Removing Tea leaves from Teapot

[armormaniac]

I know this sounds a bit silly but I was wondering if there is a certain technique or a tool people use to get leaves out of the Teapot.

[William]

I generally take the leaves out of the teapots with my hands; but usually, before doing this, I shake the teapot a bit above the trash can upside down.

Regards.

[CWarren]

Edited

[hopeofdawn]

The best technique I've found is a variation off of a recommendation I found here at Teachat. Get a small handled fry strainer (I found mine in the local Japanese dollar store) for cheap. Fill your teapot with water, then take it to the sink, turn it over and dump the water and leaves out into the strainer. Repeat as necessary to get any remaining leaves out, then set your teapot up to dry. Knock the leaves out of the strainer into your trash can or compost pile, rinse out any remaining leaf bits, and you're done.

No fuss, no muss, and you're not endangering your expensive teaware by trying to knock or poke out any stubborn leaf bits!

[pedant]

i just rinse the pot out directly into the garbage disposal (sometimes i have to remove the first clump of leaves from the pot with my fingers if it's packed with leaves). that's right, i dump all my leaves down the drain... the garbage disposal does good work. no clogs so far after hundreds of sessions.

can't get easier than that imo.

[armormaniac]

Thank you for all of your suggestions, I never thought of using a fry strainer to separate the leaves and water! I'll definitely try that

[JRS22]

I also run water into the spout to dislodge any leaves that might be caught there or in the filter, and also to rinse the spout thoroughly.

[jayinhk]

I shake out what I can, then rinse out the teapot with cold water until all the leaves are gone. The sink trap catches the leaves.

[debunix]

This is why I love gaiwans and shiboridashi especially at work: access to running water is limited for rinsing, and it's so much nicer to be able to swirl around a little water and wipe with a towel. With a pot, running water rinse is the rule. How much work it takes with a finger or a chopstick to get all the leaves out depends on the shape of the pot. I nearly always hold the spout under running water the size of the leaves vs spout to backwash any leaves out of the filter, and sometimes have to resort to a fingernail to tug at the more stubborn bits. If they don't come out, I set it aside until dry and tap to try to knock them out.

[wyardley]

I use my fingers.

[stevorama]

I dump the leaves into a bowl. That way I can examine the leaves if I want. Then I swish water in the pot and dump the rest of the leaves. The leaves eventually go to the compost or garden. Sometimes I just dump it out the window instead of the bowl.

[GooseberrySpoon]

i just rinse the pot out directly into the garbage disposal (sometimes i have to remove the first clump of leaves from the pot with my fingers if it's packed with leaves). that's right, i dump all my leaves down the drain... the garbage disposal does good work. no clogs so far after hundreds of sessions.

can't get easier than that imo.

You must have a better disposal than mine. I dump the majority of my leaves in the trash but the few that do wash out in the disposal tend to build up in there. If it isn't cleaned out with ice occasionally the whole kitchen with start to smell like rotten leaves.

[pedant]

i just rinse the pot out directly into the garbage disposal (sometimes i have to remove the first clump of leaves from the pot with my fingers if it's packed with leaves). that's right, i dump all my leaves down the drain... the garbage disposal does good work. no clogs so far after hundreds of sessions.

can't get easier than that imo.

You must have a better disposal than mine. I dump the majority of my leaves in the trash but the few that do wash out in the disposal tend to build up in there. If it isn't cleaned out with ice occasionally the whole kitchen with start to smell like rotten leaves.

hm, yeah, idk if it should be retaining material like that. if even a few bits of leaves build up in there, i'd imagine that it would suffer from the same issue for anything you try to use on it. i rinse them down with plenty of water, and i get no smells.

[GooseberrySpoon]

i just rinse the pot out directly into the garbage disposal (sometimes i have to remove the first clump of leaves from the pot with my fingers if it's packed with leaves). that's right, i dump all my leaves down the drain... the garbage disposal does good work. no clogs so far after hundreds of sessions.

can't get easier than that imo.

You must have a better disposal than mine. I dump the majority of my leaves in the trash but the few that do wash out in the disposal tend to build up in there. If it isn't cleaned out with ice occasionally the whole kitchen with start to smell like rotten leaves.

hm, yeah, idk if it should be retaining material like that. if even a few bits of leaves build up in there, i'd imagine that it would suffer from the same issue for anything you try to use on it. i rinse them down with plenty of water, and i get no smells.

It definitely shouldn't be doing this, but it's what came in my apartment. It's true that other things can cause problems but the tea leaves are especially problematic because they are small, light, and hard to grind up.