Teaware, Perfect Tea Accessories For Tea Afficionados
If you can’t find the kind of teaware online that suits your particular taste and needs, you should invent your own. The reason is simple: there is more variety in teapots, infusers, strainers, cups and more than there ever were add-ons for photography buffs.
A teapot is central to the set and you will find yourself simultaneously frustrated and delighted at the options. You could consume a week just cataloging all the different choices.
Everything from chrome and plastic to ceramic to clay to glass is available and each has its pros and cons. There are teapots with in-built timers and thermometers, detachable base plates and handles… the list is endless.
Some look very much like ordinary traditional coffee pots. But even those have all sorts of extra, modern conveniences like a detachable pot from the heating base for example. Very handy for preparation and pouring.
Others have the look of a much older tradition - the look of ancient China. Yixing clay teapots, of the sort that have been made by fine craftsmen in China for centuries, are both functional and beautiful. Today they have the added advantage of being prepared in modern clay ovens with extraordinary quality control. They represent the best of art and technology combined.
Traditional porcelain teapots from Japan are both works of art and utilitarian objects. Strong, yet with delicate designs, these shining white and blue containers look great and function perfectly even in the most modern of kitchens.
Many American designs now emulate the best of Scandinavia, where tea drinking is an art done with the practical sense of the Danes or Finns. One elegant glass design has an oversized cup with a plate that sits on top and holds a strainer. The assembly on top makes it easy to prepare the tea to perfection, then lift off the upper components and carry the cup to your favorite easy chair for drinking.
The range of artistic styles, beyond the merely functional, would fill a museum. Along with the teapot, the tea devotee will find an equally abundant array of choices for other teaware.
Strainers or infusers, which are used to strain hot water through tea leaves, are essential for those who want to expand their choices beyond tea bags. These come in a variety of materials and designs. Pyrex, copper or aluminum, ceramic and other materials are used. Large mesh, fine mesh and everything in between are useful since you may want to use large leaves or even fine tea powder.
A tea caddy is helpful for those who like to buy in quantity or have on hand different types of tea. That would be everyone, wouldn’t it? They come in a large range of sizes and designs. Some hold only one type, some have compartments for holding bags, leaves or powder in different chambers.
While you’re buying, don’t forget to look for that unique cup that fits your hand and tastes. Then, in about a year when you’ve reviewed one percent of what’s available, you can actually sit down and brew a cup, then relax. After all that shopping, you’ll need one.
Tea Tins and Tea Chests for Loose Leaf Teas and Teabags
Whether you prefer loose leaf or bag, or enjoy both, you’ll want to keep that fine tea you searched so hard for in optimal condition.
Like coffee and other organic products, tea can degrade and go stale. Oxygen-filled air and airborne compounds can destroy a fine tea leaf, or infuse it with unpleasant odors and tastes. Fortunately, there is a world of tea tins and tea chests that can prevent those problems. A fine container, also known as a tea caddy, will keep your tea fresh and add a decorative element to the kitchen.
Tea tins and chests come in all sizes, shapes and designs. Few are made of tin anymore, despite the name. But if plastic is not your preferred material there are rust-proof metal tins that can seal airtight and keep your stash fresh as the day you bought it.
Porcelain, glass, plastic, wood and entirely new kinds of materials are being used for tins today. You can enjoy the fine traditional look of a Japanese porcelain or the latest Swedish composite that could seal a modern mummy.
Some are just round, rectangular or octagonal containers in which you dump loose leaf or bags. But others have compartments that help keep your teas separated and organized. You’ll want to keep loose leaf teas in either separate tins or find a tin that has individually sealing compartments. The latter type has smaller cubical areas that enclose individually or close off each one separately when you shut the lid.
Tea chests often allow for holding dozens of individual sachets or bags. Here again, the design you get will be dictated by the type of tea, tea bag and decorative element desired. Individual sachets are air-permeable, so it’s important to get a chest that can seal each compartment. If you buy sealed bags, then the design options are wider.
