I agree with your point about romanticizing / *******izing the
practices of other cultures, but I don't think it applies to gaiwan
use. Tea drinkers in Fujian use gaiwans every day for oolong, and I
don't mean fancy people who go to tea houses, I mean ordinary people.
One time I was waiting for a bus in a remote area of Xiamen City and
the bus driver asked to sit down and have some tea with him. It was
TGY, and he was drinking it with a gaiwan and little porcelain cups.
Believe me, you don't get less pretentious that a Chinese bus driver.
So, personally, I don't think gaiwans are cute or orientalist - in fact
I think they're a superior tool for someone who drinks a lot of
different kinds of good tea and wants to do so with minimum fuss. They
don't need to be cleaned, and they don't build up nasty deposits around
the spout. Thanks to the saucer, they don't spill or drip (unless you
drop them). I make tea in a porcelain gaiwan every day in my office
and I use it for everything except matcha. It doesn't take that long
to get the hang of using one, either - just get your first and second
fingers under the saucer and keep the lid in place with your thumb.
Finally, they are cheap. In China they are practically free, and I got
one from Seb for I think $14 that is really well-made and quite
handsome. Try getting an yixing pot for $14.

Drinking directly FROM the gaiwan, as is done for green and jasmine
tea, is a different story. My nose is actually too big to accomplish
this - it hits the knob on the lid before I can get anything out of the
cup, and I have to tilt my entire head back 45 degrees to drink. Has
anyone else had this problem?

Space Cowboy wrote:
You're missing the point. I don't care if you lick from plates but is
a gaiwan the way you serve tea everyday? If not then it's cute. When
I'm in a Thai restaurant I ask for a cup. I think we tend to
romanticze about other cultures. Then we *******ize it. I always use
a spoon for my soup even in Vietnamese restaurants. I don't care for
the bib even though the Maitred' is ****ed because I'm holding up the
table for the party who made reservations. We have those kind of
upscale Asian restaurants in the burbs. In fact, one Chinese
restaurant is so upscale you have to ask for the chopsticks because
nothing worse than soiled evening wear before a night on the town.

Jim

PS My grandma could make a pot of tea with a pan and pitcher. I don't
do that because I don't find it practical. Gongfu in China is nothing
more than finding out how much you want to spend.

Michael Plant wrote:
My feeble attempts to impress my guests have always failed, and
so I've given it up. As for the Japanese, they *do* lick their damned
plates, a habit I've always found adaptable to such food stuffs as
ice cream. No joke. It's when they don't lick their plates in your
house that they've gone native, although they would probably
say it's respect for other cultures. Yadayadayada.
Michael

I'll give you that. This is the way you make tea everyday, a shot at a
time? You know in China tea is till expensive. Most have to nurse the
same leaves all day long. Go British. Use a pot. That's native
enough for me. You won't find the Chinese eating eggs sunny-side-up
with chopsticks. You're still native if you don't lick the plate.

Jim

PS A gaiwan is a lawsuit waiting to happen no matter how much you want
to impress your guests.

Michael Plant wrote:
[Jim]
Gaiwans are fun but an everyday pot or cup for someone like me?
They're cute but not practical. I see Gaiwans as the shot glasses of
tea. You can nurse it or toss it back but gone irregardless of the hot
water supply. A gaiwan is an accident waiting to happen. It's like
chopsticks. You're not native and your sushi will sooner or later go
flying across the room. If you want to go native drink from the tea
pot spout like they do in Thai restaurants.

[Michael's brilliant response]
Hey Jim, hate to clue ya, but gaiwans are respected
tea drinking vessels in much of the world, and for
good reason: Once you get the hang of it, they are
easy to control, pour fast fast fast, and the porcelain
is often beautiful. I once tried to go native by eating
with a fork and knife, but found them very awkward,
and besides I could taste the metal in my mouth, which
is God awful, so I went back to my natural ways. Let
the natives be hanged.

Jim,
It's quite possible I did misunderstand your point. But, in answer to your
question, I use either a gaiwan or an YiXing Gung Fu pot always, no matter
where I am, and I don't consider it cute. You are quite wrong about Gung Fu
in China or any other place (IMHO!!). In some cases, people do Gung Fu tea
for the same reason they smoke pipes: It gives them a little ritual that's
so familiar they hardly think about it. It's a means and an end at the same
time. It's a friendly and familiar thing to do. On the other hand, it is a
way to bring out the very best the tea has to offer, and that's something
worth striving for, don't you think? I have nothing against mugs and tea
bags, I just don't do them myself.

