It's All About Tea — teaware

Learning the sophisticated art of gong fu cha, we begin to understand the subtleties involved. First, we learn that tea is alive. And only by treating tea properly, preparing it the way it deserves, we are granted an impeccable, sweet, and aromatic brew.

Then we learn about teaware. We understand how to take care of the teaware — with care and never using dish soap. Gently drying after each use. We also learn that teaware is alive, particularly the clay from which the teaware is made.

A Yixing teapot is not just about the clay's porosity, the way it looks, the name, or even the way it makes your tea taste. It is all about the way you take care of it. If not correctly taken care of, a Yixing teapot is just about as useful as a run-of-the-mill ceramic teapot. (Read more)

Jian Zhan teacups have been prized in China and Japan for hundreds of years. During the Song Dynasty, there was even a time where it was considered better not to drink tea at all rather than drinking it from a cup that is not Jian ware! 

Following the Song Dynasty, the great art of making Jian ware pottery faded in China. It wasn't until recently that pottery artists are starting to pick up the long-forgotten art of Jian pottery, re-learning it from Japanese potters. The latter have adapted it into tenmoku pottery. (Read more)

Earlier last month, we wrote a little bit about the history of the teapot. While kettles for brewing tea have existed for millenniums, teapots as brewing vessels didn't appear until the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). This was around the time when loose leaf tea started gaining popularity over powdered tea. Thanks to the teapot's evolution, today we have not only many shapes, but also many different teapot materials to choose from! (Read more)

Once drinking Japanese green tea was reserved only for the Emperors, noblemen, and samurai. Nowadays, Japanese green tea is enjoyed in households all throughout Japan. The kyusu is used all through Japan for the convenience of brewing Japanese green teas like sencha, genmaicha, and gyokuro. It is an iconic part of modern Japanese tea drinking culture. (Read more)

Many tea drinkers around the world might be under the impression that teapots were invented practically the same day the tea leaf was first brewed! It’s an interesting image, indeed, but not an accurate one. The teapot itself had to go through some evolution in times past. (Read more)