Thursday TeaDay 9/25/08 International Gaiwan Day?!?

[Cinnamon Kitty]

I have one gaiwan and I love it. In fact, I used mine this morning to brew some of the Shui Xian Wuyi that I started drinking last night.

[chamekke]

Chamekke, where can someone get that set?

I bought my set through TeaCentre (in Courtenay, B.C., Canada) for the sum of CDN $45 - which is the lowest price I've seen for it.

You can find it towards the bottom of their Asian teawares page. They have the same set in a deep blue/brown combo, and two other sets in a slightly different (and more expensive) style. All these sets are made by Eilong of Taiwan.

If you don't want the set, but only the gaiwan itself, you can buy the gaiwan alone from TeaSpring.com for USD $37.

By the way, I've been after TeaCentre to consider selling the matching "traditional" gaiwan, which I bought from another vendor but which broke (the other vendor no longer offers it). It was my very first gaiwan, and is possibly the most beautiful one I've ever seen, although this Eilong catalogue photo doesn't do it justice:

[leiche]

I just have the one gaiwan, the smaller version of Sal's:

Assam with breakfast. Now, drinking some Rou Gui from my cauldron mug. The, er, perfect accompaniment to a long day of writing annotations.

[laran7]

A gaiwan is the tea item I do crave the most - because it is the only one ( I think
unless there are more surprises in store - ) ( Probably) that I do not have even one of.

Oh yeah and a matcha spoon.

Oh yeah and a tea tray.

Oh never mind. I want one!

[Wosret]

I would love to own a gaiwan or two (or three, or four ...), but don't currently own any at all. One day (when I have my mansion!) I'd love to own teaware from every culture, and know how to properly brew tea using that teaware.

[geeber1]

I bought my set through TeaCentre (in Courtenay, B.C., Canada) for the sum of CDN $45 - which is the lowest price I've seen for it.

Thanks! I'll check it out. I can understand why you long for the one that broke, it's very pretty!

[chamekke]

One nice thing about gaiwan is that most of them are inexpensive. You can usually buy a plain porcelain or glass gaiwan for under $10 - sometimes well under $10. Most of the patterned ones are extremely reasonable too.

[Victoria]

I love yours Chamekke!! I have one similar in white from eBay the price is a little better
and it's domestic (USA)

Although it says white, it's really a gray over white - I still like it


http://cgi.ebay.com/White-Flower-GaiWan ... .m20.l1116

[Pentox]

I did not know O-Cha sold gaiwan.

Lol I think your run in with a car rattled your brain about a bit. It's obviously from Ito-en.

[Salsero]

Salsero, your photograph of the day is unbelievably sensual and beautiful.

Thanks, Chamekke and all. Actually, I think the sensual photos are the WET LEAF and DRY LEAF (<---click to see, click again on the pop up photo to see big). I love the large, dark leaves of Lu An Gua Pian.

[auggy]

auggy, if you have difficulty with the traditional type of gaiwan (like Victoria's or Salsero's), I do recommend the "teapot"-style gaiwan, which is very easy and pleasant to use:

I have to say, I've seen that before and think it is LOVELY.

I do wonder, where is the line between teapot and gaiwan? Is it the outer handle? Or the style of lid? Or is there a line? I start getting confused about what makes a gaiwan and what the brewing benefits (if that makes sense) are if I get away from something that follows the strict definition of it (which come to think of it, probably ties in a bit with why using the gaiwan stressed me out a bit).

[murrius]

I have had an unrelenting desire for a gaiwan ever since I saw a video link from a aTeaChat post of a person brewing red tea in a gaiwan in their back yard. They had something in the order of 5 steeps and began running around their back yard like a crazed gerbil.

Now that I've seen the teapot gaiwan set that chamekke posted I may well submit to the craving. I"ve already begun crafting an alibi for spending yet more money on tea stuff.

Got my Adagio order yesterday (Ali Shan, Dragonwell, Yunnan gold, and Kukicha) so was in the enviable position this morning of pondering which to try. Settled on two steeps of the Dragonwell. Yummmmm.

[Maitre_Tea]

I have two, if you counted one that recently shattered. I have a special place in my heart for gaiwan, because they're so versatile in brewing so many different kinds of tea. I'm always on the lookout for additional pretty gaiwan to collect. As for what the plural of gaiwan is, I think the word can be used both as a singular and as a plural. It's a Chinese word, so there's so "plural" form of it, you just indicate the plural by saying the actual amount.

Enjoying some Bai Mu Dan

[Pentox]

I do wonder, where is the line between teapot and gaiwan? Is it the outer handle? Or the style of lid? Or is there a line? I start getting confused about what makes a gaiwan and what the brewing benefits (if that makes sense) are if I get away from something that follows the strict definition of it (which come to think of it, probably ties in a bit with why using the gaiwan stressed me out a bit).

Probably the best separation between a teapot and a gaiwan is a spout. A gaiwan is literally a lidded cup, where you use the lid as a strainer. An example like the one posted starts going into a hazy area there though, where there is an indentation / teeth / strainer for ease of use. This gets close to a hohin/shiborodashi which could be argued is simply a Japanese version of a gaiwan.

A traditional gaiwan vs a traditional teapot though is most notably in the differences between the spout and lids.

[edkrueger]

I have 5. In order of increasing coolness:
Two from Andao:

One from Imperial Tea Court:

One from 5000 Friend:

And one antique that my grandmother got on the first trip of westerners to China after the reforms. Unfortunately i don't have a picture.