What kind of tea do you drink in teacups that are 1 oz?

[Carnelian]

When brewing many teas it is common to infuse the same leaves several times to catch all of the nuances of the tea. In order to make this more practical the tea is made in very small quantities; hence tiny gaiwans , pots, and cups.

This is the bare bones explanation that I can muster with my own limited knowledge. Others could probably give a much more in depth reasoning than this.

[hop_goblin]

I'm rather new to chinese and japanese style tea.. I've been shopping for some tea cups and most of the ones I see are 1-1.5oz. These seem REALLY small to me.. I use to drink tea in cups/mugs which are 8oz. What kind of tea do you think in this kind of cups? And I suppose you have to refill it a lot? Forgive my ignorance..

]

To answer your question - Yes, you are supposed to keep refilling it. You see, the Chinese and Japanese drink tea differently than the west. We in the west generally see tea drinking as a way to get your morning cuppa. However, the east tend to drink tea as a matter of "total involvelment". In other words, when they drink tea from those tiny cups ( of course we do as well) they are not trying to just get their fix of caffine, they are examining, smelling it, looking at it, tasting it and relishing it. So, as you can see, a small cup can last a bit longer than if you just slosh it back like a shooter in a bar. But the most practical answer will be is brewing methods. Chinese brew a much smaller quanitity than in the west. typically using the gongfu method. The brewing vessles are much smaller, using this method, typically no bigger than 200ml so smaller cups would be in order.

[olivierco]

I'm rather new to chinese and japanese style tea.. I've been shopping for some tea cups and most of the ones I see are 1-1.5oz. These seem REALLY small to me.. I use to drink tea in cups/mugs which are 8oz. What kind of tea do you think in this kind of cups? And I suppose you have to refill it a lot? Forgive my ignorance..

Gyokuro cups are this size.
But I prefer to drink more (about 3-4 oz per steep).

[chamekke]

To answer your question - Yes, you are supposed to keep refilling it. You see, the Chinese and Japanese drink tea differently than the west. We in the west generally see tea drinking as a way to get your morning cuppa. However, the east tend to drink tea as a matter of "total involvelment". In other words, when they drink tea from those tiny cups ( of course we do as well) they are not trying to just get their fix of caffine, they are examining, smelling it, looking at it, tasting it and relishing it. So, as you can see, a small cup can last a bit longer than if you just slosh it back like a shooter in a bar. But the most practical answer will be is brewing methods. Chinese brew a much smaller quanitity than in the west. typically using the gongfu method. The brewing vessles are much smaller, using this method, typically no bigger than 200ml so smaller cups would be in order.

When I give talks on the Way of Tea (tea ceremony), I usually take some time to explain this. People sometimes look into the bowl of tea they receive and think, "Is that all there is?" They're expecting to receive a large vessel that is filled nearly to the brim - not a teabowl that has what seems to be a pitifully small amount of matcha in it ("three and a half sips", to be precise). I usually mention two things - (1) the bowl is both the "mixing bowl" and the serving bowl, so the extra room is needed for manipulating the whisk; and (2) traditionally the host will keep making bowl after bowl until the first guest asks him/her to conclude. So additional helpings are assumed, so to speak.

[britt]

I'm rather new to chinese and japanese style tea.. I've been shopping for some tea cups and most of the ones I see are 1-1.5oz. These seem REALLY small to me.. I use to drink tea in cups/mugs which are 8oz. What kind of tea do you think in this kind of cups? And I suppose you have to refill it a lot? Forgive my ignorance..

Chinese and Taiwanese tea brewed gong fu style, as well as Japanese gyokuro, often use these 1 ounce cups.

Gong fu brewing usually uses pots as small as 2 to 4 ounces, fills the pot 1/4 to 1/3 full of leaves, and performs eight or more infusions of as little as 15 seconds each. Using a 12 ounce pot for this brewing style would result in a very large quantity of tea to drink or wasted leaves if you weren't able to continue. Eight 12 ounce infusions is 96 ounces where as a 4 ounce pot would brew a total of 32 ounces over 8 infusions. Thirty-two ounces of tea over the course of a couple of hours is a reasonable amount for even one person to consume.

