Teaware for cool teas only?
Posted: Sat Nov 27, 2021 9:36 am
I was looking at a listing for a gorgeous glass tea cup on eBay yesterday. The listing states that there should only be used with cool or cold tea. And that got me thinking: even in the summertime, when I brew up some sencha or gyokuro, I always want to get every bit of goodness that the leaves have, and even when I start my infusions quite cool, I keep increasing the temperature until I’m doing a final infusion with water just off the boil. This would obviously not be the use envisaged for an item that is sold for cool use only.
I’m assuming there’s a Japanese tea drinking tradition that makes sense of such items. Would it be usual to prepare only one infusion at a cooler temperature for a longer time with less tea (rather like when I do my cold infusions for sparkling Sencha)? Or to drink several infusions done over gradually increasing time at strictly cool temperatures? Or would you simply use a “normal” amount of tea and a single infusion with lukewarm water and stop there?
On chilly mornings like today, I may use a delicate piece of Hagi ware, but As I increase the temperature of my infusions, I try to be aware of the temperature of the cup before I pour in another infusion. If I’m stacking them close together, I just make sure it doesn’t have a chance to cool down much. If I have let things cool down too much between infusions at the hotter temperatures, I pour hot water over it first to warm it up. And my Biwa cup seems to be doing fine with today’s Forest glow sencha from Obubu.
I’m assuming there’s a Japanese tea drinking tradition that makes sense of such items. Would it be usual to prepare only one infusion at a cooler temperature for a longer time with less tea (rather like when I do my cold infusions for sparkling Sencha)? Or to drink several infusions done over gradually increasing time at strictly cool temperatures? Or would you simply use a “normal” amount of tea and a single infusion with lukewarm water and stop there?
On chilly mornings like today, I may use a delicate piece of Hagi ware, but As I increase the temperature of my infusions, I try to be aware of the temperature of the cup before I pour in another infusion. If I’m stacking them close together, I just make sure it doesn’t have a chance to cool down much. If I have let things cool down too much between infusions at the hotter temperatures, I pour hot water over it first to warm it up. And my Biwa cup seems to be doing fine with today’s Forest glow sencha from Obubu.