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Does anyone have a good source for Japanese teaware? I'm looking for a Hohin set, and can't seem to find one that is under about $125. IMHO, this is a bit on the steep side. I'd be really interested to know if authentic & functional Japanese teaware can actually be purchased for a good price. So far, the answer seems to be no.

What kinds of tea pots or other brewing devices are people using to brew their tea? I see all sorts of pots out there. They are made of ceramic, china, glass, cast iron, stainless steel, and other materials. Some are big, some are tiny. There pots that look like they would be used in a proper high tea by a Brit and pots that are straight out of Japan and China. Are some materials better than others? If you use two pots for tea (one to steep/brew, one to serve), do you a certain type for each task? What about alternative devices? I've seen the type with a filter at a bottom that has a valve that opens up when you put it on top of a cup. I know some people here use those. What do you when you want just a single cup? Brew in the cup, or use a really tiny teapot that holds just enough for one? Tell us what you use. Tell us what you used to use and moved away from. Was there a reason bhind the swtich?

eG Society member Greg Glancy, who is the owner of Norbutea.com has contributed samples of tea for three tea tastings here on the eG Forum's Coffee & Tea Forum. This first tasting will feature a Chinese Oolong - a Fall Harvest 2008 Tie Guan Yin from Anxi county in Fujian province. Greg sent me five samples of this tea, which will go to the first five members who PM me and who 1) have been a member of the eG Society for at least 30 days, 2) have 5 or more substantive posts in the Coffee & Tea forum, and 3) agree to contribute to the discussion. Please PM me with a mailing address and I will send the samples out this week. Here's some interesting information on this Tie Guan Yin from the Norbutea.com website (used with permission). (In the interests of full disclosure, I should note that I have known Greg for two or three years. I originally met him at a presentation he did for The Cultured Cup's T-Bar Club of his travels in the tea regions of China, including Tibet. I have no financial interest in Norbutea.com.) [Edit: criteria changed to five or more substantive posts.]

I, with South African childhood roots, best preferit with strong black tea with milk. People here look at me funny! I think most common is tea, no milk with nana leaves-peppermint?

Ummm... Lipton Iced Tea from the cafeteria in the office?? Seriously, though, I'd like for the people to suggest a tea for me. I'll ask the same question at Cultured Cup this Saturday, but I'd like to see what you guys recommend. What would be a good "evening" tea? You know, something to enjoy after a long day at work. Lots of times, I like to whip up a cocktail right when I get home. But on nights I don't do that, I am thinking maybe a nice cup of tea later in the evening, after I've had dinner and what not and am relaxing, might be a nice soothing way to end the day.

I've already paraded my baking dumbness over in the Baking 101 topic, and as I try to learn a bit about tea I'm going to do the same. I mean, really, just a few weeks ago I learned that most tea was fermented. Who knew?!? So let's use this topic to ask really stupid questions about tea. My first comes from reading this post by Richard Kilgore: After reading this, I felt like an American listing to a UK sports report on cricket. So here are a few introductory questions: 1. I see that most teas have recommended steeping temperatures, with some being "boiling water." Of course, by the time water hits the leaves, it's likely to be below 212F/100C immediately if not before. So when do I take the temperature of the water? Or is it a feel thing? 2. What's up with these second and third steepings? Are these for another cup later in the day, using the reserved leaves? And you increase the steeping time with the older leaves for pretty obvious reasons, yes? 3. Why rinse the leaves? I read that it's to reduce caffeine, which I don't need to do. Is it also to rinse off oxidation? Why would that be a good thing? Is it comparable to cheese rinds?

