tetsubin and adding cool water to the interior would actually cool the iron faster and keep it wet longer than just emptying the kettle when it's still hot and allowing it to air dry. I guess it depends on how much cool water is added and how often, but the applying to the outside would surely (don't call me Shirley) cool the iron more quickly than not applying and air drying. I know --I'm nitpicking.

I wasn't saying this is the approach you should take for tetsubin, but that it's what you do with kama (the round "kettle" used in Chadou). Just providing an alternative example of ways to avoid rust.

I agree that the kettle would dry more quickly if you simply empty all the hot water immediately and allow it to air-dry. Yet, that is exactly what we are told NOT to do. My teacher's English is limited (and my Japanese even more limited), so I've been unable to quiz her on it. Nonetheless, I think that the concern has to do with the potential for a crack or break developing when a still-very-hot kama is left empty. My guess is, it may have to do with the heat differential between the exterior of the kettle and the interior. At any rate, I am certain there's a logical reason for this approach; I'm just not 100% sure what it is

One of these days I'll get one of our Japanese speakers to ask her to explain the principle so that I can explain it here.

Anyway, I'd just like to add that where lined tetsubin are concerned, all this is probably not an issue since the interior is enamelled.

[Ti]

So, Testubins suck? Somebody must be using them. They're pretty expensive. Everybody can't be buying them just for show. I only have two teapots and one is lined Tetsubin. Both are about 10 yrs old. My only problem with Tetsubin, right now anyway, is that compared to my Yixing (which I did buy for show because it looked so cool), it holds like 55 gallons of water. When I bought it it looked so small.

I'm not going to put pu-erh and oolong in my one and only Yixing. I had the sense to heed the warnings of using it for everything. I use it for a couple of different kinds of green. I know, that's not good for it, but Yixing is not cheap either and I really can't afford to own a different teapot for each kind of tea. I'm planning to buy a couple more clay (hopefully Yixing pots) once I get a better handle on what I'm doing.

[Katrina]

To be honest, I use mine for black tea. I like the heft of it and it's a fun change of pace. It's a beautiful looking pot and I'm going to make sure it is well used!

[Buzz Fledderjohn]

To be honest, I use mine for black tea. I like the heft of it and it's a fun change of pace. It's a beautiful looking pot and I'm going to make sure it is well used!

Same here, I use mine for black tea all of the time.

[procarel]

I use my tetsubin every morning when I start my day with my Pu-erh tea both raw and ripe. It is my prefered pot for brewing black tea as well. I agree with Mary as far as the minimal affect on greens brewed for a short duration. What she said makes sense to me although I usually use my Yixing for greens and white teas.
When I finish using my tetsubin I just rinse it out with hot tap water and dry the outside with a towel to prevent rust. It's one of my pots that I use every day.

[chamekke]

Well, I use a tetsubin for Chadou practice at home. Because I can't afford/don't have room for a traditional kama and hearth, instead I use a large unlined tetsubin that sits on... a small round hotplate! But of course, it serves as a kettle (in that it's merely a container for heating, then storing, the hot water), rather than a teapot for brewing tea in.

Ti is right, it seems ironic that no one is using Japanese tetsubin to prepare Japanese tea. For what it's worth, I've used my smaller lined tetsubin, with its brewing basket, when making flavoured black teas. Now this is just my guess, but I think the reason that clay kyusu are preferred to tetsubin for (say) sencha is that after the initial steep, you typically drink off all the tea. Oversteeping = bitter tea, right? So in other words, as soon as the tea is ready to drink, you tend to drink all of it; thus there's no need for a pot that will keep the remaining tea hot. And the fact that the cast iron retains heat is, after all, the single great feature of the tetsubin to start with.

Now you could use the brewing basket to remove the leaves, so that the tea doesn't continue to steep; but I'm not sure what effect just "keeping the brewed tea hot" would have on the tea. Some sencha-s can be fairly unforgiving, and it's possible that the tea might become bitter even so. And since it's generally considered far better to brew sencha completely loose-leaf, rather than having it confined to a brewing basket, any benefit you might incur by keeping it hot might be offset by a less-than-ideal flavour from having used the brewing basket.