Chests can hold from as small as a dozen to over a hundred and many make for fine furniture. Teak, and other fine woods are often used and the display is equivalent to a fine cigar holder. Some have cherry finishes, others ebony, others still another color. Some with glass tops are available, but exercise caution. Glass transmits heat much better than fine woods, so you’ll need to keep the tin somewhere out of the sunlight. Also, UV can degrade both fine mesh bags and the tea leaves themselves, so the interior should be kept dark.
In either style, tin or chest, fine teas can be kept fresh up to a year, depending on how often they’re opened and how the tea itself is stored. Small, flexible metal or plasticized paper can seal extremely well. Sachets and other fine cloth mesh will allow exposure to air. But the latter are often used for the finest teas and are intended to be consumed fairly quickly.
You may want just an inexpensive, but attractive, tea tin to hold a few bags. Or, you might prefer a finely crafted piece of furniture for the kitchen that contains hundreds of dollars of fine tea. Whatever your preference, there’s a tin or chest tea caddy in a price and style perfect for you.
What Are The Different Teas From Around the World?
For centuries the major tea producing countries have been in Asia, though Africa and even the U.S., on a small scale now grow the evergreen from which tea leaves come. China, Japan and India have long been known as the source of most tea products, with Taiwan and Ceylon contributing in the last two hundred years.
From China come several of the teas that grace tables around the globe, both green and black.
The green tea of China is grown at high elevations, from 2,500-4,500 feet (762m-1372m) above sea level. Climatic conditions provide for excellent growing conditions, though the labor intensive nature of tea growing makes them difficult to care for there. There are some varieties that are ready for harvesting for only a few weeks out of the year, making them all the more difficult to process.
Dragon Well is a delicious green tea that comes from China. Its flat, shiny leaves that hint of chestnuts have been enjoyed by the Chinese for centuries. Another popular green tea from China is the Jasmine Balls variety. Rolled into a ball by tea workers, the long leaves are prepared by surrounding them with Jasmine flowers.
Keemun tea, which has been consumed in Great Britain for 150 years, also has its origins in China. As a black tea, it’s actually more popular in Europe than its home country.
Most of the green tea shipped around the planet also originates in China, Japan and Taiwan.
Japan’s production is among the highest of any country, thanks to yields of 1,500 pounds per acre of this fine plant. Much of that comes from the Shizuoka region, south of Tokyo. The country consumes 98% of the home grown product, though, so it often seems as if they are one of the minor producers.
One of the most popular green teas in Japan is a variety known as Sencha. Served throughout the country, tea lovers will find it in any restaurant or store. Gyokuro is another very common tea in Japan, one with a caffeine content that is unusually high.
Matcha green tea is a type traditionally reserved for Japanese tea ceremonies, but now finds its way into many everyday circumstances where tea is consumed.
Hojicha, a kind of roasted tea, is also popular in Japan and has the advantage of having very little caffeine. Perfect for those who love tea, but are sensitive to the stimulant.
But by all accounts, India is and remains the world’s most important tea producer. Demand, both internally and throughout the world, is so high that even this giant of tea production can’t satisfy it all.
For the first time in years there are appearing shortages of Indian teas. The supply has become so tight that India now imports tea from Kenya, Indonesia and Vietnam to blend with native grown product. Kenya is among the world’s largest exporters of black tea leaf.
India has dozens of different teas. There is the world-famous Darjeeling, of course. But there is also the Assam black, the Puttabong green and the Iyerpadi Estate black, popular for over a hundred years.
Naturally, there are many others one could mention. Rooibos from South Africa is becoming increasingly popular in the U.S. and elsewhere. The Formosa Oolong from Taiwan has been on tables around the world for decades, if not centuries. The delightful teas of Ceylon have had a following for two hundred years.
No tea drinker would want to be restricted to a single country’s output, since - like coffee - there are so many delightful blends from around the world. Internationalism is the hallmark of any tea devoted drinker. Drink up!
