Dawn and Dusk Cup

Dawn and Dusk. At least that is what I am calling the new cup that I bought while on vacation last week. My boyfriend and I stumbled upon the Black Bear Tea Company while browsing the Mountain Mall in Gatlinburg, TN.

Thankful for some air conditioning on a day in which I am sure hit over 100°F, we took our time looking at every piece of tea-inspired item that this little store had to offer. I took a closer look at their tea ware and their black tea as I was looking to buy one or more of those. However, I do not recommend buying any tea ware from this particular store because it is extremely over priced. They wanted $119 for what looked like a simple 150ml yixing pot. There was also a $249 price tag on two approximately 200ml yixing pots with six tiny cups. To compare, I have a 250ml yixing pot that I bought for $25. There was no way I was going to pay those prices!

On the other hand, the tea was reasonably priced. It was $9.95 for each 2oz. bag of loose leaf tea or buy six bags and get one free. I bought some Black Orange tea and some Kenilworth Ceylon to satisfy my diminishing black tea stash at home.

Ok, so I said I was going to pass on the tea ware, but yet I began this post talking about the new cup I bought. I caved, alright!





This beautiful cup and saucer caught my eye and when the store clerk saw me looking at it, he explained that it was hand made with a signature on the bottom. The price of $25 made me wince, but it is hand made, with a signature, and my interpretation of the piece is an “opposite” – one of my favorite forms of art.

Allow me to explain. I have a thing for opposites. I like yin yang symbols, black and white clothes or paintings, night and day art, etc… something about seeing the extremes of a spectrum right next to each other is simply amazing to me.

Hence why I call this cup “Dawn and Dusk” and also why I bought it. The yellows and oranges represent the dawn while the blues and blacks represent the dusk. Cool, eh?

New Chawan

I bought this gorgeous chawan from a fellow TeaChatter who was selling it. When I saw the pictures of it, there was no way I could pass it up! I have wanted a chawan that is a light color on the inside so I could marvel at the color of the matcha (the only other chawan I have is black). This one caught my interest because of the green drips on each side – my favorite color is green! That along with the beautiful writing in between the drips makes the bowl a complete work of art. I decided to christen it with Den’s Matcha Kaze. Did I mention that I like it? I do… I really do.

A New Place For My Teaware

My boyfriend’s parents got me this beautiful A-frame shelf for Christmas!

I Like It Because It's NOT Perfect

While in Chicago a few months ago at the World Market I found this tea cup that I just HAD to add to my collection. It has now become my favorite tea cup! My other cups have been collecting more dust than tea… but I can’t help it… it’s like my personality in a cup!

I love how it is not perfect. It does its job by holding my current freshly brewed tea; however it’s not the perfect round shape of a cup, it’s dented throughout, the handle is an unusual shape, and it also has that visible clay “fold” by the handle. Plus, the inside is green – my favorite color! The price was a steal as well… only $4.99.

My New Travel Cup

For Valentine’s Day (yeah, I know that was a while ago) my boyfriend got me this interesting travel cup. I think it is awesome for several reasons. 1) It is clear which I love because I like being able to see, and show off, the color of the tea. 2) It holds a large capacity. 3) It has a nifty little wire basket for loose leaf tea.

I thought the basket was the cutest thing. It is easy to remove, has small enough holes so the leaves do not get stuck in the strainer (I have that problem when a few other strainers that I have), and it has a latch on the top that keeps the lid closed while in the cup.

The only thing I don’t like about it is that it has a tight fitting lid rather than a screw top lid. I like to put my travel cups in my backpack, but I can’t do that with this cup because there is a very high chance of the lid getting knocked off while in my bag.

Nonetheless, it is a nice travel cup for people who like to brew loose leaf tea on the go!

Seasoning the Yixing

I told you earlier about a Yixing pot that I had obtained, but hadn’t used yet. I was finally able to get around to seasoning and using the little guy... and here is how I choose to do it.

After doing a little research I found several ways of seasoning a Yixing pot. With some methods being more tedious – and maybe even unnecessary – than others, I was able to find a good practical way of seasoning.

