One Tea Pot for Each Kind of Tea?

by Joy Tate
(Alabama)

I love tea, since I was a child I was enchanted by tea ceremony. It seemed to be so elegant and appeared to be a special bonding experience.

Whether or not that is true, I have decided here in my retirement years to explore more about teas and the differences, similarities, and the benefits of tea.

I have found the website to be very helpful and informative. Why should one use a different pot for each kind of tea?

I have my grandmother's little brown teapot from England. We always used it to brew tea. I am from the deep south USA and we drink huge quantities of strong iced tea.

My family was a little shocked that I enjoyed hot tea.

I am looking forward to tasting and learning about your teas. Really, why a different pot for each tea?

Thank you for your time and trouble.

Answer:

Joy, there is no reason why you can't use one tea pot for many teas.

But in any case, the discussion is meaningless without referencing the type of tea you are drinking.

For Chinese tea, we don't really recommending using tea pot for the lightly oxidized teas i.e. green tea, white tea, yellow tea, jasmine scented green tea etc.

For these teas, 2-3 grams should be brewed in 8-ounce glasses, infused over 3-5 times.

For the Chinese, tea pots get used when we are brewing the highly oxidized, roasted oolong or black teas, such as the Wuyis, Keemun, Lapsang Souchong sold in my tea shop.

For these teas, I would recommend using Yixing tea pot, which is made from a special clay available from Yixing mines.

These clays have memory i.e. it acquires the property of the tea that it is being brewed in.

When using Yixing tea pot, it is best to use one pot for one type of tea.

Further information can be found here:

Yixing Chinese Tea Pot - A Gongfu Tea Drinker's Complete Guide

I hope this helps.

Julian