Zisha teapots are unique to Chinese tea culture. The clay is very special, only present in Yixing. Their process of crafting teapots is unique, different than anywhere else in the world....
Yixing teapots are unique to Chinese gongfu tea culture and are only produced in Yixing city of Jiangshu province. This particular teapot style originated during the Ming dynasty by the...
Whether you’ve just purchased your first Yixing teapot or are simply thinking about it, it’s important to know that some care should be taken to ready your teapot for seasoning....
Although the gaiwan remains the most widely preferred teaware for gongfu tea ceremonies, did you know that it can also be used more casually? Indeed, one reason it has retained...
When you consider the various elements that contribute to the perfect cup of tea (space, porosity, thickness, convenience, shape, aesthetic), it quickly becomes clear that tea balls, tea bags, and...
Convenience and familiarity often guide our lives, and in the world of tea, this often means preferring the convenience of a strainer and the familiarity of a mug. The strainer...
In wine tasting, oenophiles, sommeliers, and other experts have long understood how the structure, shape, and material of a wine glass can influence the flavors and aromatics of the wine....
For some of us, selecting the teaware we plan to use on any given day is an emotional or aesthetic decision. We might feel good about a gaiwan one...
As we discussed last week, there are a lot of reasons to love Jian Shui teapots, and while they can be the more economical option, Yixing still holds a very...
Ever wonder what a Jian Shui Purple Clay teapot is? Ever wonder how Zi Tao pottery differs from Yixing? Do you know which is best for you? If these...
It’s really easy to get complacent when it comes to daily routines. We’ll leave our freshly laundered clothes lying around an extra day or two; we’ll worry about our kitchen...
Our last two blog posts have been focusing on the inimitable gaiwan, a teaware piece that represents near perfect coordination between function and form, use and aesthetic. We first explored...
Last week, we started to discuss the gaiwan, taking a brief look at its history and in what ways it differs from a teapot. Usually consisting of a small bowl...
If you’ve ever attended a tea tasting, visited a tea bar, browsed the wares in a tea shop, or even awkwardly dropped in on a friend who was right...
Following up last week’s blog on some of the most important elements that affect your perfect cup of tea, we decided to complement that advice by zeroing in on an all-too-common...
We’ve spent the last few weeks extolling the virtues of pu erh, addressing some common misconceptions, and providing some advice for picking out good teas while avoiding bad ones. Inevitably,...
There are many enthusiastic tea drinkers who are already familiar with the term gong fu, believing that it denotes a form of tea preparation. This is somewhat true, and we’ve...
For so many of us, our desires for food and drink mirror the mood of the season. As the temperature cools, for instance, we tend to reach for warmer foods...
A life hack refers to any tricks, shortcuts, or other lifestyle changes that can improve the quality of our lives in big ways with very little costs. Drinking a can...
The Song Dynasty (960–1279 AD) in China was home to a cultural renaissance, a period during which there was an intellectual and artistic explosion in everything from mathematics, engineering, and...
Have you ever noticed that some tea cups are really tiny and others are larger? Maybe you’ve wondered why some tend to be slender and tall while others are...
Contrary to popular belief, wine connoisseurs have only discovered recently the importance of the wine glass and the role that it plays in enhancing the taste of their favorite...
It is hard to believe, but the Holiday Season is almost upon us, officially starting in one week on Thanksgiving. While it is a season to be celebrated with good...
In our previous post, we discussed some of the necessary features to look for when purchasing a gaiwan and why those features are important. Today, we’ll look at the relevance...
For new tea drinkers, and even some seasoned ones, the gaiwan (or “lidded bowl”) can look intimidating and confusing. After all, why not just settle for the convenience of a...
We sometimes encounter a bit of frustration when there isn’t the time or means to enjoy a cup of tea at home, wishing we could share a great loose leaf...
Perhaps no time in Chinese history was more vibrant than that during the Song Dynasty, which lasted from the 10th to the 13th centuries. During this period, China experienced an...
So you want to brew some of your loose leaf tea. How do you select your teaware? For many, it is simply an emotional choice, but if you want to...
Teaware plays an indispensable role in my tea drinking experience. In fact, aesthetics is inseparable from the act of drinking it. From the beginning to the end, from the weighing...