On Seven Cups website, they list 5 simple and easy steps to seasoning:
1. Pour room temperature water inside your tea pot and let it sit for 4-5 hours.
2. Pour the water out and add boiling water to the inside of your pot. Let the water soak until the water temperature decreases to room temperature.
3. Choose the type of tea that you would like to enjoy in your new pot. Place some tea leaves inside the pot and pour boiling water inside. Let the water cool to room temperature and then pour out.
4. Add boiling water again to the same batch of leaves and let it cool for a second time, once cool discard both water and tea.
5. Your pot is ready to be used.

Like I said before, I choose to dedicate this pot to Ti Kuan Yin. After seasoning with these simple steps, I was able to put my once neglected Yixing pot to use and enjoy a real nice cuppa.





However, if you really have nothing else to do on a rainy day, another method is to boil the entire tea pot in a larger pot of water. For this process, give the tea pot and lid a good rinse. Then, submerge the tea pot and lid (with the lid off of the tea pot) into room temperature water. Bring the water to a boil. After a few minutes of boiling, turn off the heat and let the water cool to room temperature. Remove the tea pot, lid, and water. Fill the larger pot with fresh, room temperature water, submerge the tea pot and lid in the water and bring to a boil. After several minutes of boiling, add the desired tea leaves to the boiling water. Turn off the heat and let the water cool to room temperature (as per some instructions it was suggested to leave the tea pot in this state over night). Remove the tea pot and lid from the water, discard the water and tea leaves, and rinse the tea pot and lid. The tea pot is ready for use.

Be very carefully when using the method above, because the boiling water has a tendency to rock the tea pot and lid around a bit so chipping is possible (hence, one of the reasons I chose not to use this method).

Unusual Oriental Jar

At least that was the name on the tag that was on this jar. While browsing the local treasure mart, I found this guy in one of the booths surrounded by “unusual sake sets.”

The jar is about 4 inches tall and a little over 2 inches in diameter. I think I’m going to see if I can use this “jar” as a cup instead. I am going to try to find a strainer that will fit inside the cup, so I can put the strainer in, add the leaves and water, place the lid on while steeping, and when the tea is ready I can remove the lid and the strainer full of leaves and drink my tea out of an awesome tea cup.

What do you think?

Neglect x2

I have had these two pieces of teaware on my shelf for a while. I’m sorry to say that I have been neglecting them… but I can explain!

I know I bought this cute little Yixing pot around the same time I obtained my tea table, but I can’t remember exactly when that was. I am guessing around 4-5 months ago. Anyways, it has been collecting dust because I had not been able to find a tea to dedicate it to. However, I have finally decided to dedicate its being to Ti Guan Yin (Iron Goddess).


Yes, Ti Guan Yin is an oolong. -GASP- I know, I know, you can go ahead and point out the several times I’ve stated how much I hate oolongs on TeaChat. Go head, I won’t stop you. The reason I have decided to dedicate this Yixing pot to an oolong is because… well… that just seems like the right thing to do.

From what I’ve seen and heard on TeaChat and talking with other tea experts, most tea enthusiast use their Yixing pots with either oolongs or pu erhs. Because I do not drink pu erh tea, at the moment (it’s on my list of things to try), I figured that my only other option was oolong. The reason I choose Ti Guan Yin is because out of all the oolongs I have tried, Ti Guan Yin is the one that I could tolerate the most. Besides, you never know, I might actually start to like oolongs -GASP- by doing this.

Stay tuned for posts and pictures regarding the seasoning process that this little guy will be going through.

Now, on to previously neglected teapot number two. This is a tetsubin that I picked up at Hubbard and Cravens in Indianapolis. Before I got this sweetheart, I had wanted a tetsubin, but all the ones I found were not that attractive to me. I like color (hello, have you seen the background for my blog?). But, tetsubins normally lack color. Nevertheless, I continued my search for one when I finally found this pretty thing.

It is adorable! I am not sure how many ounces it holds, but I know it is just the right size to serve one person. I love the stand that came with it. The teapot seems to sit so proudly on top of it. Together, the whole thing is gorgeous. Ok, so it is a little girly with the flower in the center, but it still has that “cast iron” attitude.

However, I have been afraid to use it. I have heard horror stories of tetsubins rusting if not rinsed and dried completely after use – especially around the area where the handle connects with the teapot (water loves to settle in there). But, as you see here, I was able to get up the courage to use it… because it is too pretty to just sit on the shelf forever. I christened it with a pot of Plucker’s Pick Brunswick Garden Ceylon BOP tea.

