is a gaiwan worth it

It's probably a regional thing, much like everything else. In a month of travelling Chengdu/Chongqing/Emeishan and the rest of Western Sichuan, the overwhelming majority of folks use the saucer too. Tea districts all over the provincial capital were clutching their saucers with pride. "A few thousand tea merchants can't be wrong" there, too, but in the opposite direction. So which thousand tea merchants are wrong?

Neither, of course, because there is no wrong. :)

Toodlepip,

Hobbes

P.s. Hope Bears is enjoying his time out there!

snipped-for-privacy@i3g2000cwc.googlegroups.com10/11/06

Seb, when you and Jing pour from the gaiwan, do you normally deploy the three part grasp (TPG) or the two part grasp (TPG)? Am I to understand from the above that you use the former?

It isn't whether you're burning your fingers off while you're pouring; it's whether anyone else at the table *knows* that you're burning your fingers off. Or is that from another culture?

Seriously, as has been suggested, it must depend in large part on the size of the hand, the comfort level of the pourer, and perhaps on the degree of formality, although I fail to see the intrinsically formal nature of one method over the other. Unless of course the cup proper slides out from between the saucer and the lid, sending contents spilling into several laps, and shards across the table. That *might* dampen the formality of it all. (This is not something I'd object to, the dampening of formality, that is.)

Michael

Aha. I knew it. I was right. You all were wrong.

I beg to differ: OH, YES THEY CAN! Why would I trust something as important as how I pour from a gaiwan to a *merchant*? Or to a million of 'em?

Michael

I honestly believe what you saw and experienced, however, I have seen just as much to the contrary... I'm guessing it is either a regional thing or that there is no true answer. That link I provided earlier in the thread is written by a Chinese man, and last night I had called an older Vietnamese friend who is big into tea and he quickly answered with the "3PG" with the saucer.

I'm also wondering if it could have to do with if the user is drinking directly from it or not. I went back through a number of photo's I have as well as the cookbook I just mentioned and they are all drinking directly from the gaiwan and holding the saucer. Even though I have seen people still serve using the saucer, and that link as well as a few others say to... maybe that has a part in it?

- Dominic Drinking: Xia Guan Puerh

And also protects the table (lap, hand, rug, poodle, ...) from drips. Once I learned to use the saucer, keep my fingers away from the pour point, and not overfill, I haven't been burned at all. I think my style, with my large clumsy hands, is and must be different than the way I have seen delicate and graceful salesgirls execute a pour.

A friend gave me a mass-produced glass gaiwan which I dearly love to use for good oolongs. It lets me suck every drop out of the leaves. He's going to get some of the good oolongs in return.

Best,

Rick.

Chiming in late here. To the original poster, yes, a trusty gaiwan is a good sidekick for any tea brewing and drinking. I own several sizes of gaiwan from 3oz to 6oz. The small one I use for my more precious tea leaves where I usually just enjoy the tea with my wife. Smaller so I don't need to use too much leaves, and multiple brewings satisfies the thirst in the end. On the other spectrum, I often use the 6oz to chuck in everyday quality leaves and drink it straight from the gaiwan (without decanting the tea first). I also use the larger one when brewing for multiple people.

I don't own a stone gaiwan, but the heavier material would seem to be perfectly suited for brewing pu'er and highly oxidized / highly roasted oolongs.

gaiwan lid should not fit as a perfect round within the cup, but rather be slightly off center. That way, you are not fighting to pour the tea from the gaiwan since a small iopen arc is created. Much to discuss.

In my humble experience, a perfectly fitting lid would become slightly unfitting after hot water has been poured into the bowl (different expansion rate of body and lid). So I prefer looking for a gaiwan which has a nice body-lid fit. I have some cheap gaiwans that don't have good body-lid fit and it just doesn't feel good handling it.

in front of the entire selection and go with the one that stands out to

me without even looking at prices. And normally this tends to be the lower priced ones almost every time.

large photo's of a few old Chinese men drinking from gaiwans by only holding the rim of the saucer and no lids in place (one guy has a lid on).

Correct me if I'm wrong: it seems that the discussion on 2PG vs 3PG was a bit confused along the way. I believe Michael, Marshal and Seb were talking about using a gaiwan to brew and then decant the tea into another vessel, in which they propogate 2PG method. While you (Dominic) was referring to drinking the tea out of a gaiwan, in which case 3PG is commonly done.

All in all, who cares if some of us prefer one way or the other? It's all personal, me thinks. I've done both ways without any qualm. :)

But the saucer prevents dripping only when you've stopped pouring. I'm a 2PG person who uses the saucer - but not while pouring - because it holds the drop or two remaining on the rim after pouring. To me, having three moving parts seems more complicated and tricky than two.

/Lew

snippity snip

You know, I think you might be right here. Definitely right in my case.

And right again. But, a good flame war seldom has its roots in logic, and never in the significance of the subject at hand.

I'm using my little stone gourd teapot today for Phoenix Bird Oolong. I dedicated this particular Gung Fu pot to no particular tea at all, yet I use it a lot. It's my standard at work now. I brew good teas in it, across the oolong range, but never "great" teas, green teas, or red teas. I do sometimes brew Pu'erhs in it. It's a happy little teapot, and serves me very well. Teas taste great in it, some better than had they been brewed in a gaiwan. Jing and Seb sold it to me awhile back. I've lost all trace of its provenance. I'm really impressed with it. It's my favorate form for a teapot. Holds less than four ounces -- less than three when its chockablock with tea leaf. Yummers!

BTW, only kidding in the header line, of course; I treasure my gaiwans, even those in heaven and those in the Purgatory of the shard box.

Michael

Lewis snipped-for-privacy@panix1.panix.com10/12/06 14: snipped-for-privacy@panix.com

I'm with Lew. Are you saying basically that you pour with two parts, but then place the two back onto a saucer that sits on the table at the ready? That makes sense enough; most of my gaiwan sets are three part, but I deploy two in the pour. The 2PG is the way to go -- or not as the case may be. Michael

Drinking from the gaiwan directly will usually involve the saucer.

I'm not saying mine is definitely the right way or the only right way, Michael Plant, but I have honestly yet to see anybody using the saucer to help lift the gaiwan when pouring it into a fairness cup or the like in all my tea travels, and I've done a fair bit of that. Maybe the Sichuanese or Hunanese do it differently.

Exactly.

/Lew