I am on the lookout for a pot of some sort, but not sure what to get? I have seen what Adagio offers, then there is the tea kettle. I want something simple and not too expensive. I usually only brew 16 oz at a time.
I have a teacup I love that came with a ceramic infuser, but the holes are huge. Right now I boil it in a pot then pour it into my small teapot with a infuser, which actually works pretty well. But, I find I have to make 2-3 cups at a time because the infuser sits up too high, and many times tea just gets wasted. Is this normal?
Does a tea kettle have a infuser, or is it just for boiling the water?
For a beginner, I would recommend any simple glass or porcelain teapot, which will not "season," so you can use the same pot for many different types of tea.
This sort of pot from adagio should work fine, but if anything, just pour the brewed tea through the infuser mesh after the tea has brewed, rather than packing the leaves into the infuser while you brew. Anything that constrains the tea leaves will diminish the flavor.
I even use this type of Bodum press for Black tea, although without the mesh screen, I instead pour through a handheld strainer. It has a good pour, a nice handle, and is easy to clean.
Many of the teapots you see posted in this forum are type-specific. The side-handled Japanese Kyusu are for Japanese Green Tea (Sencha),
... and the Chinese Yixing Clay pots are typically used for Chinese Oolong and Puerh, usually brewed Gong Fu-style:
(image credit)
These types of traditional unglazed teapots "season" over time, ie become infused with the essence of the tea brewed in them.
Japanese Kyusu and Chinese Yixing Pots have an ancient lineage. Many of us tea-heads prefer to brew our favorite types of tea in the traditional tea-ware. Clay from certain areas is said to enhance the flavor of particular Chinese and Japanese tea's that they evolved to be brewed with, and using traditional tea-ware can certainly enhance the experience.
But for Tea 101, glass or porcelain is your friend!
This sort of pot from adagio should work fine, but if anything, just pour the brewed tea through the infuser mesh after the tea has brewed, rather than packing the leaves into the infuser while you brew. Anything that constrains the tea leaves will diminish the flavor.
I even use this type of Bodum press for Black tea, although without the mesh screen, I instead pour through a handheld strainer. It has a good pour, a nice handle, and is easy to clean.
Many of the teapots you see posted in this forum are type-specific. The side-handled Japanese Kyusu are for Japanese Green Tea (Sencha),
... and the Chinese Yixing Clay pots are typically used for Chinese Oolong and Puerh, usually brewed Gong Fu-style:
(image credit)
These types of traditional unglazed teapots "season" over time, ie become infused with the essence of the tea brewed in them.
Japanese Kyusu and Chinese Yixing Pots have an ancient lineage. Many of us tea-heads prefer to brew our favorite types of tea in the traditional tea-ware. Clay from certain areas is said to enhance the flavor of particular Chinese and Japanese tea's that they evolved to be brewed with, and using traditional tea-ware can certainly enhance the experience.
But for Tea 101, glass or porcelain is your friend!
Oh, I see! Well, maybe this is why I haven't noticed a strong enough flavor. Ok, I will try it that way. In that case, the pot I have should work just fine.joelbct wrote: This sort of pot from adagio should work fine, but if anything, just pour the brewed tea through the infuser mesh after the tea has brewed, rather than packing the leaves into the infuser while you brew. Anything that constrains the tea leaves will diminish the flavor.
Thank you very much!
I'm going to recommend my favorite ForLife Brew-in-Mug. It's got a metal filter instead of a ceramic one, rubebr grip on the filter, the filter can be placed in the upside down lid for easy leaf removal, and it holds about 12 oz. so plenty of affordable day-to-day tea. I drink my staples from there and leaf the more expensive tea for the more expensive tea equipment.
That sounds good too, where did you get it?Thirsty Daruma wrote:I'm going to recommend my favorite ForLife Brew-in-Mug. It's got a metal filter instead of a ceramic one, rubebr grip on the filter, the filter can be placed in the upside down lid for easy leaf removal, and it holds about 12 oz. so plenty of affordable day-to-day tea. I drink my staples from there and leaf the more expensive tea for the more expensive tea equipment.
hey... i'm a newbie too...
and i was actually told to start a new thread, but i found yours, and it was pretty helpful.
i'm in a similar situation, but since i'm just trying things out, i have a bunch of different types, so i need something that wont retain tastes over time (at least until i get more established). any one have any other ideas for a teapot, 12 to 16oz, mess infuser, or do those swiss gold ones work well?
thank you..
and i was actually told to start a new thread, but i found yours, and it was pretty helpful.
i'm in a similar situation, but since i'm just trying things out, i have a bunch of different types, so i need something that wont retain tastes over time (at least until i get more established). any one have any other ideas for a teapot, 12 to 16oz, mess infuser, or do those swiss gold ones work well?
thank you..
In my opinion the best thing to use to start out is going to be something porcelean or glass or plastic. Those won't retain flavors for the most part. My suggestions would be a glass or porcelean teapot like the one from adagio or any glass teapot you can find (it's not hard to find one). You want to get one though with the largest strainer basket you can find. If it has a ball filter or something of the like that is even better. (a small filter at the base of the spout that is built into the pot). You might also want to look into the ingenuitea from adagio as well, not the most traditional teapot, but easy to use and no issues with the infuser. Also pretty good for trying out different teas.doyoulovedee wrote:hey... i'm a newbie too...
and i was actually told to start a new thread, but i found yours, and it was pretty helpful.
i'm in a similar situation, but since i'm just trying things out, i have a bunch of different types, so i need something that wont retain tastes over time (at least until i get more established). any one have any other ideas for a teapot, 12 to 16oz, mess infuser, or do those swiss gold ones work well?
thank you..
thank you, i'll look into that, i need a new adagio order anyways, i'm finally making my way through all my samples.Pentox wrote: In my opinion the best thing to use to start out is going to be something porcelean or glass or plastic. Those won't retain flavors for the most part. My suggestions would be a glass or porcelean teapot like the one from adagio or any glass teapot you can find (it's not hard to find one). You want to get one though with the largest strainer basket you can find. If it has a ball filter or something of the like that is even better. (a small filter at the base of the spout that is built into the pot). You might also want to look into the ingenuitea from adagio as well, not the most traditional teapot, but easy to use and no issues with the infuser. Also pretty good for trying out different teas.
