I Like Tea

[shanmonster]

Aren't these the loveliest teapots (thanks, ambitious_wench)?

On an unrelated note, today I was brainstorming while in the shower, and I thought I'd like to try setting hand-painted fabrics in silver. Perhaps I could put transparent resin over top of it. Hmmm....

Comments

Hot damn, Yixing teapots!

[fearsclave.livejournal.com]

I love those things. Back in '96, I had a summer job in Hong Kong, and I found this little store that sold nothing but Yixing teapots. The clay used is apparently found only in one province (Yixing) and you are never supposed to wash them; each pot you brew improves the pot. Real aficionados apprently only use one given kind of tea in a given pot, and some are real heirlooms, handed down for generations. The former governor's mansion was coverted into a museum of Chinese ceramics, and is well worth a visit; I bought a bunch as souvenirs at the little shop, and although I gave most of them away, I still have a few left. You can find them in Montreal now, which is fun.

Re: Hot damn, Yixing teapots!

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Wow! These are completely new to me. The story behind them is really interesting. Maybe I can find them in a Chinatown, somewhere. Too bad there aren't any Chinatowns in the vicinity for at least five hours' worth of travel....

Re: Hot damn, Yixing teapots!

[shinyblogs.livejournal.com]

Wow, teapots you're actually supposed to refrain from cleaning?

What a perfectly short-and-stout way to caffeinate my Bachelor-Optimized Mess (http://www.livejournal.com/users/poisonlipgloss/9548.html?thread=47948#t47948)!

Re: Hot damn, Yixing teapots!

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Actually, most country folk I know don't wash their teapots.

Re: Hot damn, Yixing teapots!

[shinyblogs.livejournal.com]

Really?

I have one of those Bodum teapress things, and I always felt like I was being slobby by not washing them.

Man, the things my mommy never told me.

Tea actually does have some anti-bacterial properties, I think, so it might make sense that the pots not be washed.

Re: Hot damn, Yixing teapots!

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Yeah, my nextdoor neighbours, when I lived way out in the sticks, never washed theirs. The teapot was always boiling on the stove. That tea was so strong, it looked like tar. They liked it piping hot and strong with lots of milk and sugar. And when I lived in Newfoundland, lots of the people liked it the same way. Some would drink tiny sips in staccato fashion from tea that was still boiling. And others would pour it into a saucer and drink it when it cooled.

There's a whole tea culture in eastern Canada, and I fear it's dying because of Starbucks and the like.

Re: Hot damn, Yixing teapots!

[shinyblogs.livejournal.com]

Ah, Starbucks. Mind you, I like the frappuccino and respect the company's treatment of its employees, but their coffee shall always be Charbucks to me. Over-roasting heathens. They should call their French Roast "napalm," and their Jamaican Blue Mountain "Cinders of Mount Doom."

My favorite coffee is actually at a place in Vienna called Demel, served with whipped cream. As bad for your body as a frappuccino, but much better for your soul. Not sure how their tea is, though.

I don't know much about the fate of tea in Canada either, other than a few parts in the deep southeast of Canada, like Boston and New York City. I think Teany, in New York City, is the last stand of tea-philes, and it's owned by Moby, so it should survive a while.

Closer to the northern edge of Southern Canada, there used to be a place in Boston called Teatray in the Sky that had a few hundred teas, some of which were imported only by them. Some wonderful white teas from China. They'd brew them for you, carefully timing each, and then pour them into glass pots and put them on candles on the table. The candle light would shimmer in the tea. Very nice. And they had the best desserts and soups and sandwiches and general goodness.

But now they're gone, leaving poor caffeine-and-matteine addicts twitching gloomily in their wake.

*beam*

[ambitious-wench.livejournal.com]

Those are teapots from the province of Yixing, China (http://tinyurl.com/2k86u). They are sold locally here in New England in a great chain of stores called Tealuxe. (http://tealuxe.com)

I first discovered the artform in a store called "Wa" on Comnmercial Street in Provincetown, Ma. I have several of them, but due to exploratory cats, they almost all of them are broken in one way or another.

*le sigh*

Best of luck setting panted fabric.

Ambitious Wench

And thanks for your consideration of my bandwidth.

[ambitious-wench.livejournal.com]

Oh, and thank you for being considerate enough not to link directly to my photo server--just to let you know, if you see anything of mine that's on the photobucket.com server, go right ahead and link directly to it. You might want to check them out yourself, and save yourself bandwidth.

Edie

Re: And thanks for your consideration of my bandwidth.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

You're welcome. I don't believe in bandwidth theft, having been a victim of it myself on numerous occasions.

Re: *beam*

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I hadn't realized they would be so reasonably-priced. I'll have to save my pennies....

[zombienought.livejournal.com]

Those are beautiful! Hi, I found you through
your post on another community. I'd like to
add you because of your interesting posts.
Would that be alright?

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Sure thing! No need to ask.... And welcome!