Let me start by saying I don't use /ck/ much but this seems like a good place to get informed answers from people who care about what they're discussing.
I've been enjoying a variety of tea over the past months and I'd like to get myself a teapot. However I don't know which type of material I want to have one in. I'm looking at probably cast iron or porcelain but keeping ceramic in mind.
I tend to not drink a lot of the same tea in a row, so something that doesn't retain the flavor would be ideal. I'd only be serving myself normally but I think it would be really neat to have a pot that can serve guests.
Feel free to use the thread for other tea related questions and discussion.
Glass doesn't retain taste, if you hadn't considered it yet.
>>7846072
french vanilla tea with a splash of milk is my comfort drink. I just never get a chance to make it because I'm not patient enough to boil water and just make coffee instead
>>7846072
Cast iron is great, if you prefer green tea I find it makes a better cup than other methods
>>7846101
not actually tea
>>7846072
as some anon alrdy said: glass does not retain flavor
otoh if you want a tea pot that looks really nice id go with clay or porcellain, preferably painted porcellain because white looks like shit.
i got a chinese tea set for my bday that's absolutely gorgeous. in the background is my parents' tea pot from prague, beautiful handmade & painted cast iron.
>>7846072
I personally prefer ceramic. It retains heat better than cast iron and I love how the handle gives to my grip. Cast iron was pretty nice too, but it cooled a lot faster and practically built up limescale faster than I could clean it out.
Where do the tea pros of /ck/ hang out when there isn't a tea general up? I've seen a few people importing tea bricks and I'm interested in learning how to choose winner tea.
>>7846166
>Where do the tea pros of /ck/ hang out when there isn't a tea general up? I've seen a few people importing tea bricks and I'm interested in learning how to choose winner tea.
i would love to know, too, but i'm afraid a place like that probably doesnt exist
for high quality tea (expensive) china life teahouse is a rly good option i heard. i'll be ordering after i get back from korea. i believe they ship everywhere.
Any recommended podcasts on tea preparation, history, and the like? I found Talking Tea the other day, but I was wondering what /ck/ folks might recommend.
Celadon porcelain cause celadon is awesome
t. ceramicist
yeah pic related aren't tea pots but seriously celadon is beautiful definitely top 5 glazes
I never really drank tea too much. Like most Americans, I was more of a coffee drinker, and only early in the mornings.
I read about the Opium Wars.
So China has all the tea and porcelain, and Britain wants that, but China doesn't want anything that Britain has; they'll only accept silver.
Britain mines all the silver, there's no more silver. They still want tea. So Britain uses their opium fields in India and trades opium for silver.
China bans the drugs. Then, China seizes a shitload of britbong opium, and destroys it.
The Brits use Her Majesty's Royal Navy to humiliate the Chinese, using river inlets to rape all the chinks.
After a decisive British victory, the Chinese could but gnash their teeth and accept the terms of defeat, which gave the British Hong Kong for 100 years.
So then I started drinking tea. Started with Earl Grey, but then tried a bunch. Green teas, Oolong teas, Chai teas, but nothing beats English Breakfast.
English Breakfast is usually going to have the best black tea taste. Earl Grey has this weird funky taste, it's this "bergamot" shit, which can be too strong sometimes.
Tried drinking tea with milk or half and half, it's okay, but too much creaminess and it can give it a sickly taste. I usually just take a teaspoon of sugar.
I knew that anime girl seemed familiar
>>7846099
It also doesn't retain heat very well.
I got a cast iron teapot for my birthday, and it's holding up pretty well. Make sure to get one that's ceramic coated so it doesn't rust.
Another benefit is the handle is at top. Had a very unfortunate incident where I tripped while carrying a full ceramic teapot, spilled hot tea on my hand which cause my hand to slip and got some pretty bad burns. But that's also because I'm retarded.
I'm currently drinking some Chun Mee green tea from Crepes Tea House. Tea leaf is pretty good. Something very satisfying about seeing the leaf growth when using my gravity steeper.
Other than that, my order from Mandala Tea came in: it's a combination of raw and ripe pu erh samples - plus it had two free samples.
I'm enjoying the ripe pu erh more, but perhaps I just haven't figured out how much to leaf the raw/what temperature to steep it at.
Any suggestions?
>>7847031
O-oh... I just thought it was cute.
Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I didn't expect the thread to take off this well.
>>7846072
/Mu/ is the faggot containment board
>>7846746
That bergamot flavor that you are tasting is orange rind. bergamot is a type of orange.
Personally I think most fruit teas are complete shit senpai
I have a ceramic teapot, it retains heat for ~1 hour or so.
The tea tastes a little better too.
It cost me 25 bucks.
>>7846746
>Chai teas
Stop that.
Chai and tea are literally the same word.
>>7846724
My mom has some celadon teacups that my dad brought back from Korea. They're pretty awesome. There's an inner layer that you can put loose-leaf into, and then remove like a teaball when you're ready to drink.
>>7847675
In typical English language tradition, a localized version of an extant word generally refers to the originating language's regional version. "Chai" refers to spiced teas from India and south Asia, "Katana" refers to swords from Japan, etc.