My fiance and I are in the process of building a wedding registry at Sur La Table - and we could really use some advice about espresso machines! Apologies in advance if this is a redundant question - I couldn't manage to uncover any answers in the coffee/tea thread... The question: Espresso I've had in Italy always seems much more concentrated (more flavor and MUCH less liquid) than 'espresso' in the US. I really prefer the Italian style - is achieving that as simple as just putting less water in the machine? Or do I need a machine that is specifically designed to produce that kind of espresso? If so, any particular brands? We're looking to stay in the <$800-or-so price range - this will be the most expensive item on our registry by far and we know that it will be an EXTREMELY generous gift - but we're hoping for a high-quality machine that we'll be able to enjoy for years to come! (Because after all, isn't good espresso an important part of a happy marriage? )

What do you use to store your teas and how well do they work? Which containers for which teas? Are the aesthetics of tea containsers important to you, or do you just want whatever will protect the teas from air, heat and light? I have been working to understand what different teas require in the way of storage and how well different storage containers work to provide the level of protection they need from their common enemies: air, heat and light. I have tried: - single lidded tins - single lidded tins with synthetic seal - double lidded tins with plastic inner lid - double lidded tins with tin inner lid - quart Mason jars - opaque zip lock bags - opaque stand-up zip lock bags - Yixing clay double lidded containers - porcelein containers with synthetic seal I'll post some pics and more about my impressions of these and how well they work, or how well I think they are likely to work, with what teas later. All of them have good and bad points to consider. How do you store your teas?

The new edition of The Great Tea Rooms of America by Bruce Richardson came out this summer. In this edition, he also included for the first time a section on The Great Tea Shops of America. (For a discussion of the Great Tea Rooms of America go here.) All lists are fodder for discussion, so what do you think of Bruce Richardson's list of the Great Tea Shops of America? Which ones have you been to or ordered from and what did you like or dislike about them. Any you think should have been included that he left off? Any on it that you think should have been left off? Great Tea Shops of America The Cultured Cup - Dallas, Texas The Perennial Tea Room - Seattle, Washington The Tea Cup - Seattle, Washington Tea Embassy - Austin, Texas Teance - Berkely, California Teaism - Washington, D.C. Tea Source - St. Paul, Minnesota

The new edition of The Great Tea Rooms of America by Bruce Richardson came out this summer. In this edition, he also included for the first time a section on The Great Tea Shops of America. (For a discussion of the Great Tea Shops of America go here.) All lists are fodder for discussion, so what do you think of Bruce Richardson's list of Great Tea Rooms of America? Which ones have you been to and what did you like or dislike about them. Any you think should have been included that he left off? Any on it that you think should have been left off? The Great Tea Rooms of America Alice's Tea Cup - New York, New York www.alicesteacup.com Butchart Gardens - Victoria, British Columbia www.buchartgardens.com Cliffside Inn -Newport, Rhode Island www.cliffsideinn.com Disney's Grand Floridian Resort - Lake Buena Vista, Florida www.disneyworld.com The Drake Hotel - Chicago, Illinois www.thedrakehotel.com Dunbar Tea Room - Sandwich, Massacheusetts www.dunbarteashop.com Dushhandbe Teahouse - Boulder, Colorado www.boulderteahouse.com The Fairmont Chateu Lake Louise - Lake Louise, Alberta The Fairmont.com/lakelouise The Fairmont Empress Hotel - Victoria, British Columbia www.fairmont.com/empress Grand American Hotel - Salt Lake City, Utah www.gradamerica.com Lady Mendell's The Inn at Irving Place - New York, New York www.innatIrving.com Miss Mabele's - Dickson, Tennessee www.missmable.com Queen Mary Tea Room - Seattle, Washington www.queenmarytea.com Rose Tree Cottage - Pasedena, California www.roseteacottage.com Samovar Tea Lounge - San Francisco, California www.samovartealounge.com St.James Tearoom - Albuquerque, New Mexico www.stjamestearoom.com The St. Regis Hotel - New York, New York www.stregis.com Tea Leaves & Thyme - Woodstock, Georgia www.tealeavesandthyme.com The Tea Room - Savannah, Georgia www.savannahtearoom.com Windsor Court Hotel - New Orleans, Lousiana www.windsorcourthotel.com

I understand that if a tea has begun to lose it's aroma and flavor that you can perk it up by a quick re-roast in the oven or in a small dedicated roaster available through a few sources like Hou De. Has anyone tried this? How well does it work?

