(Folks-I-Know) Tea Things Looking for a Good Home
I just sorted through all of my tea things, and I realized that I have too many yixing teapots and too many crackle-glaze cups.
These are free to friends or friends-of-friends if you know someone who needs some tea things, though you'll have to provide shipping or come pick it up. Ties broken based on desire ("I would use it all the time" beats "it might look nice on a shelf", though both are valid reasons) and ease of getting it there.
The buff pot was for white teas but I then developed a taste for more traditional shapes so I just never took to it; it hasn't been used much at all as you can see -- there's hardly any patina. It's also a little large for my tastes, but it would be good for workplace brewing or brewing for a group.
The red pot and boat served me well as a workplace pot; they were inexpensive enough that I wouldn't cry if a janitor broke them, but still made out of good enough clay that oolongs tasted really good in them. I would heat water in a mug in the microwave and pour that into a thermos, then be able to brew and sip tea at leisure; a good thermos will keep water hot enough for hours. This has the added advantage of not getting any tea residue in the thermos since only hot water ever goes into it; the residue goes onto the pot where you actually want it in order to season the pot and give it a nice patina. I brewed green to medium oolongs in this pot, but it hasn't been used for years so needs to be simmered a bit (preferably in oolong or whatever tea you want to brew in the pot) to be perked up; it's got quite a few water spots from being used with hard water, but those will stay away with regular use.
I'm inordinately fond of both crackle glaze and purple, but I already have a full set of celadon crackle-glaze teacups that actually match other things in the house, plus a set of gorgeous J.C. Niehaus botanical cups, not to mention plenty of smaller cups for oolong and puerh. I just don't need all these cups! Please save me from my cup proliferation.
These are free to friends or friends-of-friends if you know someone who needs some tea things, though you'll have to provide shipping or come pick it up. Ties broken based on desire ("I would use it all the time" beats "it might look nice on a shelf", though both are valid reasons) and ease of getting it there.
The buff pot was for white teas but I then developed a taste for more traditional shapes so I just never took to it; it hasn't been used much at all as you can see -- there's hardly any patina. It's also a little large for my tastes, but it would be good for workplace brewing or brewing for a group.
The red pot and boat served me well as a workplace pot; they were inexpensive enough that I wouldn't cry if a janitor broke them, but still made out of good enough clay that oolongs tasted really good in them. I would heat water in a mug in the microwave and pour that into a thermos, then be able to brew and sip tea at leisure; a good thermos will keep water hot enough for hours. This has the added advantage of not getting any tea residue in the thermos since only hot water ever goes into it; the residue goes onto the pot where you actually want it in order to season the pot and give it a nice patina. I brewed green to medium oolongs in this pot, but it hasn't been used for years so needs to be simmered a bit (preferably in oolong or whatever tea you want to brew in the pot) to be perked up; it's got quite a few water spots from being used with hard water, but those will stay away with regular use.
I'm inordinately fond of both crackle glaze and purple, but I already have a full set of celadon crackle-glaze teacups that actually match other things in the house, plus a set of gorgeous J.C. Niehaus botanical cups, not to mention plenty of smaller cups for oolong and puerh. I just don't need all these cups! Please save me from my cup proliferation.