Tea Blog

Let’s make this short: No, you can never have enough teapots. Okay, on to the next topic.

Just kidding.

Seriously, there are some of us out there who seem to have an insatiable desire for collecting. It could be anything: baseball cards, coins, stamps, wind-up toys, nutcracker dolls, old parts to a 1964 Chevy Corvette Stingray, albums by Justin Bieber, Christmas ornaments, antique screwdrivers, and whatever else you can think of. Teapots are no exception. One difference, though, is that the teapot collectors often use those teapots, not just let them sit around.

I wouldn’t say that I’ve become a teapot collector, and Janis Badarau certainly has more on display in the special tea room in her house than I own, but the fever has definitely caught hold. So much so that when offered a fourth Yixing teapot, I jumped at the chance to add it to my “Tea Gang” (a group of teapots dedicated to the leaf). The design on this teapot incorporates peaches, so I called it “Peachy” (only my most special teapots get names — naming teapots is a sign of something, possibly dementia?). The design is tied in with Chinese legends, especially the one about the Empress who had a treasured peach tree and the Monkey King who ate the best peaches, making the Empress angry; he created blooming tea balls to look like peaches and thus appeased her. As is the case with all fine Yixing, the chop marks were clear under the lid and on the bottom of the teapot.

Speaking of blooming teas, no teapot collection is complete without a glass teapot so you can steep the tea and enjoy the show as it unfolds. This brings to mind the general motivation behind buying more teapots: having the right teapot to steep each particular tea. (This is certainly true of Yixing teapots that are unsealed and absorb the flavor and aroma of the teas steeped in them, and thus should be used for only one type of tea per pot.) Brown Betty style teapots are great for a hearty black tea like English Breakfast Blend No. 1, but that delicate Sencha is better off being steeped in a nice little porcelain pot or a Japanese style teapot called a kyusu.

When it comes to tea, one size does not fit all! What a great reason to unleash the shopaholic in you and add a teapot or two or fifty to your bevy!

Chop mark close-ups:

and:

Chop marks are a sign of authenticity!

See also:
Diving Into the World of Yixing Teapots Pt 1
Diving Into the World of Yixing Teapots Pt 2
Diving Into the World of Yixing Teapots Pt 3
My Yixing Teapots
Teapots, Teapots and More Teapots
Bevy of Teapots
Trying New Teawares — Glass Teapots
Collectible Sadler Teapots
Metal vs. Porcelain and Bone China Teapots
Those Wonderful Amsterdam Teapots
Hemisphere Teapots — Out of This World
The Pros and Cons of Bodum Teapots

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