Gaiwan Size

[Converted2Tea]

Quick Question - How come Gaiwans are so small?
Is it mostly because it's easier to pour a smaller gaiwan? I like about a 7 to 8 oz cup of tea btu am havign difficulty finding one that size.

[scruffmcgruff]

Short answer: people who use a gaiwan generally brew a larger number of smaller infusions.

You might try the search function or the IM, as this question has been asked/answered a great many times.

[shogun89]

As Scruff said, They are used for gongfu brewing meaning lots of leaf, small vessel and quick steeps. Out of curiosity what kind of teas are you brewing?

[Herb_Master]

As Scruff said, They are used for gongfu brewing meaning lots of leaf, small vessel and quick steeps. Out of curiosity what kind of teas are you brewing?

That's what WE tend to do (where WE might be 'western' tea afficionados) and we decant from the Gaiwan - but many Chinese and South East Asians brew AND drink from the Gaiwan topping it up when the level gets low.

I have not tried this yet and not worked out which teas to try this method with.
A smaller Gaiwan would possibly be more in keeping with ones tea drinking speed

[Converted2Tea]

I will have black, oolong, green (J&C), and will venture into more as I go. I am just coming out of the tea bag world. I bought the cheap $9 ceramic teapot on here (17 oz). It''s a starting point, I guess.

[gingkoseto]

Large and small are all relative. In our modern world, everything else grows bigger, hence gaiwan appears small

If a gaiwan get larger than 6 oz., it will be too heavy to handle. Then people would wish to have a handle on it rather than dealing with the 3 pieces. With a handle and a larger volume, it will eventually become a mug When I want larger volume of a green tea, I do use a mug a lot