Your point further down about the high cost of tea in China and the need
some have to nurse their tea is undoubtedly true. The plate licking just
struck me as an amusing aside, which is the way I thought you had intended
it.
Michael

You're missing the point. I don't care if you lick from plates but is
a gaiwan the way you serve tea everyday? If not then it's cute. When
I'm in a Thai restaurant I ask for a cup. I think we tend to
romanticze about other cultures. Then we *******ize it. I always use
a spoon for my soup even in Vietnamese restaurants. I don't care for
the bib even though the Maitred' is ****ed because I'm holding up the
table for the party who made reservations. We have those kind of
upscale Asian restaurants in the burbs. In fact, one Chinese
restaurant is so upscale you have to ask for the chopsticks because
nothing worse than soiled evening wear before a night on the town.

Jim

PS My grandma could make a pot of tea with a pan and pitcher. I don't
do that because I don't find it practical. Gongfu in China is nothing
more than finding out how much you want to spend.

Michael Plant wrote:
My feeble attempts to impress my guests have always failed, and
so I've given it up. As for the Japanese, they *do* lick their damned
plates, a habit I've always found adaptable to such food stuffs as
ice cream. No joke. It's when they don't lick their plates in your
house that they've gone native, although they would probably
say it's respect for other cultures. Yadayadayada.
Michael

I'll give you that. This is the way you make tea everyday, a shot at a
time? You know in China tea is till expensive. Most have to nurse the
same leaves all day long. Go British. Use a pot. That's native
enough for me. You won't find the Chinese eating eggs sunny-side-up
with chopsticks. You're still native if you don't lick the plate.

Jim

PS A gaiwan is a lawsuit waiting to happen no matter how much you want
to impress your guests.

Michael Plant wrote:
[Jim]
Gaiwans are fun but an everyday pot or cup for someone like me?
They're cute but not practical. I see Gaiwans as the shot glasses of
tea. You can nurse it or toss it back but gone irregardless of the hot
water supply. A gaiwan is an accident waiting to happen. It's like
chopsticks. You're not native and your sushi will sooner or later go
flying across the room. If you want to go native drink from the tea
pot spout like they do in Thai restaurants.

[Michael's brilliant response]
Hey Jim, hate to clue ya, but gaiwans are respected
tea drinking vessels in much of the world, and for
good reason: Once you get the hang of it, they are
easy to control, pour fast fast fast, and the porcelain
is often beautiful. I once tried to go native by eating
with a fork and knife, but found them very awkward,
and besides I could taste the metal in my mouth, which
is God awful, so I went back to my natural ways. Let
the natives be hanged.

Alex wrote:
Drinking directly FROM the gaiwan, as is done for green and jasmine
tea, is a different story. My nose is actually too big to accomplish
this - it hits the knob on the lid before I can get anything out of the
cup, and I have to tilt my entire head back 45 degrees to drink. Has
anyone else had this problem?


Yep

CYRANO DE BERGERAC

I just wanted to know how many people used a Gaiwan on a daily basis.
More than I would have guessed from the circle of illuminati. I can
see them for corporate use if you don't have to constantly walk buy the
bosses office for refills. I used the same clay pot for my entire
corporate career. A gaiwan still wouldn't be practical for me even if
back in the grind. I could tap the clay infuser on a desk with a
napkin to dump the leaves. The gaiwans I have are to fragile for that.
All I can tell you have to beome a slob for a few moments fishing for
the leaves. Plus I needed more than shots of tea during the day.

Jim

PS Styrofoam will replace Gaiwans in modern China. Get yours while
you can. The East romanticizes about us like we do them.

Michael Plant wrote:
Jim,
It's quite possible I did misunderstand your point.

Stop lying.

Jim

oleg shteynbuk wrote:
Alex wrote:
Drinking directly FROM the gaiwan, as is done for green and jasmine
tea, is a different story. My nose is actually too big to accomplish
this - it hits the knob on the lid before I can get anything out of the
cup, and I have to tilt my entire head back 45 degrees to drink. Has
anyone else had this problem?


Yep

CYRANO DE BERGERAC

"Jason F in Los Angeles" wrote in message
ps.com...

You misunderstand me.

That is always a possibility when a not-so-clever statement is made.

Firstly, I was referring to teacups/fair cup, not to weixianbei.

I know. Re-read: "Roy also never just bring wenxianbei (sniffing cups)...."
Have you noticed the word "Also" there?

