It was open stage night in rec.food.drink.tea, when Rick Chappell
stepped up to the microphone and muttered:

a) They are often advertised as kettles, but all of them
have
accompanying material which says not to put them on open
flames. What's the use of a kettle which is sensitive to
heat? Are they really only pots? But doesn't tea cool
quickly in an iron pot?

Not if you pre-heat the pot with hot water first. Ever cooked with
a cast iron skillet? Pay attention to just how long that darned
thing retains heat after you take it off of the stove.

--
Derek

Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
But it rocks absolutely, too.

Rick Chappell writes:

[...gentility...]

2. Ripon just asked about Japanese cast iron pots (tetsubin). I
recently went shopping for these (just browsing, really, keeping my
eyes open for them while I bought tea) and found two things:

a) They are often advertised as kettles, but all of them have
accompanying material which says not to put them on open flames.
What's the use of a kettle which is sensitive to heat? Are they
really only pots? But doesn't tea cool quickly in an iron pot?

I don't know the answer but I have to admit I've been wondering about
those tetsubins with bumpy surfaces: are they heat sinks or what?

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

(Ripon) wrote in
om:

We all have good day or bad day. The day I answered your post, I had a
very bad business day(Some labor crisis in the factory). Everyday
after work, I come and join to this tea group and brass off all my
work stress. We all love tea here and talk about it. Somehow I just
felt someone is showing off and posted that mail. But however after
posted that, I personally felt very bad too,I overeacted I am sorry, I
am not trying to say- it was all my bad business day fault. I am just
trying to explain why I posted that mail. I also appologise for my
over reaction or better say bad attitude. Usally i don't talk like
that, again i am sorry. I hope we both can forget it and think ahead.

Ripon, I have not been reading the group a long time, but your initial
response did seem out of character for you. I deeply respect your
willingness to apologize.

--
fD

"Fludge" wrote in message
...
Hi.
I just wanted to right and set the record straight on something. I
recognise that my recent post about fine teas offended some people, and
I'm
sorry for that. I didn't mean to appear like a capitalist jock, although,
couching my enquiry in economic terms didn't help my case. I'm not rich,
if
that's what you're thinking, I'm just a student. The tea I drink comes
from
the supermarket and gets brewed ina mug, so I'm by no means knowledgeable.
In fact, I know nothing. That's why I came here, I was just looking for
some advice really. If I just wanted the most expensive tea, I could have
gone shopping and picked the pricyest one off the shelf. What I was
really
trying to say was, what's a good tea, a fine tea, a respected tea, an
impressive tea, and if it's costly, I'm willing to cover that in order to
acquire something really wonderful. That's the way round I meant it, not
what's a pricey tea because it's bound to be good, but, rather, what's a
wonderful tea and I guess it'll therefore be pricey. I didn't mean to
appear ignorant, although I now see that's how it came across. I just
wanted to know what teas people respect, people who know about these
things,
unlike myself. I didn't want to just buy the most expensive thing off the
shelf, I wanted to know what you guys go for, seeing as it seems like you
know a thing or two. So I'm sorry, Ripon, if I offended you, I didn't
mean
to, I'm not some spoilt brat, I'm just looking to find something that
isn't
PG Tips for a change. I thought you might be able to help. Thanks.

Am I too late to hop on this thread?

What I would do - I would buy a range of teas. For one-stop shopping, I
would recommend specialteas.com,
good prices and good selection.

I would purchase a few types to cover a range of tea styles. One english
style such as english breakfast which would be close in style but maybe
better quality then PG Tips, one other black such as ceylon (excellent with
no milk or sugar), a chinese oolong, and a green. Maybe a white tea too.
And don't forget to get a teeli (a tea strainer) - it's much better than a
tea ball.

The reason I would do this is because taste in tea varies from person to
person. For example I like the subtle taste of white teas, but my wife
likes nothing other than bold english style black teas. She just doesn't
get white tea, can't taste it. And her teas I can drink but don't enjoy as
much as others. Neither of us has more refined, or 'better' taste than the
other, just different. So the above spectrum may be just the thing to get,
YMMV

-ben

Derek wrote:

It was open stage night in rec.food.drink.tea, when Rick Chappell
stepped up to the microphone and muttered:

a) They are often advertised as kettles, but all of them
have
accompanying material which says not to put them on open
flames. What's the use of a kettle which is sensitive to
heat? Are they really only pots? But doesn't tea cool
quickly in an iron pot?

