How hot does a tea warmer keep a tetsubin?

[teanovice78]

I have a 20 oz tetsubin (enamel on inside)that I would like to use to keep water hot when I brew gong fu tea. I saw some tea warmers on amazon that were also cast iron and powered by a small tea candle. Does anyone know how warm this would keep my water? Thanks!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012H ... d_i=507846

[MarshalN]

Tea warmers? Like..... what kind?

If it's candle powered, it's going to be useless.

[teanovice78]

Sounds like I need to just get a variable temp kettle! Thanks everyone for your comments.

[MarshalN]

It said candle powered in my post above. If it will be useless then that's the answer.

Ah sorry, I missed that reading the first time.

Candle won't be nearly hot enough. It'll leak heat a lot faster than the candle can replenish it, so your water will cool quite a bit. An alcohol lamp will be warmer, but alcohol lamp has vapours that will condense around the bottom, so your tetsubin will rust right around the middle of the base. So, your best bet is a dry heat source of some type.

[theredbaron]

I have a 20 oz tetsubin (enamel on inside)that I would like to use to keep water hot when I brew gong fu tea. I saw some tea warmers on amazon that were also cast iron and powered by a small tea candle. Does anyone know how warm this would keep my water? Thanks!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012H ... d_i=507846

Both items are quite useless for Gong Fu tea.
These enameled iron pots are sort of adaptations of traditional tetsubin for western style tea drinking, and the tea warmer is to keep the western style brewed tea warm by placing the pot over a candle.
Real tetsubin are not enameled on the inside, and placed on a coal brazier to boil water. What many do is boil water in a kettle, shift the boiling water into a tetsubin, which then is placed on a brazier with alcohol flame.
What you can do as well is boiling water in a smaller kettle over an alcohol flame brazier - it takes a bit longer, but better for the water than using a generic kettle, and less complicated than a coal flame.

The material of the kettle will influence the quality of the water. Many swear on testubin (good ones are very expensive), others like silver kettles (very very expensive), i use an old (republican or late Qing period) and quite large Yixing pot. There are many other materials, especially different clays.

[teaisme]

boil hot water on stove, transfer kettle to hot plate?

Example from ebay and walmart...
kettle $33 shipping included http://www.ebay.com/itm/280858393430?ss ... 1438.l2649
Hot plate $20
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Elite-Cuisine ... te/8467244

[Drax]

I can give a thumbs-up for the hot plate option. I've used one for my silver kettle, and it does the job just fine.

[tkellyd]

Hello teanovice78;

You might try a hot plate, but anything else is a bust for table-top tea service.

Best,

- T