Why does tea taste better in bone china?

[Qualityplant]

Hi all

I am new to quality tea drinking and this site.

I have recently invested in some fine bone china teacups because i heard that tea tastes better when drunk out of a proper teacup.

So I put some tea in a mug and some in my new teacup and tested the difference. Low and behold, the tea from the teacup tasted a lot finer and more of the subtle delicate flavours were noticable.

Does anyone know why this is? I am definitly confused about how something like a receptical can make such a big difference in taste.

Thanks

[Baku]

Hi and welcome to the TC forum!

Can I ask you which kind of tea did you brew?

...anyway, despite the sort of leaf, tea always tastes much better when using hard-to-find and expensive teaware.

this is the very first step into the jungle.. no way to backtrack.

baku

[Qualityplant]

Thanks for your reply. I still would like someone to shed some light as to the reason why it tastes better

I have been brewing Lapsong Soochong and a Breakfast Blend tea (both are the leafy sort, not sure what the blend contains - i bought it from The Sacred Tea House in Carnaby St. London)

Cheers

[kymidwife]

Total guesswork and speculation here... but perhaps the thinner bone china helps the tea to cool to a optimal temperature for appreciation of flavor as compared to some other thicker cups/vessels you'd been using? From my own experience, when tea is too hot, the aroma is great but you can miss many of the subtle nuances the leaf has to offer. Of course, the perfect temperature for drinking has a small window of opportunity in a thin-walled vessel, as you may not enjoy it as much if it cools too much.

Sarah

[britt]

I don't necessarily agree that tea tastes better in bone china, although I do agree that it tastes different. I often find that a particular tea's taste is improved when drinking from an unglazed clay vessel such as Bizen or Tambayaki. It may be that certain minerals, etc. that affect the taste of tea are absorbed by the unglazed clay but retained by glazed porcelain and glazed clay cups.

I have found that the characteristics of the teapot have a major affect on the taste of tea; the thickness of the walls, the weight, the shape, and whether it is glazed or unglazed. Although these same qualities may also affect the taste produced by the cup, the tea leaves are separated from it so I don't think they're as critical as they are with the brewing vessel.

Whatever is best for one tea isn't necessarily the best choice for another.

[Proinsias]

Welcome to TeaChat!

I've no idea about your china cups but if you're in London and new to quality tea I'd recommend stopping by Tea Smith, lovely tea and very nice staff.

[Rainy-Day]

The cup has a great effect on taste of tea, especially if the tea is lightly brewed. I'm very surprised every time I compare different cups. I used to think this is mostly because of thicker cups "stealing" heat, but recently I've tried preheating a thicker ceramic cup vs. a glass cup, and the difference is still huge. Since I usually prefer lighter brewed teas, whether it's a green, oolong, darjeeling or even a black, I can't use any cups other than glass - I have no bone china so I can't compare.

[tingjunkie]

I can't claim to know why, but I have noticed I prefer teas from porcelain rather than glazed ceramics. In theory, both are glazed and shiny, and therefore tea should taste the same, but somehow my $1 porcelain cup holds more aromas and subtle flavors than my treasured $125 guinomi. The biggest difference can be found when smelling the inside of the two cups after drinking the tea. The porcelain holds on to far more aroma.

On a related note, I have done some tea tastings using a porcelain spoon to ladle tea into a drinking cup from a faircup. The back of the spoon gives off significantly more aromas than the interior of the spoon. Darned if I know why.

[Maitre_Tea]

Give Intuit 5 minutes, and there will be an in-depth analysis on spoon curvature theory, all with citations to relevant literature.

[Geekgirl]

Give Intuit 5 minutes, and there will be an in-depth analysis on spoon curvature theory, all with citations to relevant literature.

ROTFL!!!

seriously, there is something to the idea of cup shape. Usually bone china comes in certain shapes, designed to cool quickly and release aroma from the tea. This will benefit certain teas that you want to drink quickly because they become more tannic in flavor as they sit. Also a fine porcelain is not going to change the flavor of the tea at all, where a cheaper cup may impart some of its own characteristics to the broth.

The key to remember though, is your own experience is the most important, and if you have a particular cup that really makes your favorite teas "sing," it's irrelevant whether there is scientific data to back up that observation.

[tingjunkie]

Give Intuit 5 minutes, and there will be an in-depth analysis on spoon curvature theory, all with citations to relevant literature.

Hahaha.

[Maitre_Tea]

Related to the taste/aroma of tea in different vessels, it may have something to do with the different aromas in tea - beidixiang (bottom-cup aroma) and lengxiang (cold aroma).

The former is the few seconds you sniff using an aroma cup, and it represents the aroma of both of the tea "juice" and its oils. After a few seconds though, the "juice" evaporates and you're left with lengxiang, which is the oils from the tea. Certain teas tend to do better with aroma cups, IMO, such as Taiwanese greens or dark-roasted oolongs.

It's said that the durability of beidixiang is a mark of quality tea, but like everything in tea: you're mileage may vary and it probably depends on what kind of tea you're dealing with.

[Zanaspus]

Let me ask a question. Was the china brand new, or of an older provenance? The reason I ask is the Chinese have long asserted that older vessels remove some of the "fire" from tea. My own take on this is micropores. People use Yixing teaware to promote a rounder tea. I believe that less than perfect substrates act to remove some of the "tannins" from tea, thus producing a "rounder," less "sharp" tasting experience.

If the china is new, ignore me and move along.

[tingjunkie]

Let me ask a question. Was the china brand new, or of an older provenance? The reason I ask is the Chinese have long asserted that older vessels remove some of the "fire" from tea.

It's so odd learning about teaware and its effect on tea. Sometimes the things we would never guess could make a big change in flavors and qualities actually do. I have heard vintage porcelain/china is no exception. The following is an excerpt from Dae's excellent Tea Gallery blog.

"The result of many blind taste tests with the unwitting participation of shop visitors had everyone preferring the flavor of the water from the antique water jar. "Sweeter and softer" was the most common response. We still don't know why a 200 year old, glazed porcelain pot would have such an effect on water. The same water did not have that sweet fullness when we used other contemporary porcelain vessels."

[nubcaek]

The essence of every tea is found in it's organic compounds.

When you hear someone say "It smells like Christmas!" it is because of the essence found in the organic matter. (In this case it would be eugenol)

To some degree, all organic compounds have polar characteristics and would thus bind to things polar. The porous surface and metallic nature of clay surfaces of say a "hagi" would likely provide the perfect conditions to retain the compounds.

What I am saying is that, the clay would likely retain the flavor whereas glaze which is primarily silica (glass and neutral) would not.