Secondly, my accusation was more at Roy's employees than at Roy.

Irrelevant - he is the ITC owner and he trains his staff and makes
policies. Accusing his employees of being cheap and lazy you accuse him of
being a bad host. And that, again, is preposterous.

Thirdly, As far as blouses go, we were a group of four men.

Again - irrelevant - Re-read: "while one of the guests is dressed up of has
a nice dress or a blouse"
He had so many 'accidents" that unless people ask for it, he never serves
wenxianbeis.

Lastly, and most imporantly, I was being facetious.

Be facetious at your own expense. Then it will be, actually, funny.
You posted candescending remarks about one of the most autentic and best tea
rooms on this side of the Pacific. I have no problem with you not liking
anything. That is your personal taste. But you accused them of a motive:
"ITC also teaches this method at the store, perhaps as a way to stop them
from having to wash so many dishes".
That is not facetious. This is, again - candescending and mildly racist. It
very much has that understatement lingering -- "Those cheap Chinese that are
trying to save on cup-washing". I do not say it was intentional. And I am
not accusing you of being a racist. But that how it comes across.

How does your foot taste, Sasha?

You tell me.



Alex.


~j

Alex Chaihorsky wrote:
Jason, '
Roy also never just bring wenxianbei (sniffing cups) - because they
confuse
people who have no idea what to do with them and feel stupid. If you want
them and ask - they will be brought immediately. He will also not bring
them
even if his employees perform the gunfu while one of the guests is
dressed
up of has a nice dress or a blouse - for the fear of her spilling the tea
on
herself while trying to flip the cups.

Accusing Roy at ITC of trying to save on washing teacups at the expense
of
your tea enjoyment is preposterous. You have no idea who Roy is if you
insinuate this.

Sasha.



"Jason F in Los Angeles" wrote in message
ups.com...
It was not uncommon to see people sipping from gaiwans with the lid
tilted back in Beijing, mostly for green and jasmine tea.

ITC also teaches this method at the store, perhaps as a way to stop
them from having to wash so many dishes.

But what Lew says I believe, for the best tasting tea and multiple
infusions, it's best to pour off. It's what I do.

~j

Darawen Littlestich wrote:
hello tea fans,
i just got a set of white gaiwans--meaning cup, saucer and lid. this
is
a
stupid question, but can you drink out of the cup with the tea still
inside
(lid on, of course, holding back the leaves), or do you have to pour
the
tea
off into another cup? the reason i asked is that i saw a tea vendor
using
the gaiwan like a pot--using the lid to stir the leaves, then the
lid-straining the tea into another vessel to pour. i suppose i could
do
whatever i wanted, but wanted to know the "right" etiquette for gaiwan
use.
thanks~!

Cowboy -

I use gaiwans all the time and find them very practical. But to do so one
has to generally like bitter notes in tea because teas tend to oversteep in
gaiwans a little unless you pour out. Another use I have for gaiwans is
"experimental brewing" of new teas. I put tea in gaiwan and brew it there
while rolling it inside with a lid and watching it steep. Watching the color
of the tang and smelling the lid is also very informative - usually when the
lid starts to smell the best - the tea is at its best. And the range and
dynamics of tang color combined with a sip while it brews gives you a good
idea of the ways this tea can be brewed.
Two-three times I brew a new tea that way and I start getting a better
understanding of how to brew it best.
I also never use anything but white or pale celadon gaiwans (inside) for
these purposes.

Sasha.


"Space Cowboy" wrote in message
oups.com...
I just wanted to know how many people used a Gaiwan on a daily basis.
More than I would have guessed from the circle of illuminati. I can
see them for corporate use if you don't have to constantly walk buy the
bosses office for refills. I used the same clay pot for my entire
corporate career. A gaiwan still wouldn't be practical for me even if
back in the grind. I could tap the clay infuser on a desk with a
napkin to dump the leaves. The gaiwans I have are to fragile for that.
All I can tell you have to beome a slob for a few moments fishing for
the leaves. Plus I needed more than shots of tea during the day.

Jim

PS Styrofoam will replace Gaiwans in modern China. Get yours while
you can. The East romanticizes about us like we do them.

Michael Plant wrote:
Jim,
It's quite possible I did misunderstand your point.

"Michael Plant" wrote in message
...
Darawen LittlestichjsOdndGtV6R78o3YnZ2dnUVZ_...@comcas t.com9/19/06



BTW, there is nothing sacred about Roy Fong, and as a public figure he
ought
to be subject to the same ridicule as the rest of us suffer. Ha!

