Tea pots and brewing devices

[jsmeeker]

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?

[baroness]

I have many teapots. The ones I use the most for black and green teas are the BeeHouse brand from Japan, 2 and 3 cup sizes. They have a generously-sized steel mesh infuser basket, but you can leave it out if you wish. They POUR extremely well - gracefully and without dripping (many, MANY pots drip!). I did buy a Chinese rip-off of this brand online and was very disappointed in the finish of the pot and its basket, and it dripped like mad...now it is a vase.

The Bodum tea presses also get a fair amount of use. Cleaning the pots is a breeze; doing their baskets and plungers is rather annoying.

For oolongs, I like my old reddish-clay pots (some with clay infusers) bought in Chinatown.

Single cups, which are rare for me: a SwissGold infuser basket designed for cup brewing.

I do have some of those do-it-yourself tea bags, but must admit I have not used them.

[jsmeeker]

Is there a reason you use specific pots for specific teas? (i.e. using red clay pots for oolongs)

My one and only pot I have right now is stainless steel. I bought it cause it looked cool. Not sure if it's the best material for a tea pot. It's much larger in capacity than it looked sitting on the shelf at World Market. It holds a bit more than 3 1/2 cups (8 ounce cups). There is a fine mesh strainer/infuser basket. But it doesn't go very far down into the basket, making the pot not too practical for brewing a small amount of tea using the basket.

I think I need some really small pots (maybe just one) to make a cup at a time when sampling new teas. Brewing it loose in one mug, then pouring into another with the pot's strainer basket in the cup is a bit cumbersome and also a little messy.

I'm a big fan of the look of the BeeHouse pots. I'm really thinking of getting one now. A 2 cup size might be just the trick. Or maybe, something a bit more simple and less expensive just for making a simple cup? I dunno.

[prasantrin]

In a similar vein...

I love all the stuff andiesenji has.

For work I just have a metal infuser basket that fits into my mug. I also have a lid for my mug to help retain heat (and it makes a good infuser basket rest when my tea has finished infusing). I don't make tea so much at home anymore--during winter, even my mariage freres pot doesn't keep the tea warm for very long!

[baroness]

For work I just have a metal infuser basket that fits into my mug.  I also have a lid for my mug to help retain heat (and it makes a good infuser basket rest when my tea has finished infusing).  I don't make tea so much at home anymore--during winter, even my mariage freres pot doesn't keep the tea warm for very long!

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Lidded mugs are handy -- as are tea cozies -- to keep the tea at serving temperature.

[Richard Kilgore]

In addition to what general type of material and size of pot fits a particular tea need, my interest in the history of tea and the cultures that developed around it inform my selection of teapots. So, it's Chinese porcelain gaiwans and Yixing Zisha clay pots for Chinese Oolongs, Pu-erh, green and red teas; English Brown Bettys for Black teas from India and Ceylon; Japanese Tea Bowls for Matcha and next year I'll get a Japanese kyuusu for Sencha. I'm not rigid about that, just a preference. After all, I do brew frequently in mugs, too.

[Richard Kilgore]

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? 

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That's a lot of questions packed into a few lines. Here's a condensed version of my experience with some of these.

Glass holds heat the least well, followed by stainless steel. Various clay, ceramic, porcelain, China materials hold heat better, with a range of heat holding capacity among them. Many think the English Brown Betty design using the original clay brews the best black tea due to both the shape that allows the leaf to swirl aound in the pot and to the heat holding quality of the clay. I currently brew in Chinese Yixing clay pots, Chinese porcelain gaiwans, ceramic cups, a Pulyviet French porcelain teapot and a Brown Betty. All of them brew tea well. It's a matter of matching the tea leaf and the number of people you are serving to the pot. No experience brewing in cast iron, but I don't think it's high heat holding capacity is altogether a positive, especially when it comes to delicate green and white teas.

The only experience I have with brewing in glass is drinking tea brewed in a Mono pot at The Cultured Cup. An extraordinarily fine brewing vessel, which goes to show that there is more to teapot design than the materials alone.

A one cup teapot is really not tiny. A 50 - 60 ml gaiwan or Yixing teapot is tiny. My various brewing vessels run from that size on up to 330 ml Yixing pots, to one to 6 cup English and European pots, to 10 ounce cup with infuser.

Do I need all those to make a cup of tea or two? Of course not. Did I feel like I got along just fine for many years with one teapot and a cup infuser? Absolutely! Do I make a significantly bettter cup of tea by matching the tea leaf to the brewing vessel? I very much hope so....

Brew, sip, discuss.

[Gregory Glancy]

My two cents...I mailny use a 100-150 ml glazed ceramic Gaiwan with a "fair cup" (serving pitcher) for steeping and serving tea. Gaiwan literally means "lidded bowl," so it makes sense that it is just a little bowl/cup with a lid on it and a saucer to set it on. About 95% of the tea I drink is Chinese, so I tend to use Chinese teaware.

