Sunday TeaDay 8/23/09 Matching or Eclectic?

[Chip]

Greetings everyone and welcome to TeaDay. Please do drop in and share what is in your cup throughout the day.

Yesterday we discussed teacup materials. You can still vote and discuss yesterday's topic.

Today's TeaPoll and discussion topic. Are you a Matching TeaSet or an Eclectic TeaWare Ensemble kinda drinker? Please share!

I am looking forward to sharing TeaDay with everyone. Bottoms up.

[Salsero]

I pretty much prefer unique items, eclectic, rather than too many matched sets.


(Click the photo for a closer look.)

[olivierco]

More often eclectic.

Ippodo shincha to start the afternoon.

[Drax]

I don't believe I planned it, but I've gone completely eclectic. Or perhaps that's a "duh statement" since I didn't plan anything? Seriously though, I've got 2 sets of 2 gaiwans that have similar styles, but other than that, tea cups and tea pots don't have any scheme, and I've never bought any sort of complete tea service.

I spent most of the afternoon and evening out yesterday, so I didn't have a chance to tea-up like I wanted to... but it was in a good way. We'll see how today goes. So far I start with a cup of single bush oolong.

[Riene]

If I'm entertaining I will get out the lovely matching china. For day-to-day drinking, it's kind of a free-for-all, depending on the tea, hour of the day, what's clean, and who's doing the drinking.

My favorite mug is a porcelain white cup with blue flowers. My husband prefers a huge green Pottery Barn stoneware mug.

Yunnan Noir this morning.

[JP]

I just grab whatever I have and don't worry about matching anything up. Except for a couple of sets, I don't have anything matching in tea wares, they are all unique items.

[Victoria]

Well I certainly feel like I need to buy all matching pieces, but I rarely use them all together. So it's a strange compulsion. It's mostly mixed. I have found you end up using your favorite this or that so it's usually mixed.

Hou De Winter Petals in my cup this morning, thanks TokyoB!!
Delish!

Have a nice day everyone!

[brad4419]

eclectic all the way.

I don't have any matching tea sets and never plan on having any. I just like stuff to have its own character and feel from others. I do have 5 yixing 40ml cups I threw in with an order but thats just to let guests try pu erh before I make a bigger batch.

Having some bai mu dan right now in 2 unmatching cups dont you just love it when you make too much and get to drink it all or is it that you can't make too much.

[chamekke]

I like the eclectic approach, with diverse pieces selected to complement each other. It's especially appealing to have different textures in a setting.

Waking up to Yunnan Noir!

[geeber1]

I would say mostly eclectic. When you consider that our usual everyday dishes are three different colors of Fiesta ware that we never match, it's no surprise!

Iced tea in my glass with breakfast. Soon I'll try a 2nd brew of Magnolia Oolong (Thanks, V!). I'm still on the fence with this one, the first infusion was interesting: almost too flowery, but still tasted good. We'll see what the 2nd infusion brings!

[Intuit]

My Asian teaware is purchased in complimentary colors, but they don't match per se. It all looks good together. My English teaware matches because they're a sebset of luncheon or dinnerware services, for which I also have complimentary hued teapots for serving more than one type of tea.

Irish breakfast blend for starters. Sencha/matcha blend in a few minutes.

[Carnelian]

The vast majority of my teaware is either plain white or glass, so it mostly matches with a few colorful exceptions

[olivierco]

Himalaya gold this evening.

[Cinnamon Kitty]

Considering my fiance has actually looked at my tea ware and told me point blank that nothing matches, I would have to say that I definitely have an eclectic collection all the way. Matching has never appealed to me. I am overly fond of bright colors, bold patterns, and unique textures even if they don't always go together.

I finally got my priorities straight this morning. I enjoyed three steeps of Yuuki-Yutaka sencha while baking a double batch of molasses cookies and still haven't gotten to breakfast yet. Good times.

[Maitre_Tea]

I had to think how to best answer this question, because matching or eclectic in what sense? color-wise? theme-wise? shape-wise? Looking at my tea-ware, I think I really like clean and simple designs, and none of my teapots, tea cups, or fair-cups have any of those "fancy" designs with excessive embellishments. Color-wise, I definitely don't match...I have a different color clay for all my teapots.

Enjoyed the very last of my Yuuki-Cha Midori Matcha...