Have you ever noticed that eating meals with good quality crockery and drinking from good glassware, enhances the dining experience and seems to make the food and drink taste better?
It is the same with tea. Use good quality teapots and cups and above all, use the right type of teapot for the tea you are drinking.
The best quality teapots are of fine china, pottery, stoneware or glass. Silver or aluminium are not as good.
Also remember that plungers are meant for coffee not tea, as coffee floats and tea sinks.
Yixing teapots are made of different coloured clays and only used for one type of tea – as the pot absorbs the flavour of the tea over time.
Tea cup infusers made of fine China (with a removable tea ‘basket’ ) are becoming increasingly popular and are a convenient alternative to the tea bag.
Quality tea strainers are also available, the finer the mesh the better. Tea balls if used should be as large as possible to allow the tea to infuse and expand.
So, when drinking traditional black tea always use fine China, predominantly white in colour. Similarly Chinese and Japanese tea must be drunk using the traditionally shaped Oriental style teapot together with drinking bowls, not tea cups. Herbal and fruit infusions are best enjoyed in quality glass teapots with glass cups.