Not if you pre-heat the pot with hot water first. Ever cooked with
a cast iron skillet? Pay attention to just how long that darned
thing retains heat after you take it off of the stove.

Using tetsubin to brew tea is a practice rarely seen in Japan. They are
used to heat the water, not to steep tea. You can see an explanation
and pic here, with the labor of boiling water and steeping tea plainly
divided:

http://www.kougei.or.jp/crafts/0801/special/tea1.html

Matcha, now as in the past, is prepared and drunk in the same vessel.
But when Sencha came into favor, a kyuusu tea pot was necessary to brew
the leaves. Tetsubin with easy-to-pour spouts were devised to replace
unwieldy ladles or dippers. Read all about it at this brief history of
tetsubin:

http://www.kougei.or.jp/crafts/0801/...l/history.html

Finally, for those still in doubt, I offer this online dictionary
definition of "tetsubin" stating it is an "iron vessel used to boil
water"

http://tinyurl.com/3epac

--crymad

Rick Chappell wrote in message ...
1. Long live Ripon and Laurent Bugnion, may they continue to infuse
our conversations with their gentility.

2. Ripon just asked about Japanese cast iron pots (tetsubin). I
recently went shopping for these (just browsing, really, keeping my
eyes open for them while I bought tea) and found two things:

a) They are often advertised as kettles, but all of them have
accompanying material which says not to put them on open flames.
What's the use of a kettle which is sensitive to heat? Are they
really only pots? But doesn't tea cool quickly in an iron pot?

b) Some (e.g. in fancy Japanese department stores) are very expensive
and others (in Chinatown trinket shops) quite cheap. Do cheap ones
wear out quickly?


I've got a really cheap ($30 CDN) Chinese tetsubin that displays fit
and finish very close to Japanese varieties. If you've pre-heated the
pot, tea will stay hot vastly longer than in anything short of a
vaccuum pot. I think the reason that most tetsubin are not to be
heated is an enamel coating that lines the pot. I assume that if the
enamel gets too hot it begins to spall off or release nasty odours.

Cameron

My favourite "normal" tea is Taylors of Harrogate's Yorkshire Tea. It
might
be the first step away from the main brands. I find the loose leaf
variety
a tad bitter [...]

I'm no tea-master, but have you tried reducing the steeping time? A
Ceylonese tea I really liked is quite sensitive to the time; it goes from
delicious and smooth (steeping 2:30) to slightly astringent (3:00) to quite
astringent and slightly bitter (3:30).

That's worth an experiment. I tend to steep the bagged variety more than
usual, and it produces a lovely rounded result. I'm not conscious of doing
that with the loose leaf variety, but I'll have a play.

Stopwatch at the ready!

Cheers

Blippie
--
Visit the alt.aviation.safety FAQ online at www.blippie.org.uk

On Wed, 17 Dec 2003 08:46:58 +0000, Fludge wrote:

That's the way round I meant it, not
what's a pricey tea because it's bound to be good, but, rather, what's a
wonderful tea and I guess it'll therefore be pricey.

I didn't see the original thread, but it does seem that people do tend to
make this mistake. IMHO, a teas price generally doesn't have much to do
with how good it is - because how *good* a tea is rather relative. We
all have different tastes, one of my favorite Oolongs is far from
expensive, (while another of my favorites IS

The important thing, when learning just what you like, is to buy small
quantities of a wide range of teas to see just what it is that you DO
like. I am sure that someone has suggested you check out Special Teas
website, they have a wide variety of teas and have sample sizes avaliable
- as well as samplers.

Another good site for a beginner is Adagio Teas - or www.discovertea.com
they do not have the range of www.specialteas.com, nor do they have rare
teas, but they have excellent customer service and have less expensive
samplers than Special Teas --- just don't get anything from them that is
on sale - it is on sale for a reason They also have a couple of nice
packages complete with teapot and teas - these are glass pots and are
beautiful.

There are other good places to check as well, but as I am sure others have
or will, I won't list them here

Catherine K.