Gaiwans are used a couple of different ways. First, people drink directly from them. In teahouses throughout China people drink tea directly from their gaiwans, using the lid to hold back the floating leaves. Second, it's easy to turn it into a vessel for Gong-fu style steeping because it's so easy to decant the liquor off of the leaves after a short steep. Just pop a little filter on the fair cup and pour the liquor from the Gaiwan (using the lid again to hold back the loose leaves in the bowl) into the fair cup/serving pitcher. You use the fair cup to make sure everyone gets their fair share...thus the name.

I use my Gaiwans in the second way almost exclusively, although when I want a cup of matcha at my office I have been known to use one for that, too. I prefer a gaiwan for gong-fu tea sessions simply because I tend to taste a bunch of different teas in a day, and all I have to do is rinse it out between defferent teas. That, and I don't have to keep 4 or 5 Yixing pots around at my office!

I'm a lot like Richard in that I collect teawares and my choice of vessel tends to be specific to the type of tea I'm drinking. For me, the teaware provides an insight into the culture that has evolved around the tea expereience itself, and the materials used to produce it are secondary to their function. If I had to pick, I would have to say I like ceramic and cast iron best with glass and other metals trailing far behind them.

Like I said, just my two cents.

By the way, does anyone know a source for a good quality Japanese Hohin set that won't cost me my left arm? I'm already thinking ahead to all that awesome green tea in the spring...

[Naftal]

Hello-For me, the amount of time I have dictates the method I use. If I have time to drink it, I will brew a traditonal chinese or japanese tea. If I am short on time, I will use a mug with an infuser.

Edited November 29, 2008 by Naftal (log)

[Richard Kilgore]

My two cents...I mailny use a 100-150 ml glazed ceramic Gaiwan with a "fair cup" (serving pitcher) for steeping and serving tea.  Gaiwan literally means "lidded bowl," so it makes sense that it is just a little bowl/cup with a lid on it and a saucer to set it on.  About 95% of the tea I drink is Chinese, so I tend to use Chinese teaware. 

Gaiwans are used a couple of different ways.  First, people drink directly from them.  In teahouses throughout China people drink tea directly from their gaiwans, using the lid to hold back the floating leaves.  Second, it's easy to turn it into a vessel for Gong-fu style steeping because it's so easy to decant the liquor off of the leaves after a short steep.  Just pop a little filter on the fair cup and pour the liquor from the Gaiwan (using the lid again to hold back the loose leaves in the bowl) into the fair cup/serving pitcher.  You use the fair cup to make sure everyone gets their fair share...thus the name.

I use my Gaiwans in the second way almost exclusively, although when I want a cup of matcha at my office I have been known to use one for that, too.  I prefer a gaiwan for gong-fu tea sessions simply because I tend to taste a bunch of different teas in a day, and all I have to do is rinse it out between defferent teas.  That, and I don't have to keep 4 or 5 Yixing pots around at my office!     

I'm a lot like Richard in that I collect teawares and my choice of vessel tends to be specific to the type of tea I'm drinking.  For me, the teaware provides an insight into the culture that has evolved around the tea expereience itself, and the materials used to produce it are secondary to their function.  If I had to pick, I would have to say I like ceramic and cast iron best with glass and other metals trailing far behind them. 

Like I said, just my two cents.

By the way, does anyone know a source for a good quality Japanese Hohin set that won't cost me my left arm?  I'm already thinking ahead to all that awesome green tea in the spring...

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Greg, what is it you like about cast iron and what teas do you brew in cast iron?

I have been using porcelain Chinese gaiwans (50 ml to 120 ml) for new Oolong and Pu-erh teas that I will later use Yixing for -- in order to evaluate the tea without any influence of seasoned clay. And for green Chinese teas, as well.

[Gregory Glancy]

Greg, what is it you like about cast iron and what teas do you brew in cast iron?

I have been using porcelain Chinese gaiwans (50 ml to 120 ml) for new Oolong and Pu-erh teas that I will later use Yixing for -- in order to evaluate  the tea without any influence of seasoned clay. And for green Chinese teas, as well.

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I really like the heat retention properties of cast iron. I cook as much as I can in seasoned cast iron or in enameled cast iron, and my enthusiasm for cast iron cookware definitely spills over into my love for tea!

I use a smallish Tetsubin (Japanese lesson: Tetsu = Iron; Bin = pot) that is enameled on the inside so it doesn't flavor the water or rust. I just preheat it with hot water, and it stays hot for a surprisingly long time. That being said, I basically only use it for Japanese green teas, and I usually only use it for serving. I don't like infuser baskets for any tea, so I generally steep the tea in a different teapot and just strain it into the preheated cast iron to keep it warm and to serve.

Some visionary really needs to come up with other ways to use cast iron in the tea service context. If the items were out there, I'd use them for sure! Maybe I should contact the people at Lodge...

[Richard Kilgore]

Ah! An enamel-lined Tetsubin for serving rather than brewing. That makes sense to me. My questions about them have to do with them for brewing, where the heat retention is so strong that it may be a detriment to delicate green and white teas.

An unlined one for use as a water kettle appeals to me.