Monday, March 24, 2008
Posted by Miss Neddy at 11:42 PM | Comments (4) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related Teapots

Not everyone has the time and patience to use Yixing clay teapots and drink from dainty little cups the size of thimbles. It is a problem steeping loose tea leaves in larger teapots since the leaves are likely to leak out when the tea is poured.

Sieves therefore are essential when steeping tea in larger teapots. For strongly fermented and roasted black teas, which don’t expand much when steeped, you can use removable tea strainers or tea balls (Amazon link), which you can dip into a teapot like a teabag and pull out when the strength of the tea is sufficient. However, for wulongs and green teas, which require more space to expand and steep, tea strainers are too cramped, and will not yield a optimal tea.

What you will need are sieves which are dep enough and wide enough for tea leaves to steep and for the tea leaves to expand. Two brands of glass teapots I quite like are Hario (Japanese website, showing a sample of tea and coffee pots) and Bodum. I am particularly fond of Bodum’s Chambord and the Bean teapots. I personally prefer to have non-metallic sieves, and there are aeasily removabe, but it is less messy, since you would need small plate or saucer ready to hold the dripping wet sieve.

So when picking a teapot-cum-sieve, ensure that the sieve is deep (at least two-thirds down to the base, preferably more) and wide (at least half the width of the teapot). Different materials have their strengths and drawbacks. Light plastic tends to discolour after a while, looking dirty even after a thorough cleaning; a fine net-like strainer may damage easily; glass is very good for cleaning, as you can scrub it and remove discolouration with dilute bleach, but glass sieves tend to have openings that are too small and spaced too far apart; metal sieves, design-wise, are ideal, as even fine sieves are strong enough to be durable. However, metal sieves can (not always) give the tea an unpleasant metallic taste, as if tainted with saccharine. 

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