A review of the Ceylon BOP tea can be found here. But, for now, I’m off to make some more tea!

See more photos of these teapots on flickr.

Gotcha, Matcha!

Finally! While in Chicago with my boyfriend and his parents, I was able to obtain my first matcha set! I have wanted one for a while!

I will pause so you can cheer, dance, break open the wine, or however you celebrate.

I say obtain instead of buy because my totally awesome boyfriend is the one who actually purchased it for me. In fact, he planned the trip to the mall in Schaumburg just so he could surprise me with the Teavana store that was in there. Ok, say it with me: awwwww.

I have to buy all of my teaware and loose leaf tea online because the only tea that my small town has is the overly sweetened stuff from McDonalds. In other words, seeing all the teaware and loose leaf bins on the shelves in Teavana was freaking sweet! I wanted to buy the whole store! What really sucked, though, is that there was a “now hiring” sign in the window… and if I wouldn’t have lived 3 hours away I would have put in my application immediately.

Aside from the matcha set, I bought myself a bamboo tea tool (haha, tea tool… haha) set and a set of four cups. No tea table is complete without the proper set of tools, so I couldn’t pass that up. The drinking cups I bought are beautiful! Don’t you think? I absolutely love the green one!

It was hard to pick from all the awesome teaware that Teavana had in their store. I’m happy with the new additions to my collection and I walked out of there with a few ideas for Christmas.

Here is a description of each of the tea tools that is on the box that the tools came in:

Mini Whisk – Ideal for stirring tea with sugar, milk, matcha, honey, and lemon in delicate tea sets.

Hot Lid Tongs – A handy tool for removing lids from hot tea pots or handling sugar cubes. The bamboo is gentle enough where it will not scratch or damage the paint on the outer surface of a delicate tea pot.

Tea Scoop – A traditional handmade 6 inch bamboo spoon. Its wide head and long handle make it a comfortable tool for measuring out scoops of loose leaf tea.

Demi Spoon – A universal handmade 6 inch bamboo spoon.

Chashaku – A traditional matcha measuring scoop made from a single piece of bamboo. It is typically used in matcha tea ceremonies.

More Teaware

It was my 22nd birthday on May 29th and I received loads of new teaware from family and friends (not to mention some stuff that I bought myself prior to my birthday). Here are the new members of the family:

Yin Yang Table

First, I want to talk about the tea table that I bought. I have wanted a tea table forever, but I could not find one that I liked or that was in my price range… until I found this yin yang table from Yunnan Sourcing and fell in love. Not only does it have a perfectly carved yin yang right in the middle, but it has a very chic, modern design that I like. It is very easy to use and clean, which is a plus as well.

Also, the size is perfect. I do not have very much room to work with in my tiny little bedroom. So, when it comes to my tea and teaware, most is tucked away on shelves, but the things I used the most are on my computer desk. Thus, when purchasing a tea table, I kept coming across ones that were much too big for the space I have to work with. This yin yang table is 34x34 centimeters, fits all my necessary teaware on it, and sits on my desk with room to spare.

Tasting Cups

The next thing that I bought for myself, I’ve actually had for a while now, but was waiting to get more teaware so I could post everything together. I bought the two fish cups from Dragon Tea House. I love these little things. I saw them in pictures from other tea enthusiasts and I liked them so much that I wanted a pair of my own.

They are great for showing off the color of the liquor when taking pictures of my latest brew. They are perfect for tasting because they hold only a couple of ounces which allows the tea to cool quickly… instead of having to wait several minutes for a big cup of tea to cool down enough so It does not give your tongue first degree burns.

Travel Set

While browsing Yunnan Sourcing I found a compact travel set. This was great for me because I like to brew tea at my friend’s house a lot, but was afraid of something getting broken during the trips back and forth. Also, I had wanted a Gaiwan for quite some time. So, when I bought this set, I acquired my very first Gaiwan.

This travel set is just adorable! It’s so tiny that it makes it cute. The Gaiwan only holds about 60ml, with each cup holding 10ml, and there are 6 cups. The pitcher holds 80ml. I loved the yellow color and the dragon design so much that I incorporated it into my banner. Ah, you knew it looked familiar didn’t you?