Michael


Absolutely, its all the matter of personal taste. But attaching motives is
wrong. What I mean is hating the way my sauce for chicken Kiew smells is
perfectly fine.
Saying that its probably because I save on washing hands is not.
Regards from my daughter.

Sasha.

Firstly, I was referring to teacups/fair cup, not to weixianbei.

I know. Re-read: "Roy also never just bring wenxianbei (sniffing cups)...."
Have you noticed the word "Also" there?

Re-read yourself: "Roy also never just bring wenxiangbei because they
confuse people who have no idea what to do with them and feel stupid"

The placement of "also" in that sentence implies that it modifies *the
reason* he doesn't bring wenxiangbei, and does not mean that he "does
not bring wenxiangbei in addition to not bringing teacups". Maybe if
you noticed your own awkward phrasing ("Roy also never just bring" is
confusing and improperly conjugated) you'd realize how confusing your
writing style is. I'm aghast that you, with such a poor understanding
of writing, are telling me how to interpret my own!

Secondly, my accusation was more at Roy's employees than at Roy.

Irrelevant - he is the ITC owner and he trains his staff and makes
policies. Accusing his employees of being cheap and lazy you accuse him of
being a bad host. And that, again, is preposterous.

Don't put words in my mouth. I made no such accusation that Roy is a
bad host. You just did. Do you have something against Roy?

Thirdly, As far as blouses go, we were a group of four men.
Again - irrelevant - Re-read: "while one of the guests is dressed up of has
a nice dress or a blouse"
He had so many 'accidents" that unless people ask for it, he never serves
wenxianbeis.

Again, men don't wear dresses or blouses. Perhaps your comment is as
sexist as you accused mine of being racist, assuming only women are
clumsy enough to spill on their expensive clothes? Or am I putting
words in your mouth? Gosh wouldn't that be a shame!

Lastly, and most imporantly, I was being facetious.
Be facetious at your own expense. Then it will be, actually, funny.

Look up the primary definition of "facetious." In fact, I'll do it for
you:
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=facetious
1. not meant to be taken seriously or literally: a facetious remark.

Quite obviously, you took it seriously--your fault, not mine! You're a
poor critical reader, Sasha, with a poor understanding of
facetiousness, or a sour sense of humor. Or maybe you're just stubborn:
even when someone tells you what they said was facetious, you still
refuse to see it!

You posted candescending remarks about one of the most autentic and best tea

Condescending is spelled with an "o." Authentic is spelled with an "h"
Sorry to be condescending about your spelling--oh wait, that was
condesdcending of me! Or am I being facetious? Obviously *you* can't
tell!

rooms on this side of the Pacific. I have no problem with you not liking
anything. That is your personal taste. But you accused them of a motive:

I never said I had a bad experience at ITC, nor did I say that I don't
like them. The amount of words you'd like to shove in my mouth is
appalling. It's as though you want me to hate ITC, even though I never
said anything bad about them!

"ITC also teaches this method at the store, perhaps as a way to stop them
from having to wash so many dishes".
That is not facetious.

Don't tell me what's facetious. Facetiousness, like sarcasm, is in the
intention of the author, not in the perception of his (angry,
irrational, has-an-axe-to-grind) reader.

This is, again - candescending and mildly racist. It
very much has that understatement lingering -- "Those cheap Chinese that are
trying to save on cup-washing". I do not say it was intentional. And I am
not accusing you of being a racist. But that how it comes across.

Postulating that I said something that comes off as racist is a passive
way of accusing me of racism, so I'm not fooled. It's entirely
unfounded. In fact, Sasha, do you even know my race?

It sounds to me like you have an axe to grind, but I refuse to be its
victim.

How does your foot taste, Sasha?
You tell me.

No, Sasha, *you* tell me. You obviously wrote this response in a flash
of anger, misinterpreted many of my statements, and assumed a lot about
who I am and what I think of ITC.

I don't have the audacity to suggest that I know what you think, so
don't you dare do that to me. If you want clarification, you can ask
for it. But your assumptions and accusations are false and
presumptuous, and your anger unwarranted. Hence the reason I asked how
your foot tasted, Sasha, because you put your foot in your mouth by
taking something seriously and reacting angrily when it was meant in
jest. C.f. Definition of Facetious, above.

For the record, I had a great time at ITC. And, as I mentioned, I saw
people drinking tea out of gaiwans without cups in Beijing. I'm not
contesting the "authenticity" of the practice at all. I have no qualms
with his teahouse's authenticity. If you read my post and see that
there, it's your own invention.

