Why are teacups always so small?

[nonc_ron]

What cultural factor prevents them from giving customers what they want?

There is plenty of export ware designed for the Western market. It is mass produced and you can find it in major chain stores in the USA. Mugs and teapots and such.

PS: And AdamNY has a point. I have Japanese drinking wares that vary all over the place in volume.

Ah ha ha... Any one else, Apparently today is pick on Nonc_Ron Day Don'tcha just love it?

[JBaymore]

Ah ha ha... Any one else, Apparently today is pick on Nonc_Ron Day Don'tcha just love it?

Not my intent. ごめんなさい。Gomennasai. I apologize if you feel that I was "picking" on you.

best,

...............john

[nonc_ron]

I apologize if you feel that I was "picking" on you.
best,
...............john

No no no, I was trying to be funny.

[chingwa]

Then again in Kyoto, if the host offers the guest a re-fill, at which time one should refuse, that means it's time to leave.....

Man, Kyoto is whack.

I can't wait to go back...

[chittychat]

I have many Chinese tea cups and some tea bowls and a few Japanese cups. The Chinese range from 400 ml filled to the rim to those very small ones of 15 ml which I have for their beauty and not to drink from.
Certain cups I love to use with certain teas and one tea bowl of 200 ml filled to the rim of very thin porcelain I use for silver needle and good pu-erh tea. I can hold this cup with both hands and no other cup gives back the aroma like this one.

I had 3 pieces, which were the only once in the store. Unfortunately I dropped one which shattered into a zillion pieces.

I searched countless websites selling tea cups, and yes they are mostly in the small range, in the hope that I will find such a tea bowl since I live in constant fear breaking another one of these cups. So far no luck. If there are larger cups offered they are more like bakers or made of clay like my 400 ml bowl.

I am sure going to China one can find them since such larger cone shaped (flared?) cups have been made since ancient times.

[entropyembrace]

O-Cha sent a reply to my question...the larger cup I was looking at is 300ml to the rim and the smaller is 160ml

that makes the bigger one about perfect for the Kyusu I´m eyeing and my existing pot and the smaller one about right for a gaiwan or gongfu pot

[britt]

Sometimes I'm actually happy when I purchase something and the product description was wrong. One case is when I have purchased small cups that end up being much larger. I received a pair of 70ml Chinese singing cups yesterday and was quite pleased to see they each held over 100ml. The pair of guardian dragons in the bottom of each cup are very visible in the larger cup but would probably be lost in a smaller one. Since these are more like small teabowls with a very wide top, an added benefit is that all of the tea ends up in the cups instead of on the counter.

[Proinsias]

I tend to use a faircup, read milk jug or tiny crystal vase, when brewing gong fu. When using a gaiwan or yixing and on my own I usually use cups around the same size, maybe a little bigger or smaller but everything is around 50ml - 150ml. With a faircup at around 200ml everything runs smoothly.

Dragon Tea House has a pretty wide selection of cups and sizes. I picked up a gong fu travel set from them a few years ago and the 60ml baseless gaiwan which came with it sees more tea than all of my other teaware combined.

*edit* for Japanese greens I use a 4oz kyusu from Yuuki-cha, I can easily fit a full pot into a fairly small cup. If there's more than just me drinking we get an infusion each, which means we can try more tea in less time or I mix two infusions together for some consistency.

[Alucard]

Thanks for the post, i feel the same way about having 1 cup that can fit entire contents of a small brewing vessel. I have found a couple japanese tea cups (supposedly for sencha) to my liking although I generally stick to oolong and yunnan black tea. I am still looking for a 120-150ml crackled cup as seen in my previous post. http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=13238

[debunix]

I received a pair of 70ml Chinese singing cups yesterday and was quite pleased to see they each held over 100ml. The pair of guardian dragons in the bottom of each cup are very visible in the larger cup but would probably be lost in a smaller one. Since these are more like small teabowls with a very wide top, an added benefit is that all of the tea ends up in the cups instead of on the counter.

Need pictures of singing dragon cups!

[Chip]

+1

[Poohblah]

FWIW it's easy to find & match cups to pots if you use glassware

[britt]

I tend to use a faircup, read milk jug or tiny crystal vase, when brewing gong fu. When using a gaiwan or yixing and on my own I usually use cups around the same size, maybe a little bigger or smaller but everything is around 50ml - 150ml. With a faircup at around 200ml everything runs smoothly.

*edit* for Japanese greens I use a 4oz kyusu from Yuuki-cha, I can easily fit a full pot into a fairly small cup. If there's more than just me drinking we get an infusion each, which means we can try more tea in less time or I mix two infusions together for some consistency.

I guess it would be a lot easier to just use a fair cup, as you mention. That way just about any cups could be used without worrying about the pot size. It's weird that when brewing Japanese tea you use an extra vessel before brewing to cool the water and with Chinese tea you use an additional vessel after the brewing as a step between the pot and cups.

If the 4 ounce kyusu is the Gyoko pine bark one, I agree this is an awesome little kyusu. I usually avoid obi-ami filters, but I purchased this anyway and I am not disappointed.

[britt]

Need pictures of singing dragon cups!

I only have the vendor pic, which isn't very good. The actual cups are much nicer than implied by the picture. They have a moderate greenish-yellow tint and the doubledragon-waves-fireball inside the cup is very detailed, to the point where in spite of the high price I doubt they are handpainted. They're just too perfectly done. I think the actual cups are handmade, and the size of each is slightly different. They also came in a very high quality box which I didn't even know they came in. They're not thick, but they're not super thin either. I've been using them for Dan Cong and Wu Yi teas, not for greens.

http://s895.photobucket.com/albums/ac15 ... on70cc.jpg

[debunix]

Singing cups description here on Tea Masters blog, which also has a video of the cup being made to 'sing'.