Blue Gaiwan

After I got my yellow Gaiwan that I mentioned above, I used it more than my regular “English style” teapot. I found that Gaiwans are so much easier to use and clean. However, the yellow Gaiwan was made for travel and the amount of tea that it made was so minute that I needed something bigger for everyday use.

That is when I found this blue dragon Gaiwan from Red Blossom Tea Company. It has a large, 6oz, capacity. While on my hunt for a bigger Gaiwan, I realized that I did not like the plain white ones, or the solid colored ones. So, when I saw the blue swirled, water-like pattern and the painted dragons on both the cup and the lid, I had to have this one. The only problem with this Gaiwan is that my girly hand is too small to use this one handedly. I can hold it fine while there is nothing inside of it. However, when water is added, it is too heavy and slippery for me to hold and pour with one hand. So, my normal procedure is holding the cup with my right hand and the lid with my left while pouring. Oh well, that is something that I don’t mind, considering the plus side of Gaiwans are extremely easy clean up.

Brown and Blue Gaiwan

This next item of teaware I obtained from a friend for my birthday. He recognized the one-handed pouring problem I was having with my blue Gaiwan and found this brown and blue Gaiwan from Tea Spring. It really does remedy my problem because there are two places on the sides of this Gaiwan that are folded up, making for a better grip. Also, it has a pouring spout to direct the flow of the extremely hot water… making it less likely for me to burn myself, which seems to be what I’ve been doing a lot of lately. Not to mention that it is of a large capacity that I like. The colors and patterns are very beautiful on this, as well.

Dragonfly Tokoname

My mother bought me my very first Tokoname teapot from O-Cha for my birthday. There is really only one thing I need to say here… I LOVE IT… but I will say some more about it, anyways. First of all, it’s sooooo pretty! I absolutely love the painted grass design and the cute little dragon flies on the lid and the body of the teapot. According to O-Cha’s website, this teapot is best for brewing Gyokuro, but I’ve been using it for Miyabi Shincha. The reason they say it’s best for Gyokuro is because the mesh filter does not go all the way to the bottom of the pot. This means that when the tea is poured out, the wet leaves are sitting on the mesh filter and off the bottom of the pot, so they are not sitting in what little water gets left behind during decanting.

Also, you can see in the very last picture, there is a glass pitcher that I bought from Yunnan Sourcing when I purchased my yin yang tea table. I think my personal Gong Fu station is finally complete!

I would still like to get my hands on a Matcha set, but for now I am pretty content with my teaware collection. I cannot wait to break in all this new teaware and starting posting some new reviews. However, my dad is on a fishing trip at the moment and he took the only digital camera that I have. So, I am going to wait until he gets back next week to start more reviews.

See you soon!

The New Additions

I must apologize for the lack of posting. School has begun, once again, and my time is limited. However, I still make time for tea… just not enough time to write about it. Stay with me, though, I’m going to try my best to get more reviews submitted because I received loads of new teas for Christmas.

Speaking of things I received for Christmas, I will now get to the main reason for this new blog entry, my new tea toys! The first tea ware that I would like to mention is my fantastical green Yixing pot that I received from my boyfriend’s parents. I absolutely love the shape and the deep “smoked” green color. I mentioned my favorite color is green right? Heh, anyways, I also love the cute matching cups that come with it. The only problem that I see with this Yixing pot is the size. It’s a good 12oz and from what I’m learning about Yixing pots, the smaller the better… contrary to what I’ve been told by my promiscuous peers. Another problem I am having with this Yixing pot is I have been, as of this moment, unable to find a tea to dedicate it to. Some tea friends of mine have suggested oolongs but I am still not really into oolongs. I swing towards green tea. I am open to suggestions on a good green tea to present to this lonely Yixing pot, so what do you think?

Next up is my greatest impulse buy, yet… I think. Heh, this set of cups I found on the internet and darn it if I can’t find the name of the site at the moment (sorry). Anyways, this was a serious love at first site kind of thing! I love shiny, bright, bold colors… heh heh, shiny! I was, at first, just going to order the green cup (duh) but they were on sale and, like most shoppers I know, I couldn’t pass up a good sale. I am very glad that I bought the whole set because the four of them look amazing when sitting on my shelf, waiting to be filled with leafy goodness. Heh heh, so shiny.