Gyokuro is a Japanese green tea that is considered by many to be the best tea Japan has to offer. It is usually brewed in small handle-less pots using a fairly large amount of leaf, much cooler water, and LONGER infusion times. It is heavier in consistency than other teas and rich in flavor, therefore it is suitable or even desirable to consume in small quantities. It can also be very expensive. My gyokuro set has a 2.8 ounce pot and two 0.8 ounce cups, meaning I brew only 1.6 ounces at a time. Most gyokuro can be infused three or four times, although IMO the richness tapers off pretty quickly after the first infusion.

For high quality Japanese sencha, cups of three ounces are typical but there are also many larger ones available as well. My sencha cups range from 3 ounce all the way to 16 ounces, and I brew it in both large and small quantities.

I think better results can be obtained brewing smaller quantities, and certainly better control is possible, but there are times when you just want to sit down, relax, and drink a big mug of tea. Either way is fine and the chosen method should suit the needs and schedule of the particular person. This may change over time if a person finds themselves getting more and more into tea, but change isn't necessary. Drinking tea is a great habit for anyone and has many benefits, therefore you should not feel restricted by what others do. Be aware of the various methods, but in the end do it in a way that suits your own needs.

[hop_goblin]

To answer your question - Yes, you are supposed to keep refilling it. You see, the Chinese and Japanese drink tea differently than the west. We in the west generally see tea drinking as a way to get your morning cuppa. However, the east tend to drink tea as a matter of "total involvelment". In other words, when they drink tea from those tiny cups ( of course we do as well) they are not trying to just get their fix of caffine, they are examining, smelling it, looking at it, tasting it and relishing it. So, as you can see, a small cup can last a bit longer than if you just slosh it back like a shooter in a bar. But the most practical answer will be is brewing methods. Chinese brew a much smaller quanitity than in the west. typically using the gongfu method. The brewing vessles are much smaller when using this method are typically no bigger than 200ml so smaller cups would be in order.

When I give talks on the Way of Tea (tea ceremony), I usually take some time to explain this. People sometimes look into the bowl of tea they receive and think, "Is that all there is?" They're expecting to receive a large vessel that is filled nearly to the brim - not a teabowl that has what seems to be a pitifully small amount of matcha in it ("three and a half sips", to be precise). I usually mention two things - (1) the bowl is both the "mixing bowl" and the serving bowl, so the extra room is needed for manipulating the whisk; and (2) traditionally the host will keep making bowl after bowl until the first guest asks him/her to conclude. So additional helpings are assumed, so to speak.

Yes, I know the feeling when I serve tea to noobs. It takes time for them to understand exactly what is going on, but once they do they do they start to appreciate.

[hop_goblin]

I found some small 2 oz cups at home and tried brewing tea for those. I used 1 tbspn of ordinary black ceylon tea and 4oz water (measured from the cups). I let it infuse for around 30s-1m each time and the tea was wonderful. I really do need a smaller tea pot though, mine is around 1L so brewing little amounts of tea is rather difficult with it. In the local chinese market there are yixing 'lookalike' teapots that are rather cheap, and I have no idea if they're real or not. I just wonder if they're good or one should rather invest in a real one?

For the most part, you can brew good tea in any vessle. Cheap pots are generally made of either industrial zisha clay or Taiwanese clay. They will brew good tea. Of course you need good clean and fresh water and tea.

[wyardley]

Are you supposed to drink the 1oz cup in go or do you sip from it? And I suppose the infusion time must be very short to brew so little amount of tea?

It should take about 3-4 sips ideally. You may want to slurp the tea (loudly), both to get the tea across more different taste buds, and (if it's still really hot) to avoid burning your tongue.

[wyardley]

Thanks for all the answers.. I'll try to get hold of a small gaiwan, maybe 6oz or so, which seems to be the most practical vessel for this kind of brewing.

If it's just for you, or you and a couple of others, I'd get a smaller one - maybe 2-4 oz.