Category: Teaware
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The Humble Tea Pet
I saw my first tea pet the first time that I saw someone brew gongfu tea. It was a smooth stone turtle, serenely resting on the bamboo brewing tray, the tea flowing gently off its back as the tea master doused it with a rolled oolong. “A gift for the tea gods”, he said, or…
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How to pour a teapot
What a ridiculous title for a post, eh? “Grab the handle and pour”, is the expected response. However, as anyone who’s tried to use a yixing pot for the first time can probably tell you, there’s a little more to it than that. First of all, let’s clarify that I’m mostly talking about fairly small…
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The Size of The Teapot
Many months ago I wrote a post on Dobra Tea’s blog about tea pot sizes. This is an updated version of that post. I often joke that the more I learn about tea, the smaller my teapots become. There’s quite a lot of truth to this, and I thought it might be valuable to explain…
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Engagement Cha Xi
Yesterday my excellent friends Ben and Sarah joined my fiancée and I for an outdoor tea session to celebrate our upcoming wedding. The weather cooperated and we spent around four hours talking, sipping, and taking pictures. Now normally when I get together for a long tea session like this one, we blast through as many…
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Ways to Pour a Gaiwan
First I should say, do you know what a Gaiwan (蓋碗) is? Literally, it means “lidded bowl”, so there’s not a lot of confusion. Sometimes it’s also called a “Gaibei” (lidded cup) or “zhong” (Cantonese, if I’m not mistaken). They are made in different sizes and materials, but generally are between 100-200ml and made from…
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2005 Six Famous Tea Mountain Shou Puer
This is an archived copy of a post that originally appeared on Cha Xi Collective. Ruby red infusion. A salty, sweet taste almost like strawberries. I was getting worried because when I unwrapped the cake the edges were beginning to fall apart. I thought at first perhaps it was a poor cake that I had…