Finally, I received a bright red “tea pot” from my aunt. I have searched the internet using numerous Google searches and have visited almost every site that has been mentioned on Tea Chat but I have never seen anything like this. I know you can buy “tea cups” with strainers in them but I have not seen one with this design or even a lid (but maybe that is just me). This tea pot works like a normal cup with a strainer, you put the strainer in the cup, put the leaves in, add hot water, and with this cup you put on the lid. When the tea is done steeping you remove the lid, turn the lid over (so the red side is facing down), remove the strainer and after all the liquid drains into the cup, you set the strainer on the lid of the tea pot. Cool, eh? I think it’s pretty sweet… and shiny. The only problem I have with it is that when I brew a small leaf tea like Sencha or Gyokuro, the leaves get stuck in the slightly large holes of the strainer. This makes clean up not the greatest thing in the world, but it is actually quicker to clean than my “regular” tea pot.

These are all my new toys. I plan on getting into Matcha next, however, that will not be for a while. Like I said above, I still have so many teas to try before I start getting into the ceremonial stuff. It is still on my list of stuff to do to expand my tea experience, so no worries. One thing I would like to purchase, if the funds will allow, is a tea tray. Time for some more online shopping!

My Ancestry in a Teapot

It’s been a tradition for my brother, cousin, and I to spend the night at my grandparent’s house while my parents and my cousin’s parents go to Indianapolis for some black Friday Christmas shopping. Both of our parents make it a weekend trip, complete with booked hotel rooms, because both of their wedding anniversaries are that weekend (November 23rd and 25th). I declared that I was “too old” to stay over at my grandparent’s house. I told everyone a week before Thanksgiving that I would just pack up myself, and my Chihuahua, and head over to my boyfriend’s apartment for the weekend. However, my grandparents, try as they might, could not hold back their disappointment that I would not be joining them for the traditional three day sleepover. I, eventually, gave into their pouty faces and notified my boyfriend to not expect me over as previously planned.

The day after Thanksgiving I was rudely awaken from my slumber on my grandma’s couch by my sixteen year old brother and sixteen year old cousin playing guitar hero. I heard my grandma working away in the kitchen making breakfast so I decided to join her. Mercifully I had remembered my teapot, kettle, and tea and set up shop on the kitchen counter. The only tea that I brought was Dragon well so I proceeded in making me a warm cup. When I sat down at the kitchen table, cup in hand, my grandma mentioned that she had “never seen that color of tea before.”

After talking with her about what was in my cup I found out that my grandma used to be a huge tea drinker. This surprised me because I’ve always known her to be an avid coffee drinker. She was familiar with the terms “green” and “black” but never heard of “white” or “oolong.” She told me that her mother (my great grandmother) would have two or three cups of tea a day until the last 10-15 years of her life when she switched to coffee.

My grandma, then, left the room and returned with an orange and green teapot shaped like a pumpkin. She told me that it used to be my great grandma’s favorite teapot. She said that the teapot was left to her after my great grandma’s passing in March of 2005. “It has to be over 100 years old,” I remember my grandma saying as she explained that my great grandma was given the teapot from her mother when my great grandma got married. “You can have it. You are the only one that drinks tea like mom and I used to,” said my grandma. I was overwhelmed with the gift but the only thing I could say was, “why didn’t anyone tell me this? Why didn’t anyone tell me that you guys loved tea so much?” Here I had thought that I was the first one to get into this tea hobby while the rest of my family swore over their coffee. Then I find out that this has been a preference passed down from my great great grandmother… and who knows if it goes further back than that. I looked down at my cup of Dragon well and felt like this is not just a hobby anymore, but it felt like more of a tradition. A very tasty tradition.

Looking at the teapot, you can see that it has been used a lot! From the cracks on the side of the teapot and on the lid, it looks like it has been broken and meticulously pieced back together many times. It looks like there are burn marks on the bottom, as well. Also, there is a chunck missing out of the lid (the brown spot). There are several stress cracks that can be seen in the bottom of the teapot. There are also holes by the spout. Upon checking my new ‘modern’ teapots, they do not have those. I’m curious as to why some teapots do and some do not. There is a Japanese patent number on the bottom of the teapot. I tried to look up this number on the internet but have been unsuccessful at finding any information about it.

