TeaForum.org

As a structure-lover, I used to be in the matched camp, but am slowly coming around to the mismatched. The main change was someone pointing out that by allowing friends to choose their own cups, they become more invested in the experience. While people may become nervous choosing a tea, especially if they don't know very much about teas, and sometimes it is more practical as a host to select the tea, there is no pressure with cups.

The big drawback seems to be that it can be disruptive in "themed" teas. If people are trying to do the whole zithers playing, tea hut type experience, or some Victorian finger sandwiches on the lawn type tea, the one friend with the "Who farted?" mug is likely to bring them back to reality.

Fitting with my personality, I am 110% in the matched tea sets category; however, not every thing has to be same shade of celadon (but it's gotta be close enough). I now have a qinghua set, a celadon set, and a white set of cups, faircups, cha xi, etc.

mbanu wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 30, 2020 3:34 pm

the one friend with the "Who farted?" mug is likely to bring them back to reality.

As I peruse these threads and respond, I'm drinking 1990's sheng from a Chauzhou pot, poured into a glass pitcher and small celadon cup. It doesn't match, but for me is going really well together. I've had this sheng in several pots and set-ups and it's working surprisingly well in the Chauzhou. I usually prefer white or light coloured cups and these rarely match the brewing vessels.

Noonie wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 30, 2020 3:49 pm

mbanu wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 30, 2020 3:34 pm

the one friend with the "Who farted?" mug is likely to bring them back to reality.

As I peruse these threads and respond, I'm drinking 1990's sheng from a Chauzhou pot, poured into a glass pitcher and small celadon cup.

I just started using a glass pitcher with a handle. I got tired of them slipping out of my hands and spilling near boiling water on my self. I like my teaware to match but I'd rather have more functional items instead but that takes experience to learn. PAINFUL experience.

I got a glass pitcher, precisely it matches all my teaware, at least it looks in-offensive next to it.
I got several sets of 3-6ish matching cups in different sizes ans styles to match the tea and the teapot.

More people involved than I got matching cups, usually it won't matter anyways. More than 3 prople are merely drinking tea, any meaningful appreciation of good tea will be impossible and good tea would be wasted, so mix and match which whatever fits the purpose and number of people.

Moved this topic from Tea to Teaware, since the topic is about matching teaware.

Typically I will first pair a teapot with a selected tea, and then decide which plate, cups and pitcher to use. Mostly I’m going for aesthetically pleasing arrangements that play with texture, tone, proportion, and size. Also, fabric is an important component aesthetically, and to dampen cacophony of teaware making contact with hard surfaces. Here are a few examples;

I like to have matched wares to standardize tastings, so I have a bunch of small, inexpensive gaiwans and cups. Otherwise, anything goes. Sometimes the Yamada Sou blue kyusu and cup get used together, but more often they're apart.

Victoria wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 01, 2020 9:22 am

Moved this topic from Tea to Teaware, since the topic is about matching teaware.

Typically I will first pair a teapot with a selected tea, and then decide which plate, cups and pitcher to use. Mostly I’m going for aesthetically pleasing arrangements that play with texture, tone, proportion, and size. Also, fabric is an important component aesthetically, and to dampen cacophony of teaware making contact with hard surfaces. Here are a few examples;

Where did you find those mats? I need something underneath some tea cloths I bought to mitigate spills.

klepto wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 01, 2020 11:16 am

Victoria wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 01, 2020 9:22 am

Moved this topic from Tea to Teaware, since the topic is about matching teaware.

Typically I will first pair a teapot with a selected tea, and then decide which plate, cups and pitcher to use. Mostly I’m going for aesthetically pleasing arrangements that play with texture, tone, proportion, and size. Also, fabric is an important component aesthetically, and to dampen cacophony of teaware making contact with hard surfaces. Here are a few examples;

Where did you find those mats? I need something underneath some tea cloths I bought to mitigate spills.

If you are referring to cloth mats, those are Knoll furniture fabric samples.

I prefer to use a glass pitcher, porcelain cups, a Yixing waste water bowl and a Yixing or porcelain teapot. The tea or teapot does not matter. I always use the same porcelain cups, because they are perfect in shape and size. So I'm on the mismatched teaset side

Victoria wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 01, 2020 9:22 am

I love the texture and shape of this kyusu. Is this a Yamada Sou piece? The inside of the lid certainly has that Yamada Sou look. Google image searching Yamada Sou shudei seems to suggest the clay texture is plausible too.

Bok wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 30, 2020 11:27 pm

More than 3 prople are merely drinking tea, any meaningful appreciation of good tea will be impossible and good tea would be wasted

Fully agreed, and it sent me off hunting down an old Chaozhou quote that made a big impression on me. Turns out it was something chrl42 shared on TC:

chrl42 wrote: "一人得其神 两人得其韵 三人得其味" - one person gets its holiness, two persons get its vibe, three persons get its taste. Famous quote floated in Chaozhou tea drinking communities, meaning when drinking tea, fewer persons are better. Traditional Chaozhou Gongfu teaset offer one pot and three ping-pong cups. More people will break its mood.

bliss wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 27, 2021 4:57 pm

Victoria wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 01, 2020 9:22 am

I love the texture and shape of this kyusu. Is this a Yamada Sou piece? The inside of the lid certainly has that Yamada Sou look. Google image searching Yamada Sou shudei seems to suggest the clay texture is plausible too.

Good guess, the kyusu is made by Emu (Jozan IV). The pear skin shudei clay is a little different than what Sou is using, less absorptive and has a more orangey tone. Hard to capture tonal differences in photos but here and here are a few attempts.

Regarding group tastings, I really miss having the LA group over here. With some discipline we were able to appreciate teas with focus and calm, while sharing anecdotes and stories. I enjoy having tea alone, but the pleasure of a shared experience is also very special .

bliss wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 27, 2021 4:57 pm

Victoria wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 01, 2020 9:22 am

I love the texture and shape of this kyusu. Is this a Yamada Sou piece? The inside of the lid certainly has that Yamada Sou look. Google image searching Yamada Sou shudei seems to suggest the clay texture is plausible too.

I will try my luck as a Forum detective. I think it was the one from this post (Yamada Emu, now Jozan IV) :

viewtopic.php?p=3517#p3517

(EDIT: noticed @Victoria's answer was posted before I could notice, so my post, which I cannot delete, seems kind of silly. Oh well...)

I'm mostly in the camp of not having everything uniform. Although I like matching cups when drinking with someone else, ideally I'd want some nice non-matching chataku/coaster/mat.

My only hard rule is having a maximum of type of unglazed clay that touches the tea/water, which nearly always ends up being the teapot.

Here's this evening's brewing setup with some smaller cups added for spicing up the photo, although I ended up snagging one of them for my session. I'm currently enjoying some porcelain that arrived from TTC, which means I'm matching more than usual.