Monday 3/02/09 Your favorite "go to" teapot?

[Smari]

I finally opened that pack of fukamushi-sencha special from Den's. I like.
Seeing all of these pots, I want a new one now

[Salsero]

This pot has sort of evolved into my go-to pot for sheng puerh over the last couple years. It has brewed hundreds of multi-infusion sessions which equates to thousands of "teapots-full."

• • • • 

For sencha I tend to the same small pot as Olivierco uses, though I do mix it up a bit. For everything else I thrive on variety.

Here is a pot that I often use for Wuyi oolong and sometimes for other darker oolongs.

[pasttimes]

My “go to” really depends on the tea, but the one that sees the widest variety of leaves is my 16 oz blue porcelain pot. I use it for blacks, Chinese greens, and some oolongs that turn out better when brewed Western style. Of course, it’s a cheap pot, the lid is cracked, and the spout drips…but, all the same, I’m fond of the little fella.

My order from Den's came about an hour ago and I got the starter set which now means I have two kyusus which then means I do have a go-to pot- the black one in the previous pix. I think I'll try the extra green sencha although the cherry was looking good- decided to save that for tomorrow am with the anticpated delay- (hopefully I haven't just jinxed myself)

I just recently got that starter set, too, and the sakura sencha is in my cup right now. It's actually quite good! Doesn't have that medicinal taste that I get from most cherry flavored stuff.

[olivierco]

No go to teapot for me. I sure use some teapots more frequently but I try to use all my teapots and chawans.

Here are the brewing vessels I use the most frequently.

What, no yerba mate gourd?

I only mentioned the teapots I regularly use. I am not a big fan of yerba mate.

Darjeeling Namring FTGFOP1 right now.

[hooksie]

How's everyone in the northeast holding up?

College classes canceled all around.

[brlarson]

How's everyone in the northeast holding up?

College classes canceled all around.

In Milton (south of Boston) we got about a foot of wet snow and it seems to be snowing again I heard that Southern New Hampshire finally got light and fluffy snow, so they shouldn't have to worry about losing power this time.

Just finished a delicious pot of Upton's Spring Dragon Formosa oolong.

[danibob]

How's everyone in the northeast holding up?

College classes canceled all around.

Yea all schools around here are closed. Including the sports academy I teach at so I didn't even have work today. Great opportunity to catch up on school work as I sip tea.

Had two bowls of matcha and now I'm enjoying some sencha. All wired up and nowhere to go.

[horsencl]

My go-to is still the yixing in my avatar. I love the sunrise design and it was my first piece of "serious" teaware. The lid is chipped but I think that gives it character. All the schools here were closed but I still had to trudge through the sludge to get to work.

[gingkoseto]

I received the little kyusu from yuuki-tea, the one I've thought of for a long time!


I don't drink Japanese green often. But I predict this will be one of my "go to" pots, for green or other tea. It's so cute!

[gingkoseto]

Started the TeaDay with Fukamushi organic from Yuuki-Cha. Using a pretty hefty amount of leaf ... it is pretty tasty. Hard to believe it is organic.

What does this mean? Is non-organic supposed to be more tasty than organic? If so I will try more non-organic in the future.

[Chip]

Started the TeaDay with Fukamushi organic from Yuuki-Cha. Using a pretty hefty amount of leaf ... it is pretty tasty. Hard to believe it is organic.

What does this mean? Is non-organic supposed to be more tasty than organic? If so I will try more non-organic in the future.

For years, organic anything had a bad rap when it came to tea, often just terrible compared to "conventionally grown." I have noticed an improvement in organics recently. This is a good example of this improvement.

But organic senchas may never taste "like" nonorganics since they are cultivated quite differently. One should anticipate differences. However this one does taste quite similar to nonorganic fukamushi, milder albeit. This and their Yabe Supreme are likely the best organic sencha I have tried.

I am working on figuring out the Yame Gyokuro from Zencha. I am thinking this is a rather completely different gyo than the last time I had it about this time last year. I cannot come close to recreating the 2 gram per ounce sessions of that batch that blew me away.

Next up was O-Cha Chiran Supreme which is always good.

[Cinnamon Kitty]

My main go-to pot is a little 5oz kyusu that leaks from the lid and has a terribly slow pour, but it is cute and fits well in my hand. Despite its flaws and inefficiency, I am very attached to it and brew most of my Japanese greens with it, even when the fukamushi senchas clog up the filter. Everything else gets brewed in my Den's kyusu, gaiwan, or infuser basket, though I often make excuses to brew more Japanese green teas just to use my swirly kyusu.



Currently in my cup is Sakura Sencha. Delicious!

[Dreamer]

I don't have too many choices of pot per type of tea yet. Since Japanese greens are a favorite, my little red kyusu gets used the most.

This morning I enjoyed Kabusecha, one cup before leaving and a couple of other steeps poured into my travel mug for drinking after getting to work.

This afternoon, I enjoyed one last steep, then moved on too TKY for the afternoon evening...I just keep on resteeping and it just keeps on giving.

Happy Monday,
Dreamer

[gingkoseto]

Started the TeaDay with Fukamushi organic from Yuuki-Cha. Using a pretty hefty amount of leaf ... it is pretty tasty. Hard to believe it is organic.

What does this mean? Is non-organic supposed to be more tasty than organic? If so I will try more non-organic in the future.

For years, organic anything had a bad rap when it came to tea, often just terrible compared to "conventionally grown." I have noticed an improvement in organics recently. This is a good example of this improvement.

But organic senchas may never taste "like" nonorganics since they are cultivated quite differently.

Ah! Thanks for the clarification. I was a little surprised, but now realize it's quite logic.

[Intuit]

Before the advent of synthetic fertilizers in the 1930s-40s and pesticides, introduced in the 50s-60s. most Japanese tea farms were managed using methods that would be comparable to biodynamic or organic methods.

http://www.hibiki-an.com/readings/four- ... n-tea.html

The only portion of this page that rings as sorta bs are the remarks on invasive weeds. Properly managed with natural close-growing turf/ groundcover that remains low growing (no mowing needed) and has very thick root mass, invasive weeds stop being a nuisance about 5-7 years after herbicide control of weeds ceases.

Comments on hand vs machine harvest and seasonal pruning to induce plant senescence was interesting to read.