Monday, July 22, 2013

Gifting a tea newbie





A good friend called me telling me that he enjoys drinking oolongs and jasmine tea and wanted to brew tea at home.  He wanted something to brew his tea and had wanted to buy a 'brewing apparatus' (his own words) for his tea.  He requested me to help him choose his apparatus.  I asked him to come over to my place this evening.

I decided to give him a present - a 'brewing apparatus'.  I gave some thoughts and have narrowed down to 3 possible presents.  You can see, from the pix, my choices for the gift.  No, the tea tray is not included.

I liked the 1st pix.  Its a stylized gaiwan (aka easy gaiwan).  Unlike the regular gaiwan in the 2nd pix, brewing tea by a newbie is easier, as the pour-out of the tea is easier as it has a spout.  Pouring tea from a regular gaiwan needs practice as your hand need to balance the gaiwan cover correctly so you only pour out the tea while preventing the tea leaves from being poured out as well.  It will also be quite hot handling a gaiwan and accidents and spills may happen, especially to a newbie. The 3rd pix shows a easy gaiwan with handle. 

I will let my friend choose his gift. Such porcelain would be good for him as he can brew different kinds of Chinese tea with porcelain.  Clay teapots or clay gaiwans are not suitable - clay vessels will absorb the scents of a tea and may affect the aroma another different tea, making a tea session quite unpleasant. I will only dedicate one type of Chinese tea for a particular teapot.    

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