A couple of posts in the Coffee and Tea forum have raised the issue of the importance of water quality to getting the best cup. One by naftal and this by andiesenji. I use a simple Britta filter jug and also have started experimenting with bottled mineral water for my best teas, but am not far enough along to report on that yet. How important is the water you use to your coffee and tea brewing? What do you use to get the best out of your beans and leaves?

Greg emailed me the name of the market where he found this Ding Dong Oolong. It took me a while to find it -- three aisles of various teas and herbal/medicinal teas and it was tucked back in a hard to reach corner -- but persistance paid off. Now marked $7.99, and still a bargain. I also found one lonely tin of another tea that looked promising, but have not brewed it yet. Greg is right. This tea is worth looking for. ← Greg Glancy recently posted ( see above) in the What tea are you drinking today? topic about finding a drinkable Dong Ding Oolong in an Asian market. I tried his recommendation and agree it is okay - not a high quality Dong Ding, but okay and worth trying. Given a litle tea exploration courage by Greg's find, I have picked up three other teas that looked like they might have some potential and will report on them here as I can get to them. Has anyone else found a tea in an Asian market that you can recommend?

This past Sunday's NY Times ran a big article about New York's coffee "renaissance," which is all well and good, but I have a concern and wondered how everyone else felt about this. My problem is that I can't seem to get a properly (to me, at least) drawn espresso or doppio at the cafes that I've been to. The shots are too short, not hot enough, and they're friggin' bitter, but not in a good espresso way. Some of these cafes are pulling ristrettos (triples even - seriously, who drinks a triple ristretto, 20 or more grams of coffee to make 1 ounce of "liquid?"), which I wouldn't mind if they were good ristrettos. The other day I was in one of the cafes mentioned in the article, and I asked for a double drawn a little long - I was told that it couldn't be done that way (so they've never heard of a lungo, a double drawn to about 2.5 ounces) , but the barista said he could pour two ristrettos into a cup...he did, it sucked. Last week my wife and I were at a fancy cafe, where I went to watch the barista make our doppios - everything was at the ready (the $15,000 espresso machine, the scale for tamping, the great beans, etc.); the barista actually pulled a shot or two first to get into the groove of pulling an espresso, then drew our two doppios - they sucked. My set-up at home is a PIDd Silvia/Rocky combo. I pull mainly Black Cat or Kid-O, both from Intellegentsia. My coffee hits the cup at around 172 degrees. I pull a 1.5 - 1. 75 ounce shot in 25 - 30 seconds, using 15 - 18 grams of coffee - depending on which basket I happen to have in my portafilter. The shots are delicious - the equal we've had anywhere in Italy on a number of trips (my point of reference). So, what's going on in all these fantastic cafes? Do the baristas really know what an espresso should taste like and how hot it should be,or are they pulling all their shots based on how they'll be in milk based drinks (my guess), when the temperature of the shot doesn't really matter. How can I get a decently pulled shot when I go to one of these cafes participating in the renaissance? That's what I want for my $3 - a true espresso, served hot; not something that's meant to be diluted with 5 ounces of steamed milk...it's also why I bought the Silvia and rarely have espresso outside of my kitchen.

There are some wonderful teapots in this thread! Does anyone have experiences - good or bad - with Freud brand teaware? I have fallen in serious like with this pot: Freud Tea Pot, but have only found overseas sources...

While I have been drinking more tea these days, I still have coffee first thing in the morning. And use an I-Roast 2 each week to keep supplied. Most of my green beans come from Sweet Maria's plus some from a local Dunn Brothers francisee. I like to buy only a pound or two of each of several green beans. That gives me enough of each to experiment with 150 g at a time, but keeps me from getting into a "favorite bean" rut. I would rather continue to explore than to go for a single type I like a lot. Of course one person's rut is another person's perfect cup of coffee. For me this week it's a cafe and a decafe. A Peru from Dunn Brothers. A Sumatra Lintong Nihuta KVW Decafe from Sweet Maria's. I like both, but like the Peru the best. All you home roasters - what are you roasting this week?