I won't be responding to any more of your idiocy on this thread. I know
my position on ITC, I know the facetious nature of my own words, and I
don't need to justify them to someone with anger management problems
and an axe to grind.

If someone made a _joke_ about "washing hands" at your dinner table,
would you stab them with your knife?

Cuz that's how you responded to me.

~j

Alex Chaihorsky wrote:
"Michael Plant" wrote in message
...
Darawen LittlestichjsOdndGtV6R78o3YnZ2dnUVZ_...@comcas t.com9/19/06



BTW, there is nothing sacred about Roy Fong, and as a public figure he
ought
to be subject to the same ridicule as the rest of us suffer. Ha!

Michael


Absolutely, its all the matter of personal taste. But attaching motives is
wrong. What I mean is hating the way my sauce for chicken Kiew smells is
perfectly fine.
Saying that its probably because I save on washing hands is not.
Regards from my daughter.

Sasha.

Oh my God, someone stabbed poor you with the knife??!!
In cases like that I usually just kick their ungrateful ass.

Sasha.


"Jason F in Los Angeles" wrote in message
oups.com...
If someone made a _joke_ about "washing hands" at your dinner table,
would you stab them with your knife?

Cuz that's how you responded to me.

~j

Alex Chaihorsky wrote:
"Michael Plant" wrote in message
...
Darawen LittlestichjsOdndGtV6R78o3YnZ2dnUVZ_...@comcas t.com9/19/06



BTW, there is nothing sacred about Roy Fong, and as a public figure he
ought
to be subject to the same ridicule as the rest of us suffer. Ha!

Michael


Absolutely, its all the matter of personal taste. But attaching motives
is
wrong. What I mean is hating the way my sauce for chicken Kiew smells is
perfectly fine.
Saying that its probably because I save on washing hands is not.
Regards from my daughter.

Sasha.

1. Funny how the more you try to wiggle out and the more awkward and chaotic
half-arguments you throw around, the more it is clear that you do feel
guilty. So all is not lost for you.
But I especially loved the childish ending of that lengthy tantrum of yours:
" I won't be responding to any more of your idiocy on this thread".

2. Your race? I know its not Chinese.

Sasha.

"Jason F in Los Angeles" wrote in message
ups.com...
Firstly, I was referring to teacups/fair cup, not to weixianbei.

I know. Re-read: "Roy also never just bring wenxianbei (sniffing
cups)...."
Have you noticed the word "Also" there?

Re-read yourself: "Roy also never just bring wenxiangbei because they
confuse people who have no idea what to do with them and feel stupid"

The placement of "also" in that sentence implies that it modifies *the
reason* he doesn't bring wenxiangbei, and does not mean that he "does
not bring wenxiangbei in addition to not bringing teacups". Maybe if
you noticed your own awkward phrasing ("Roy also never just bring" is
confusing and improperly conjugated) you'd realize how confusing your
writing style is. I'm aghast that you, with such a poor understanding
of writing, are telling me how to interpret my own!

Secondly, my accusation was more at Roy's employees than at Roy.

Irrelevant - he is the ITC owner and he trains his staff and makes
policies. Accusing his employees of being cheap and lazy you accuse him
of
being a bad host. And that, again, is preposterous.

Don't put words in my mouth. I made no such accusation that Roy is a
bad host. You just did. Do you have something against Roy?

Thirdly, As far as blouses go, we were a group of four men.
Again - irrelevant - Re-read: "while one of the guests is dressed up of
has
a nice dress or a blouse"
He had so many 'accidents" that unless people ask for it, he never serves
wenxianbeis.

Again, men don't wear dresses or blouses. Perhaps your comment is as
sexist as you accused mine of being racist, assuming only women are
clumsy enough to spill on their expensive clothes? Or am I putting
words in your mouth? Gosh wouldn't that be a shame!

Lastly, and most imporantly, I was being facetious.
Be facetious at your own expense. Then it will be, actually, funny.

Look up the primary definition of "facetious." In fact, I'll do it for
you:
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=facetious
1. not meant to be taken seriously or literally: a facetious remark.

Quite obviously, you took it seriously--your fault, not mine! You're a
poor critical reader, Sasha, with a poor understanding of
facetiousness, or a sour sense of humor. Or maybe you're just stubborn:
even when someone tells you what they said was facetious, you still
refuse to see it!

