Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Posted by Miss Neddy at 09:57 AM |
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Tea Related
Teapots
It takes several things to make a good cup of tea. Naturally you need good leaves, decent water, and a controllable source of heat so that water temperature can be optimised. Another important factor is the teapot, which contains the leaves and a good one allows water to circulate and infuse the tea leaves adequately.
Clay teapots are good for making traditional Chinese tea because clay is very porous and each subsequent pot of tea helps to enhance the flavour and scent of the pot after it. Consistently brewing similar types of tea in a teapot is also called “nurturing” a teapot, just as one would nurture a child with bits of knowledge and wisdom. And just as a child one day accumulates and synthesises all the knowledge received to become an adult, a mature teapot no longer needs tea leaves to produce tea. Pour hot water in, and tea will come out. This process is a long and gradual one; my five year old teapot already produces a pale gold liquid which faintly smells of light wulong. I can only imagine what will come of it in another twenty years.
Clay from the Yixing province in China is well known for being the best for making teapots, because the purple clay (zisha) is known to be particularly porous. A well-made zisha teapot can “sweat”; pour hot water in and leave it overnight; the following day, you may find a thin sheen of moisture that has made its way through the porous clay from the inside to the outside.
Clay, though, is probably not the most popular material used for making teapots. Porcelain teapots for Western teas are far more prevalent, and since porcelain is non-porous, it is more suitable for a person who drinks many different kinds of tea. Glass teapots, in addition to being non-porous, also add aesthetics to tea appreciation, allowing the drinker to view the tea leaves unfurling or dancing within. However, clay is still my material of choice for teapots, as it is more tolerant of sudden changes in temperature and is less likely to crack than porcelain or glass.
For green and white teas though, since they require lower water temperatures, I would use a gai wan (a lidded bowl) (盖碗), also known as a gai bei (lidded cup) (盖杯). The advantage of a gai wan is that when I am making tea for myself, I can drink directly from it. Using the gai wan requires a certain level of skill and heat tolerance though; a good gai wan is very thin, usually made of good bone china, and heat transfers very quickly from the water to the gai wan. One also has to learn how to hold the lid at the right angle so that tea flows smoothly out into the cups, but the leaves do not.