I know that some people think the Brown Bettys are not only traditional and great, but brew tea better than other glazed ceramic teapots. If you use one how do you like it? Have you had any problem with a new Brown Betty crazing? I read on one web retailer's site that during the past year there has been a problem with new pots crazing when first used. They say it's rare but happens and it has not been noticeable in the past. They speculate that there has been a change in the manufacturing process, but don't know. I talked to a guy today who almost bought the company many years ago when it was up for sale. He knows quality pottery and seemed not sure that the crazing is a new problem, just something that can happen. What's your experience with these teapots? Recommend them?

Please tell us what you have learned that makes for better tea brewing. I'll kick it off with a few basics --- 1) Use the correct amount of leaf (leaf:water ratio) 2) Use the correct temperature for the type of tea leaf 3) Violate 2 & 3. That is, experiment with all the variables and see what pleases you. More later. What have you learned in making your tea?

By and large most of the black teas I drink are without any added flavorings - natural or otherwise. The Darjeelings and Assams from India, blacks from Ceylon and red teas from China (called black teas in the west) have all come from The Cultured Cup (TCC) over the years. I also have another Chinese red tea on the list for my next order from jingteashop.com. More recently, I have neen drinking a Keemun Mao Feng and a Dian Hong Imperial, both Chinese red teas and both from TCC (though I see the later is no longer listed on their website). What black or red teas do you enjoy? Do you have any suppliers you can recommend to us?

Several posts have raised the issue of tea bags vs using tea filters with loose leaf tea, including these: What's your preference and why?

While I have been drinking a few Senchas over the last few years, I have recently been interested in learning about other Japanese green teas. I had a Kukicha and two Machas last month at the T-Bar Club of The Cultured Cup last month and look forward to trying Gyokuro in particular. What Japanese Green teas have you tried? What are your experiences with vendors of Japanese Green teas in your local area or based in Japan? Do you have any you recommend?

I'll have to admit I hated Earl Gray tea until recently. I think that's because I almost always drink my tea without milk, cream or sugar. A month or two ago I finally tried an Earl Gray Imperial from The Cultured Cup with milk and liked it just fine. This was a quality Mariage Frères loose leaf tea, with a First Flush Darjeeling as a base tea and perfumed with bergamot oil from the rind of a Mediterranean citrus fruit. I got several steepings out of it. Unfortunately, many flavored teas are made with low quality tea leaf, which is covered up by whatever flavoring - natural or artificial - is used. These have an underlying bitterness (not the often desireable astringency of teas) and do worse after the first steeping. So what flavored black teas have you explored? Great, good, so-so, poor, really bad? What can you recommend to us?

I often have chamomille tea in the evening, a nice relaxing mug, but have not explored other herbal teas. What are your favorites? Can you describe them and your experience with their effects.

Let's see your teaware - cups, teapots and all types of tea-things from around the world. To start off, here are a few Yixing tea pots from Yixing China. Each pots gets dedicated to a specific tea or at least a narrow range of teas, such as Dan Cong Oolongs or Shu Pu-ehr. So, what do you use to brew and drink your tea?

Tell us what tea(s) you're drinking today, and whatever else might be of interest to everyone --- how you brewed, overall impression, aroma-taste-mouthfeel, source. As impressionistic or detailed as you like. For me today it's a ripe (Shu) Puer: 2003 CNNP "Yellow Mark" label tea cake. Sourced directly from China through Yunan Sourcing LLC on eBay. Not gong fu style today, but rather 5 grams in about 150 ml in a Yixing tea pot for 5 minutes for convenience sake. With about five years of age on it, this ripe Puer is smooth, no astringency, moderately full-bodied without off-tastes, pleasant but rather unidemensional. I have been able to get about 4 infusions out of this previously. I'll do this gong fu another day and report on it. What's in your tea cup today?