You posted candescending remarks about one of the most autentic and best
tea

Condescending is spelled with an "o." Authentic is spelled with an "h"
Sorry to be condescending about your spelling--oh wait, that was
condesdcending of me! Or am I being facetious? Obviously *you* can't
tell!

rooms on this side of the Pacific. I have no problem with you not liking
anything. That is your personal taste. But you accused them of a motive:

I never said I had a bad experience at ITC, nor did I say that I don't
like them. The amount of words you'd like to shove in my mouth is
appalling. It's as though you want me to hate ITC, even though I never
said anything bad about them!

"ITC also teaches this method at the store, perhaps as a way to stop them
from having to wash so many dishes".
That is not facetious.

Don't tell me what's facetious. Facetiousness, like sarcasm, is in the
intention of the author, not in the perception of his (angry,
irrational, has-an-axe-to-grind) reader.

This is, again - candescending and mildly racist. It
very much has that understatement lingering -- "Those cheap Chinese that
are
trying to save on cup-washing". I do not say it was intentional. And I am
not accusing you of being a racist. But that how it comes across.

Postulating that I said something that comes off as racist is a passive
way of accusing me of racism, so I'm not fooled. It's entirely
unfounded. In fact, Sasha, do you even know my race?

It sounds to me like you have an axe to grind, but I refuse to be its
victim.

How does your foot taste, Sasha?
You tell me.

No, Sasha, *you* tell me. You obviously wrote this response in a flash
of anger, misinterpreted many of my statements, and assumed a lot about
who I am and what I think of ITC.

I don't have the audacity to suggest that I know what you think, so
don't you dare do that to me. If you want clarification, you can ask
for it. But your assumptions and accusations are false and
presumptuous, and your anger unwarranted. Hence the reason I asked how
your foot tasted, Sasha, because you put your foot in your mouth by
taking something seriously and reacting angrily when it was meant in
jest. C.f. Definition of Facetious, above.

For the record, I had a great time at ITC. And, as I mentioned, I saw
people drinking tea out of gaiwans without cups in Beijing. I'm not
contesting the "authenticity" of the practice at all. I have no qualms
with his teahouse's authenticity. If you read my post and see that
there, it's your own invention.

I won't be responding to any more of your idiocy on this thread. I know
my position on ITC, I know the facetious nature of my own words, and I
don't need to justify them to someone with anger management problems
and an axe to grind.

Jim

PS Styrofoam will replace Gaiwans in modern China. Get yours while
you can. The East romanticizes about us like we do them.

You know, you're right. I'd never thought of that.
Gather ye gaiwans while ye may! Thanks, Jim.

Some might think I'm joking, but those who
know me know I'm not.

Michael

BTW, there is nothing sacred about Roy Fong, and as a public figure he
ought to be subject to the same ridicule as the rest of us suffer. Ha!
Michael

Absolutely, its all the matter of personal taste. But attaching motives is
wrong. What I mean is hating the way my sauce for chicken Kiew smells is
perfectly fine. Saying that its probably because I save on washing hands is
not. Regards from my daughter.
Sasha.

Yup, points well taken. It's all in the spirit in which
it's given. And taken. Seriously, I've spoken with
Roy on the telephone, had e-mail correspondence
with him in the past, but never met him. Reports
coming back consistantly suggest that his staff is
not knowledgable and that there are problems he
ought to address in the way tea is served, and so
on. We get bitey when we get angry, feathers
fly, and unfortunately flying feathers sometimes
land in the tea cup. Yuk. But, then on the other
hand, flying feathers might taste better than some
teas I've drunk lately. (No, I won't share what;
no need to ruin the reputation of otherwise fine
vendors.)

Say hi to your lovely daughter. She is charming.
How's school going?

Michael

I use the squatty styrofoam soup cups with more of a surface area when
I'm curious about the color of a tea. Another thing I find impractical
about gaiwans is the smaller leaf teas like bop,ctc,fines. I drink
teas by the pot(8oz+) and not shots(3oz-) which for me is the bottom
line.

PS My last observation on modern China. Gaiwans and bicyles don't
mix. There is a buck to be made there is someone can figure that one
out besides the water bottle strapped to the frame.

Jim

Michael Plant wrote:
Jim

PS Styrofoam will replace Gaiwans in modern China. Get yours while
you can. The East romanticizes about us like we do them.

You know, you're right. I'd never thought of that.
Gather ye gaiwans while ye may! Thanks, Jim.

Some might think I'm joking, but those who
know me know I'm not.

Michael