The hole in the lid helps with smoother pours. You block it and you
get gushing. You want a teapot that 'disappears' in daily use. You
put up with the quirks in the beginning but that is the bottom line. I
think in general commercial pots have the ergonometrics worked out
versus the holiday one of a kind gift. I have a mexican lidded clay
pitcher I use as a pot once in a while. It's festive. When the tea
goes over that edge get out the mop. I've never thrown away a pot I
didn't like. When people complain of messy pours it is most like they
are overfilling the pot which should be 3/4 at max and I prefer 2/3
with English style pots.

Jim

Danica wrote:
I'm curious about people's experience with less-than-perfect teapots.
The rule is balance of spout-mouth-handle and perfect occlusion of the
vent/ spout. If you block the vent-hole and the spout keeps pouring,
what kind of an effect does this have on the tea? What about an
imbalanced spout-mouth-handle? If you've got one of these imperfect
teapots, what do you do with it--do you keep it? Get rid of it? I'd
love to know other people's thoughts/ experiences.