Newbie Teapot Question

I just recently got a 2 cup Chatsford and am extremely pleased with it. I've got the reddish brown Rockingham glazed pot which is very attractive, doesn't drip at the spout, and the filter basket doesn't materially impede the expansion of the leaf. You're correct about the yixing pots. Most places that you can buy the pots also have very fine mesh filters to use with them.

Cheers,

Cameron

Hi Kevin:

Cameron seems to have answered your question. I just wanted to say how nice it is to see another piper (and ASPer) posting here.

--Tom

-oo- ""\o~

------------------------------------ "Homo sum, humani nil a me alienum puto." Terrance

Hi Tom:

Yes, my interest in ASP led me in this direction...time to stop using the store bought tea bags and really start experiencing the tea...same thing thats driving me to purchase more expensive pipes

Hi Cameron:

Thanks for the info. I'll probably go with the two cup (just me that drinks it) Chatsford first chance I get for my black tea use. At some point it might be nice to have a Yixing, I really like the looks of some of them.

-------------- Kevin

IMHO if you're looking for a good general use teapot you can't go wrong with a Chatsford. I've had two of their teapots (six and ten cupper) for several years and I'm very satisfied with them.

If a two (six ounce) cup capacity pot will suit your needs then go for it. You might find the four cupper more versatile.

---Stash

SPAM FILTER: You'd have to be out of YourMind to send me email.

Kevin snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com/5/04

Kevin,

Let me add my voice to the Chatsford chorus. Mine serves well. I like the little indentation at the lip that makes handling so easy. Now, on to Yixings per your previous post.

Answer: No need for filter.

You can get one for anywhere between around $10.00 and thousands. Go with a cheap one first off. In a nutshell, you fill your little "gungfu" pot (2-5 ounces ) -- it's made of clay mined in Yixing, presumably -- about 1/3 full of dry leaf. Pour hot water over it, wait no more than 10 seconds, and pour into another vessel of approximately equal size. No need to filter becaue the pot will probably have some kind of filtering thing in the clay itself and because the tea leaves best used for this -- usually Oolong -- should be big enough to stay put. Pour from the second vessel to your little gungfu cup. That's it. I've simplified. I've also run on.

There are many sites that explain the process in some detail with pictures and even film clips. Imperial Tea Court has one.

Sorry for length.

I guess I should ask whether you had the little pot method (gungfu) in mind when you asked your question.

Michael

Hi All:

Thanks for all the advise, I'm going to purchase the Chatsford today, and probably get another 5 sampler packs , I'm having fun.

-------------- Kevin

Kevin snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com/6/04

Hey, what more can one ask. BTW, I'm spending a few weeks in Ecuador this summer where the bird species concentration is hard to beat. Now, that's gonna be fun. Started with Peterson's when I was around 12: pipes and guides, albeit different guys (I think).

Michael

I wonder how many other r.f.d.t. people are pipemen/women as well. There seems to be a conception that tobacco use (regardless of what form it takes) will ruin the sense of taste and smell and yet, if anything, I notice that mine are sharpened after a pipe or cigar. I've just finished a bowl of Haddo's in a Savinelli sea coral (an excellent ebay find at $12) and have started in on a pot of Meng Ku puer from Michael Ryan.

The Meng Ku 2003 vintage is a surprisingly good tea considering its youth. Light and subtle on the palate with a fruity-floral aftertaste and a touch of Yunnan spice. Like a good golden virginia with a touch of perique.

I wish you the best of luck in your adventures with tea.

Cameron

I find that some teas go really well with a good Cuban cigar, but find that a pipe tends to occupy my attention and not encourage drinking. As for the tobacco, cigarette smoke with all the chemicals, tends to do much more damage to the taste buds whereas cigar and pipe tobacco stimulates saliva production and enhances complementary flavors.

As to ruining the palate, there are two myths about smoking that annoys me, that second hand smoke is harmful, it is not, and that strong smoking ruins your taste buds. I would agree if is was 2 packs of coffin nails per day, but the odd cigar or pipe.

I write about food and drink for part of my living and for fun, so my taste buds are important to me.

