It's All About Tea — teaware

Teacups! They come in so many different shapes and sizes. Growing up in the west, I was always used to drinking tea from giant mugs. And the more absurdly giant the cup was — the better! I still remember like it was yesterday, the day I first tried tea from a tiny teacup, which barely fit in my fingers. It seemed it wasn’t even enough tea for half a sip. However, that half a sip was incomparable to any of the giant tea gulps I’ve had before! 

There exist many different styles of teacups used for both the tea ceremony and casual tea drinking. Let’s take a look at each one. (Read more) 

We already got deep into why this type of tea ceremony ware is so desired in our last article. This time, let's dive into how it's made and how to choose the right Jianzhan teacup. (Read more)

Jian Zhan pottery is the perfection of Chinese black porcelain. It was an inseparable part of tea culture in the Song Dynasty, however it slowly gave way to Yixing teaware. It continued to prosper in Japan, where it is known as Tenmoku. Nowadays, it is a national treasure in Japan and many local pottery artists in China are hard at work to remake this once forgotten part of the Chinese tea ceremony. Jian ware is not only teaware, it is an art form and an important part of history. One we can get lost in for hours just by looking at its cosmic-like glaze. (Read more)

While not being limited to animals, tea pets are small clay figures used during gong fu cha for various purposes. Most often, they are used by tea drinkers as decoration, but also for good luck, or to test water for the right temperature.

Tea pets have a long history, dating back to the Yuan Dynasty (13th century China). Tea pets are not only used for aesthetic purposes. Their meanings and positioning are actually closely intertwined with feng shui. (Read more)

We all love a cup of hot frothy matcha tea. 

The best thing about it is — as long as you have all the right utensils, it's super easy to make at home. For a small fraction of what you would be paying at a cafe, you can whisk yourself up a cup of hot matcha, iced matcha, matcha latte, or even a matcha cocktail!

So what are the five indispensable tools that any matcha lover needs? (Read more)