Jul 15th, '08, 14:11
Posts: 1633
Joined: Feb 15th, '08, 10:15
Location: Pennsylvania
In my opinion the absolute best teapot for a beginner is a cast iron pot. Thats the first pot I ever got. I have the one that you see on my avatar, I bought it from www.teavana.com for $70. Please do not get discouraged from the price. Each one of Teavana's pots are handmade In Japan from a natural coal fire and sand mold casting techniques. they say each pot goes through the hands of 17 craftsmen before its done. Each one has a porcelain coating on the inside, and all come with a replicable stainless steal infuser. I once tried to see how long I could keep black tea at a good temperature in a full pot. 2 hours latter it was still semi hot/warm and quite enjoyable. These pots also season after time on there own if you do not wipe the inside after rinsing them in water after use. They are just all around great pots so check them out. Have fun choosing your new pot, just look at all different styles and get the one that suits you. 
My first teapot was Adagio's Ingenuitea. Link here
Its a 16oz and uses a mesh strainer. Its pretty keen for travel and you don't have to worry about lil bits in your cup.
Hope this helps!
The Tea Sipping Swordsman,
Fencerdenoctum[/url]
Its a 16oz and uses a mesh strainer. Its pretty keen for travel and you don't have to worry about lil bits in your cup.
Hope this helps!
The Tea Sipping Swordsman,
Fencerdenoctum[/url]
Agreed, except.... no plastic....Pentox wrote:
In my opinion the best thing to use to start out is going to be something porcelean or glass or plastic. Those won't retain flavors for the most part. My suggestions would be a glass or porcelean teapot like the one from adagio or any glass teapot you can find (it's not hard to find one). You want to get one though with the largest strainer basket you can find. If it has a ball filter or something of the like that is even better. (a small filter at the base of the spout that is built into the pot). You might also want to look into the ingenuitea from adagio as well, not the most traditional teapot, but easy to use and no issues with the infuser. Also pretty good for trying out different teas.
Plastic and hot water really shouldn't mix.
Jul 15th, '08, 16:36
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Joined: Jan 28th, '07, 02:24
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Space Samurai
For beginners, I'm very fond of this one from Adagio: http://www.adagio.com/teaware/glass_mug ... 939b3cd80e.
It's versatile and simple and affordable. Later, if you upgrade to better pots, this one becomes great for traveling or office use instead of collecting dust.
It's versatile and simple and affordable. Later, if you upgrade to better pots, this one becomes great for traveling or office use instead of collecting dust.
Jul 15th, '08, 17:48
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Proinsias
Is there anything to be said for jumping in at the deepend?
4/5oz Gaiwan can be had for next to nothing and are wonderful for almost any tea out there, maybe not Japanese greens. The gaiwan will defeat the problem of having to make x amounts of cups at a time, although you may have to make x amount of gaiwans to fill your cup depending on size.
The rather nice pic is nicked from some teanerd named Brent via wikicha, hope he's not around these parts or I might be in trouble.
As for getting the leaf to make full use of the brewing space it's ideal, for cleaning it really couldn't be any easier and most of all I'm of the opinion they look much cooler than most modern 'tea solutions'. They have also stood the test of time rather well.
I vote for one of the pots mentioned above + gaiwan. If you get a fairly traditional pot then you can always use it to hold the hot water you will be decanting into the gaiwan as well as using it as a tea brewer in it's own right.
I think my suggestion also puts you onto the road of tea obsession as you will be buying two things when you planned on just one, this is the way of teachat.
4/5oz Gaiwan can be had for next to nothing and are wonderful for almost any tea out there, maybe not Japanese greens. The gaiwan will defeat the problem of having to make x amounts of cups at a time, although you may have to make x amount of gaiwans to fill your cup depending on size.
The rather nice pic is nicked from some teanerd named Brent via wikicha, hope he's not around these parts or I might be in trouble.
As for getting the leaf to make full use of the brewing space it's ideal, for cleaning it really couldn't be any easier and most of all I'm of the opinion they look much cooler than most modern 'tea solutions'. They have also stood the test of time rather well.
I vote for one of the pots mentioned above + gaiwan. If you get a fairly traditional pot then you can always use it to hold the hot water you will be decanting into the gaiwan as well as using it as a tea brewer in it's own right.
I think my suggestion also puts you onto the road of tea obsession as you will be buying two things when you planned on just one, this is the way of teachat.
Personally I don't think that a Gaiwan is the best way to start out for a newbie. Gaiwans require a certain level of skill to use them on their own, let alone learning the parameters for brewing the tea itself. To initially start I would say to use a simple add leaf, add water, wait, pour style of pot rather than the pouring method of a gaiwan. I would say that would be a good second stage to pick up. I've seen too many people burn themselves with a gaiwan not knowing how to hold it right to suggest it for a newbie.