Your opinion on clay teacups

[inspectoring]

Just curious - what do you guys think of small 2 oz clay tea cups? Do you think its good for gyokuro or is it best to use porcelain cups?

http://i428.photobucket.com/albums/qq3/ ... 3387-1.jpg

[entropyembrace]

I have a pair of dark purple clay cups...they´re pretty much only good for dark puerh and robust chinese black teas like ying de or from yunnan...anything else they give too much mineral taste to.

but then different clays have different properties too so it´s hard to say until you try it.

[brad4419]

I would stick to porcelain. Its hard to tell what kind of clay it is and I read somewhere a lot of clay teacups arn't made with very good clay(saved for teapots) so they will probably devlop some kind of smell to them.
I don't know If you can find the size your looking for but they make clay cups with a porcelain/ceramic liner inside. I love these cups and have 5, 20ml cups.

Heres an example http://www.yunnansourcing.com/store/pro ... roduct=470

[JBaymore]

Porcelain is a type of clay. "Clay cups" is like saying "wine" in France and then generalizing about wine. Filled with potential inaccuracies. There are so many possibilities for the properties of a ceramic cup that it is likely literally countless. (BTW..... there are different types of the sub-category procelain.)

Then there is the issue of the glazes (if any) over the clay and their potential impacts (if any).

I do not think that you can freely generalize that ".......a lot of clay teacups arn't made with very good clay(saved for teapots) so they will probably devlop some kind of smell to them." and be fair to the diverse ceramic artists who might make them. Some clay cups can be porous after firing...and therefore COULD harbour possible bacterial growth. But many unglazed cups have a very low apparent poriosity figure (standard ASTM technical definition) and therefore would not exhibit this tendency.

best,

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

[Chip]

... but, but, but ... I just don't like the feel of unglazed clay on me lips.

[JBaymore]

... but, but, but ... I just don't like the feel of unglazed clay on me lips.

What about Shigaraki and Bizen yakimono?

best,

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

[Chip]

... but, but, but ... I just don't like the feel of unglazed clay on me lips.

What about Shigaraki and Bizen?

best,

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

Have you been looking on my shelves when I am not around? Yeah, have some teenie Guinomi/Gyokuro sized Bizen cups, have not used them, though they have a smoothness to them wrought through the fires. I could use them, no problem.

You could make a good argument for Shigaraki as well.

So, over generalizing is not the best course when it comes to teaware.

But the clay in the OP's photo, just seems dead to me as a cup, just looking at them, I can imagine the feel on the lips and the roughness. It is personal preference obviously.

[chicagopotter]

... but, but, but ... I just don't like the feel of unglazed clay on me lips.

+1

[JBaymore]

Chip,

One of my favorire yunomi is by a potter living on the outskirts of Mashiko....and I'm having a total "senior moment" right now because I can't remember his name .......... Wood-fired, unglazed "raw" clay, shizenyu effects. But the clay body itself is composed of about as much rocks as clay......very similar to the old "good" Shigaraki clay.

A tactile wonder to use.

best,

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

[JBaymore]

But the clay in the OP's photo, just seems dead to me as a cup,.......

+1 Combination of tsuchi-aji (character of the clay) and the forms themselves.

best,

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

[Chip]

I was recently looking at some Shigaraku Yunomi and Guinomi. I had mostly seen Chawan in Shigaraku which can be a complete hit or miss with me.

But these cups really wowed me. Yeah, I could definitely use those.

[brad4419]

Porcelain is a type of clay. "Clay cups" is like saying "wine" in France and then generalizing about wine. Filled with potential inaccuracies. There are so many possibilities for the properties of a ceramic cup that it is likely literally countless. (BTW..... there are different types of the sub-category procelain.)

Then there is the issue of the glazes (if any) over the clay and their potential impacts (if any).

I do not think that you can freely generalize that ".......a lot of clay teacups arn't made with very good clay(saved for teapots) so they will probably devlop some kind of smell to them." and be fair to the diverse ceramic artists who might make them. Some clay cups can be porous after firing...and therefore COULD harbour possible bacterial growth. But many unglazed cups have a very low apparent poriosity figure (standard ASTM technical definition) and therefore would not exhibit this tendency.

best,

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

Thanks for setting me straight John.
I forgot porcelain is a type of clay, shows what an expert I am. Now that I think about it more I probably read that "a lot of clay teacups arn't made with very good clay(saved for teapots) so they will probably devlop some kind of smell to them" from somewhere unrealiable. Also I was thinking more about factory mass produced cups sold by several online dealers rather than quality ceramic artists works.
I apologize to the ceramic artists out there.

Here is what I ment to say, many clay teacups mass produced in factories arn't made with very good clay...

[brad4419]

Wow and I just remembered hagi is a kind of clay , so I am eating, rather drinking those words as I drink from my favorite teacup tonight, which is hagi . This is a good reminder of how diverse clay is and how its used in so many ways. Thats all I will say about clay for a while and leave this to the experts

[Tead Off]

To answer the OP's question is not easy as subjectivity will always be primary in making these decisions. Is one kind of cup going to make the Gyokuro taste better than another? This will also be subjectively answered as you can refer to the many debates and posts that have appeared on this board from time to time.

Personally, I've done endless experiments concerning clays and tastes but when it comes to cups, I tend to choose those that allow me to view the color of the tea that I'm drinking most of the time. This means either light color glazes in the interior or white porcelain. Yet, often, when I'm drinking Gyokuro, I will choose to drink them in woodfired bizen guinomi which afford me a visual & tactile treat while not compromising the flavor.

To get even more subjective, I don't really like unglazed cups made from yixing clays, banko clays, and, tokoname clays. Too uniform and dull in color for me (not teapots!). But, Bizen can be magic.

[britt]

Just curious - what do you guys think of small 2 oz clay tea cups? Do you think its good for gyokuro or is it best to use porcelain cups?

Another post pointed out that porcelain is a type of clay. However, since not all clay is porcelain I'll use the terms the way I think you intended.

I use both clay and porcelain cups for tea but I prefer the taste of gyokuro in thin, unglazed, Japanese clay cups (I use only Japanese teaware with Japanese tea). I usually use a pair of Tokaname cups by Hokujo that were specifically designed for gyokuro, along with the shiboridashi and yuzamashi that can be purchased to make a gyokuro set. I have had the best results brewing gyokuro when using this set, but it is very small in capacity with the two cups holding only 0.8 ounces each.



Unglazed/partially glazed clay can definitely develop an unpleasant smell but I have only had this happen with the coarser Hagi, not with Tokaname or Bizen. It has not been a problem with all Hagi I own, but with two of them. Both of these were glazed but with clay showing through the glaze in some areas.