Image of Yixing teapot courtesy of T Ching.I used my birthday money and splurged this week. I bought an entire pound of Matcha Genmaicha tea from T Ching, in addition to a Yixing teapot and 50 grams of "Moonlight Oolong", which I have not yet tasted because I have been too busy enjoying my teapot.
You can find more detailed information on Yixing teapots (like the correct pronunciation of "Yixing") by doing a simple Google search, so I'll just tell you that my pot is small, has a strainer at the spout so I don't have to use a separate infuser, and the inside is not glazed, which means it absorbs the flavor of the tea steeped in it. Therefore, it is very important to only steep one kind of tea in each teapot. So, my Yixing teapot is used for Matcha Genmaicha tea henceforth. Amen, and be it so.
I was a little disappointed with my first few cups of tea in my cool new teapot, and I wondered if I'd done something wrong. It didn't taste quite as good as when I brewed it in my plastic infuser, and I wondered if the clay was giving it a flavor I wasn't used to. Of course, the clay teapot made the tea more authentic, so I thought maybe "real" tea didn't taste as good!
But yesterday I went to Safeway with my gallon jug and refilled it with filtered water for 41 cents (which, by the way, is a convenient way of using up spare change, as 41 cents can be made up of one quarter, one dime, one nickel, and one penny.) I made the last few cups of tea for the day with filtered water, and oh, what a difference! I think the filtered water and the clay teapot together made the experience so much more enjoyable. The cup I'm drinking now (first infusion of the day) tastes mild, with none of the "green tea bite" or whatever is the technical term for that sour/bitter taste that comes when improperly making green tea or by making cheap green tea at all (*coughStashcough*). The cups I had last night with the last few infusions were actually sweet.
I'm still searching for my first willing "don't like tea" convert. I'm finding that most people who "don't like tea" really "don't want to try any more tea".
Oh! Another word about the Yixing teapot: I love the way it feels! Maybe it's just mine and not every Yixing pot, but after I pour out the tea, I like holding the hot clay in my hands. There is something so natural and therapeutic about it; it feels absolutely delightful.
You can find more detailed information on Yixing teapots (like the correct pronunciation of "Yixing") by doing a simple Google search, so I'll just tell you that my pot is small, has a strainer at the spout so I don't have to use a separate infuser, and the inside is not glazed, which means it absorbs the flavor of the tea steeped in it. Therefore, it is very important to only steep one kind of tea in each teapot. So, my Yixing teapot is used for Matcha Genmaicha tea henceforth. Amen, and be it so.
I was a little disappointed with my first few cups of tea in my cool new teapot, and I wondered if I'd done something wrong. It didn't taste quite as good as when I brewed it in my plastic infuser, and I wondered if the clay was giving it a flavor I wasn't used to. Of course, the clay teapot made the tea more authentic, so I thought maybe "real" tea didn't taste as good!
But yesterday I went to Safeway with my gallon jug and refilled it with filtered water for 41 cents (which, by the way, is a convenient way of using up spare change, as 41 cents can be made up of one quarter, one dime, one nickel, and one penny.) I made the last few cups of tea for the day with filtered water, and oh, what a difference! I think the filtered water and the clay teapot together made the experience so much more enjoyable. The cup I'm drinking now (first infusion of the day) tastes mild, with none of the "green tea bite" or whatever is the technical term for that sour/bitter taste that comes when improperly making green tea or by making cheap green tea at all (*coughStashcough*). The cups I had last night with the last few infusions were actually sweet.
I'm still searching for my first willing "don't like tea" convert. I'm finding that most people who "don't like tea" really "don't want to try any more tea".
Oh! Another word about the Yixing teapot: I love the way it feels! Maybe it's just mine and not every Yixing pot, but after I pour out the tea, I like holding the hot clay in my hands. There is something so natural and therapeutic about it; it feels absolutely delightful.
