What kind of container are you used to brew tea?

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I usually use a gaiwan, but if I’m feeling lazy, I’ll use a steel tea infuser basket.

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Teaotic said

I use a glass pyrex 2-cup measuring pitcher, covered with glass saucepan lid. Note- ‘kettle:’ for boiling water, ‘brewing vessel (teapot, gaiwan, whatever):’ for steeping tea.

Pyrex Pro’s: Water volume markings aid in precision, thick glass retains heat well, highly consistent results, tea not constrained by infuser basket, easy to clean, cheap to replace.

My Steps:
1. Measure leaf with 0.1g scale.
2. Heat water. I use a Cuisinart CPK-17 Perfectemp.
3. Pour into pyrex to preheat vessel, cover, let stand for 20 seconds.
4. Pour hot water from pyrex back into kettle, heat to desired temp. Alternately, discard water.
5. Set timer, add tea to pyrex, pour correct temperature water, cover with lid.
6. Strain into a cup/mug (I use 400mL crueset mugs lately) using a small handheld steel mesh strainer.

A French Press works, but it doesn’t have precise measurements, I dislike the plastic stuff at the top, it’s a hassle to clean, and the thick pyrex retains heat better.

The right tokoname clay pot will improve sencha or gyokuro, etc, but porcelain/glass works as well.

I would use the ISO/Professional porcelain tasting set, but I drink 12oz at a time, not 5.

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I also use a Cuisinart CPK-17 tea kettle to boil water, use Pyrex measuring cups (8, 16, or 32 ounce, depending on tea batch size), 0.1 gram precision ProScale LC300 electric scale to weigh loose tea, and preheat Pyrex cups before steeping.
I use teflon-coated stir bars as weights for Lipton style double tea bags, to keep the bags from floating. For regular tea bags, I cut open the bags and weigh the loose tea, which tends to sink once wetted.
I stir intermittently while steeping, and filter using Melitta #4 or #6 paper filters with #4 or #6 filter funnels. (Fines get through mesh infusers.)

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clay teapots.

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A gaiwan, a clay pot, or a mini glass tea pot for gong-fu.

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