To Gaiwan or Not to Gaiwan
Excellent Responses! Thank You
I had time to go Gaiwan hunting locally today. I havn’t found any yet. I love my teapot and teacups but I do believe I am going to test out Gaiwan. I think this Gaiwanish device looks cool.
That is one style of gaiwan and the seller, Streetshop88 is very good in general. I have this gaiwan from them and like it a lot. It has a mesh infuser that you can choose whether or not you use.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-120ml-GongFu-Tea-Porcelain-Ceramic-Poetry-Hand-Grabbed-Gaiwan-teacup-teapot-/331310004531
If you have a local independent store they may carry gaiwans. Two of my favorite gaiwans I bought from a local store. But if your local store is a Teavana or David’s Tea you won’t find gaiwans or anything else for gongfu brewing there. Those stores are not necessarily bad but are completely invested in western brewing methods.
I am sure I will have better luck when I can take a short drive over to San Francisco China Town. I am not sure why I never payed attention to the tea sets there before, but have had many tea tasting there. Then again I was more often a teabag kind of guy in the past.
Ahhh, those days of microwave faucet water in my mug with a steeping of liptons. :)
Who says you have to change, why not enjoy both!? I recently started using a gaiwan and I love it, but it’s not my everyday process. I still make my “western tea” for many teas, when I want 8-16 ounces of tea at the ready, but I have enjoyed playing with the gaiwan at night when I wind down to the tv or a movie or some online projects, it’s fun for me to see how many steeps I can get before I crash on the sofa or find my way into bed :) Some times in the middle of the day too if I have time and want a pick me up. It’s more work because it’s small amounts so I’m constantly getting up to reheat the water and steep another time, but it’s fun, and I do enjoy watching and smelling the leaves as they open and change with each brewing. And noticing the different tastes each brew. It still amazes me how much I can get out of my leaves. But on the other hand, sometimes I just want an old fashion American mug of tea and that’s ok too!! I suggest getting the gaiwan (I got a set affordably my on eBay) and have fun with it, but enjoy your good old American teapot too!
Yes, I totally agree.
In my original post maybe I neglected to say that I plan to continue to use my western style teapot and teacups. I only plan to use them amongst company. I love my set but for single use not so much. It can be a drag to scrub like I do three to four times a day.
I figure something with a shallow wider opening to scrub out obsessively would be better for my knuckles. :)
Also consider a single serving teapot for yourself. Or even a mug with basket infused and cover. I use the Breville one touch most of the time but minimum you can make is 16oz. If I only want a quick 6 or 8 oz cup, I actually use a small French press. Super easy. The leaves have lots of room to move around and when steep time is up I press it down and pour. Perfect! I have a few fancy tea sets and they are more for show or like you said, company.
A gaiwan can be as simple as a cup and a filter as well. You just do it in reverse. :)
Actually, I think that the main benefit of a Gaiwan is that you’re closer to the leaves. You can see much more of them and witness them unfolding over the course of the infusions.
I mainly use a Gaiwan for delicate teas like green, white and young puerh. This may be a bit far-fetched, but I consider it an improvement to open the lid between infusions, which will improve the results obtained when brewing very delicate teas.
On the other hand I find them Gaiwans not optimal for teas which require maximum temperature, especially darker oolong and aged puerh. The gaiwan just retains less heat than a teapot, en plus, the teapot can be showered with hot water to bring the temperature up.
The Gaiwan also very easy to clean, and, lets be honest, its good to impress people who are less familiar with tea :)
One method you might want to try is turning the gaiwan over, lid and all, and pouring boiling water over it to heat it up! Then infusing tea after. You could heat the top and bottom of the lid (and saucer) after heating the gaiwan, too, if you wanted to get the heat up even higher.
Hmm yeah you could do that, but what I meant was that you can shower the pot before the infusion and after it.. if you want, every time. Can’t do that with a Gaiwan after you started steeping.
Ah, I meant flipping the gaiwan over, lid and all, with the leaves still inside, and heating it before later infusions (2,3,4,5…).
Should’ve mentioned this yesterday, but by pouring boiling water around the rim of the gaiwan, you can both pour water into the pot/gaiwan and heat the exterior. This is something I’ve long do consistently when brewing gongfu style, regardless of the vessel, but in later infusions I give oolongs/pu direct boiling water to get the most out of them. I’ve since stopped pouring water on my Yixings as they get mineral stains and I want them looking purdy. ;) I do pour tea on them though.
Clay definitely has better heat retention, and pouring water all over the vessel is much easier with Yixing or a small porcelain pot. I don’t think gongfu-size porcelain teapots get enough love. I have one and I rarely use it. I should use it more often, especially for gaoshan and young sheng.
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