I am not trying to point out the flaws in this piece of pottery but saying how much it has been loved and used over and over and over again. My grandma said that she doesn’t have a clue of the last time it was used. I do know that I will never use this teapot myself, though. Especially, and this may be a little weird but, when you open the teapot it smells just like my great grandma’s house. Every time I turned the teapot to take a picture of it, the smell would hit me and I would get flooded with memories of holidays, bonfires, and other get-togethers at my great grandma’s house.

My great grandma passed away very peacefully when she was 93 years old. She loved to listen to people play music, especially guitars and pianos. She was nicknamed the “Harley Grandma.” From the age of 88 to 92 she would ride on my uncle’s Harley Davison motorcycle in the “Frozen Buns” New Years Day ride in Indiana. She loved animals, including the many cats, dogs, and birds she had throughout her life. Most importantly, she loved tea. As you can see, so do I. What I am saying is after looking at this pumpkin teapot and thinking about the amazing life that my great grandma had… I hope the love for tea is not the only thing that gets passed down.

The Tools

Before I start talking about the latest tea that I've tasted, I need to give credit to the tools that I use. If it weren’t for these stylish but efficient tools of the trade, making tea might not be such an enjoyable experience.

When making any tea, you have to have hot or boiling water. My electric tea kettle does that job with flare. This particular kettle called to me from the English Tea Store. The main thing I like about it is its old fashion meets modern design. The rounded body with equality beautiful round handle gives it a sleek style. However, no matter how hard I try, I cannot get water to boil from something just because it looks good sitting on the counter (oh the possibilities). As I mentioned before, this is an electric kettle, which means it keeps me as far away from the stove as possible (and some will agree that is the safest place for me). All I have to do is fill it with water, sit it on the base, plug it in, and turn it on. It has an automatic shut off when the water starts to boil. The only draw back is that it doesn’t have a temperature gauge like some electric kettles… but it’s soooo pretty!

I got this “Kat” teapot from In Pursuit of Tea. I love the bold black and blue colors, along with the simple cat design. The paw prints on the back of the teapot and all over the teacup add to the aesthetics. I, also, like the stackable space-saving trait to this teapot. Don’t be fooled by its cuteness, though, as it sits on the counter because it still makes a mean cup of tea. The cup and the teapot each hold the same amount of water so all I have to do is dump in my leaves and add the hot water – no measuring required. Can making tea be any easier? I submit that it cannot!

The other teapot that I have is my IngenuiTEA from Adagio. This teapot holds about 32 oz. of water at one time. I mainly use this teapot when I want to chill and bottle my tea to take with me. If you have never seen this teapot in action, it is actually kind of neat. You put your tea leaves in the teapot then add your hot water. When your tea is done steeping you put the whole teapot on your awaiting cup and when the teapot rests on the cup, the valve is opened, allowing the tea to come out of the bottle while the filter stops the leaves. Genius!

Ok, now that you know what I brew my tea in, it is time to talk about what I taste the delicious concoction out of. The first cup I purchased (other than my “Kat” collection) was a glass cup from Adagio. I really like drinking tea from this cup because the transparency of the glass lets the color of the tea really shine. With this cup, I don’t have to hover over it in order to see elaborate hues. For the fullest effect, I drink my choice of tea as the morning sunshine comes through the window and hits the glass.

The next container is one of my travel mugs. Being a college student, I’m on the go all the time, running from this class to this class. I didn’t want to have to wait until I got home to enjoy my tea. I want it with me to sip on and keep me awake through the boring lectures. The first mug I bought was the black insulated mug from In Pursuit of Tea. This 12 oz. mug is amazing. Not only does it have a vacuum seal but it keeps the temperature of the liquid inside relatively stable. The top lid screws off for sipping while the strainer holds loose leaves back. Then the strainer screws off to add the contents.

The next travel mug is one of my recent purchases from Xiu Xian Tea. This is another 12 oz. mug. As you can see, this one is not the best at keeping a constant temperature of the substance inside, but it is a handsome mug. There is a dragon on the front that will never wear off because it is protected between two plastic layers. The top lid screws off to reveal a strainer (the second lid), in which that screws off to the open container.

These are my first and only tools for tea making. I hope to acquire more in the future, but for right now, these are what I have to work with. I know this is an odd collection, but I think I have made the right choices and purchases. They have been with me to witness my first tea experience and I’m sure they will make several hundred more cups for me… and I can’t wait to see what the next brew brings me!