I'll have to add this to the list of things I must ask my Japanese friends - when, if ever, do you use a tetsubin?

[RussianSoul]

To be honest, I use mine for black tea. I like the heft of it and it's a fun change of pace. It's a beautiful looking pot and I'm going to make sure it is well used!

Same here, I use mine for black tea all of the time.

I use my tetsubin every morning when I start my day with my Pu-erh tea both raw and ripe. It is my prefered pot for brewing black tea as well.

I am pleased to see myself in such good company. Every day I make my morning Assam in 11oz tetsubin. I really like it. I have tried brewing my black tea in a porcelain cup and was very much surprised to find the taste not to my liking. I can't explain why, but cross-brewing Assams in cast iron makes a really good tea.

[Proinsias]

I have a small tetsubin, around 350/400ml with an enamel lining, that I got for a few pounds off ebay. I've been experimenting with what to do with it recently, brewing tea does not seem to be it's calling in life. I've used it to hold sencha I've decanted from my kyusu which it done quite nicely.
I now have a small tea set in the loft, where I have some old school games consoles, a laptop and permission to smoke, go sheesha pipe. I've been using the tetsubin to hold hot water from the kettle and it seems to be doing a fine job. On closer inspection it seems that rust is developing underneath the enamel lining although I can't see any obvious cracking or wearing of the lining.
One option is to use it in this way until it dies or the water it provides tastes unpleasant, this is probably the most likely. The only other thing I can think of is trying to remove the lining somehow and take out the rust somehow.

Has anyone else had a tetsubin that appears to be rusting under the lining? Or does anyone have any idea how to combat this or remove the enamel - I'm not too fussed if the pot dies but it is quite nice to look at.

Am I maybe just imagining things or are tetsubins often rust orange inside with spots of darker rust around and I'm just projecting the appearance of them getting bigger?

[Ti]

Has anyone else had a tetsubin that appears to be rusting under the lining? Or does anyone have any idea how to combat this or remove the enamel - I'm not too fussed if the pot dies but it is quite nice to look at.

Am I maybe just imagining things or are tetsubins often rust orange inside with spots of darker rust around and I'm just projecting the appearance of them getting bigger?

The enamel on the inside of mine is quite smooth and thick and there is no rust under the enamel lining. However, the enamel on the lid and the receiving lip of the pot body didn't fare so well. The enamel there is thin and rust accumulates there. Before use I wet those areas and wipe them clean.

[Proinsias]

Mine seems to have no enamel on the lip of the pot and it's a fight to keep the rust away from there, maybe this is the problem - rust migration.

[Buzz Fledderjohn]

I'll have to add this to the list of things I must ask my Japanese friends - when, if ever, do you use a tetsubin?

During my stay in Kyoto last year, I stayed at a ryokan (family run traditional inn).
Check out the tea service in my room:


Yes, that's a tetsubin.

[Ti]

Mine seems to have no enamel on the lip of the pot and it's a fight to keep the rust away from there, maybe this is the problem - rust migration.

I just checked mine and there is no rust migration but I think you're assessment is probably correct. Rust migration is the most likely culprit. Maybe I'll start coating mine in oil when not in use to slow down the rust. But what kind of oil? Peanut, flax, hemp, Quaker State? Some of the pu-erhs I've had probably wouldn't suffer any with the Quaker State? But what about the greens? Would hemp or peanut oil be pushing it? I know some people on this board can taste contaminants in their tea at .00003ppm.

[Proinsias]

In food preparation land groundnut oil is often cited as being one of the least likely to impact taste, I've never heard of Quaker state.

[Proinsias]

ahh, thanks to google I have now.

[Thirsty Daruma]

I own two tetsubins, purely for decorative purposes. But if I wanted to develop a calming morning ritual, I'd certainly consider making a dark tea in a tetsubin as part of it. Slow, heavy, ponderous - the kettle matches the owner.