BTW Cameron, you should visit the good folks at alt.smokers.cigars.

JJ

Camer>

See

for a particularly pungent item supporting the scientific orthodoxy you call myth, or, if you really want to wallow in data, go look for abstracts on

/Lew

Well I'm hanging around. The range of pipe tobaccos is actually a lot like the range of teas. Cigars are more akin to coffee, I think.

Ian

I like Honduran cigars and coffee.

my first teapot was a brown betty- in addition, as a newbie, i purchased a thermometer and little strainer with handle- my second purchase was a jenaer teapot and teacup which are my favorites- i sometimes use t-sacs or finum tee filters which have gussettedbottom. at this time in my tea adventure i have a little teapot collection including yixings and porcelains- joanne

I actually don't tend to drink tea and smoke simultaneously, though sometimes a good yunnan is the perfect thing with a latakia-heavy blend, I do tend to have tea, a good singlemalt, or some aged rum afterwards. The first drink after a cigar or pipe seems really intense in flavour for some reason.

I am actually inclined to think that anything more frequent than occaisonal smoking is liable to cause, or exacerbate, long term problems like cancer. I really doubt that relatively infrequent exposure to tobacco (a few pipes or cigars a week) is liable to cross the harm threshold though.

I think I will check out A.S.C. I've recently gotten quite interested in cigars, but being Canadian, as well as a cash strapped young entrepreneur, is making that difficult. I do have a box of habana Bolivar Belicosos Finos aging in a small humidor though they seem to require some more age to mellow out.

The quantity of crossover in these groups gives me hope that a new class of epicures is surfacing. It's too bad that my government seems determined to quash my enjoyment with sin taxes at every turn. At least tea is still PC.

Cameron

Ian snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com/8/04

Oh, Ian, my poor lad. Little do you know. Cigar tobaccos are God's gifts to the universe, so wonderful and diverse are they. I'm sure God would put nothing on this earth to harm me. Have you any idea what craft, art, and gathered tobaccos go into a really good Partagas from Dominican Republic? Ever smoke a Romeo and Julieta from Cuba. We're talking heaven here.

As for the myth of tobacco smoking ruining taste, I don't give a rat's ass what the scientists say, but....I perceive that smoking hurts my tea taste buds, and so alas, I've given up smoking. (Green pu-erh is a more than adequate substitute.)

Not to mention the beautiful wood grain of a pipe in the hand.

Wish I could explain it all in more detail, but I'm brewing tea.

Later.

Michael

Tea of the moment: Wagman's Gunpowder Green Music of the moment: John Coltrane Cigar of fondest memory: Partagas No. 2

I like to drink teas while smoking tobaccos that goes well with them. Some of my current favs:

Oolong with MCC 5100. Grouse-moor with dragon phoenix pearls. Puerh with non latakia oriental blends such as MCC Arcadia or Fox Campanile.

--Tom

-oo- ""\o~

------------------------------------ "Homo sum, humani nil a me alienum puto." Terrance

We've found a point of agreement: the topic belongs elsewhere.

/Lew

I'd like to make a suggestion. Would people please add links to the stores where they purchased their various pots into their replies when speaking of specifics. One mans's teapot may have the same name as another, but the store may be a bit more reputable than another and have a higher grade product. If a newbie sees a consensus of where to buy, it may help them a bit.

Richard

A good teapot is whereever you find it such that almost anyone will do. I think the discussions here are 'this and that' just peculiarities more than functionality. A good source is the kitchenwares of upscale department stores. Surprising ethnic stores are good for cups but not pots. There is nothing wrong with boiling water in a sauce pan, adding tea, and straining for an all-in-one solution. My everyday teapot for the past year is the stainless steel found in Chinese restaurants. It takes a beating. There is a tendency to overtip and dump hot leaves on the hand when using a strainer. I may take one of my french presses and have the local retired British engineer do his special modification. I could never afford a Chatford or Bodum. Just start somewhere because the biggest gotcha in teapots is the capacity and more often than not missing infuser. A neat solution for the big pots with missing infusers is the tea sock. Don't worry about the best just your personal preference and taste for what makes a good cuppa.

Jim