Looking for a gaiwan recommendation...

[Abracadaver!]

I'm working a couple days a week out of a new office and I'm looking for a new gaiwan to use there. Something super-utilitarian but also nice (if that makes sense?). I'd love to hear any recommendations people here may have.

For reference, my all-time favorite gaiwan is the medium Tea Gallery gaiwan (any old heads around here will know which one I mean), followed by the Spring gaiwan Red Blossom used to sell.

Preferences:
- white porcelain (blue painting on the exterior is ok, but def plain white interior)
- handmade
- ~120ml (super flexible here, preferably not super big or super tiny)
- thin walled
- easy to handle/pour (I know this is pretty subjective)
- "sharp" lip

I'm really looking forward to hearing people's thoughts. Thanks in advance!

[teatray]

Not a huge number of gaiwan lovers here, but these threads might be useful:

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=2225
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=24

[LeoFox]

This one looks interesting
https://www.thes-du-japon.com/index.php ... ts_id=1485

[faj]

Not a huge number of gaiwan lovers here

Is it really so? Maybe gaiwans are not getting a lot of posts written about them, but I would hazard a guess that they are among the types of teapots owned by the highest percentage of members (if not even at the the top of the list), and it is common for newcomers eager to purchase their first teapots to be reminded of the continued usefulness and affordability of gaiwans, often by otherwise die-hard fans of clay teapots.

[Bok]

It is something probably everyone has, but it is not something people collect en masse and talk about all the time, like teapots. Same as people do not mention their cups often...
Very important basic tool to judge a tea on first encounter.

[debunix]

This is a not uncommon question, and I often struggle to answer it because I have bought my gaiwans primarily at local brick and mortar stores were they were cheap. I find the cheapest most basic versions to be perfectly adequate, and affordable to buy in large enough quantity to do comparative tastings, with up to half a dozen teas. It would be be a non-trivial expense to request a matched set for tastings from one of the Teaware Artisans featured here who make such lovely work. And the ones I have from our Teaware artisans have more colorful interiors than you require, because I use the cheap mass produced ones for tastings when I want the white interior… or I use a white interior cup.

My two favorite gaiwans are from Inge Nielsen and Shawn McGuire. I have not seen much activity on Shawn’s Etsy of late, but I bet that Inge would be happy to custom make one of her typically beautiful and very functional gaiwans for you if this beauty does not satisfy:

[JamieD]

I'm working a couple days a week out of a new office and I'm looking for a new gaiwan to use there. Something super-utilitarian but also nice (if that makes sense?). I'd love to hear any recommendations people here may have.

For reference, my all-time favorite gaiwan is the medium Tea Gallery gaiwan (any old heads around here will know which one I mean), followed by the Spring gaiwan Red Blossom used to sell.

Preferences:
- white porcelain (blue painting on the exterior is ok, but def plain white interior)
- handmade
- ~120ml (super flexible here, preferably not super big or super tiny)
- thin walled
- easy to handle/pour (I know this is pretty subjective)
- "sharp" lip

I'm really looking forward to hearing people's thoughts. Thanks in advance!

While I am no expert on gaiwans, I can say that I am a loyal customer of teacups china sets. While I have a few pieces of teaware from other places (including teaware from Adagio), teacups is my go-to. I have their Snow and their Floating Lotus gaiwans, as well as a few of their teacups and teapots. They are great aesthetically, and I adore their lids. Their lids fit on my other pieces from other companies as well. Their customer service has been great.

[Tyler]

I would say the mud & leaves gaiwans, they are kind of expensive now though. This is probably the closest one they have now https://mudandleaves.com/collections/ga ... -brown-rim I thought they had one before that was a little bigger.

[Bok]

For basic white porcelain like this, I would just go through the trouble of getting them on taobao... the offer is vast and the prices can be very low. Gaiwans tend to have short lives, so better get more than one (and if it is only to replace a broken lid).

[LeoFox]

https://m.aliexpress.us/h5/item/3256802 ... _shipto=US

[supernova]

I have always dreamed about this one -- https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1 ... 9484003779




Maybe there is something like this somewhere but a little bit cheaper and not from taobao?

[Bok]

I have always dreamed about this one -- https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1 ... 9484003779




Maybe there is something like this somewhere but a little bit cheaper and not from taobao?

If it is not to be found cheap on Taobao, it isn't

[Chaim Forbes]

maybe you 'll enjoy that