Discovering the standard Gaiwan For production Loose Leaf Tea

In the west teapots square measure the foremost ordinarily use vessels for production tea in but, as on-line tea outlets commerce loose leaf tea grow in quality, many folks square measure finding that an outsized western pot may not be the most effective resolution for them. whereas it's going to not look like there square measure several alternatives - on the other hand bagged tea or strainers - the gaiwan is really one among the world's oldest and most typically used ways for production loose leaf tea and progressively obtainable in western tea outlets.

While a definitive date is unknown it's wide accepted that it had been throughout the dynasty that the gaiwan, a lidded bowl used for production tea, was fictional. The gaiwan has remained one among the key parts of any Chinese chanoyu to the present day and is taken into account by several tea aficionados as maybe the foremost effective thanks to brew loose leaf tea.

Consisting of solely 3 components - a bowl, a lid and a saucer - gaiwans typically hold less water than a pot but their smaller size makes them appropriate to stay, and use, in places wherever you maybe would not usually need to possess a pot - like by your table at work.

The Bowl

Perhaps the foremost vital component of the Gaiwan is that the bowl. it's among the bowl that the loose leaf tea and predicament mix and infuse to supply the drink called tea. historically the bowl has been made of ceramic ware or Yixing, a clay from the Jiangsu province of China though, several younger tea lovers square measure currently choosing glass gaiwans that permit you to observe the full leaf or flowering tea leaves unfold because it infuses and brews.

Whatever material the bowl is created from it ought to be skinny and delicate enough to permit the tea to simply be poured whereas still maintaining smart heat retentive properties. A gaiwan that's too skinny can permit the water to chill too quickly and therefore the loose leaf tea within will not properly infuse. the trendy heat proof glass that's utilized in several of today's glass gaiwans is ideal for this, thence the increase in its quality and use.

The Lid

The gaiwan's lid serves 2 functions, it helps retain the water's temperature and it conjointly permits you to serve the tea while not the leaves falling into the glass or mugs that the tea is being poured into. Once your tea has brewed, like with a pot, you typically need to pour it into one thing else to drink. not like with a pot but the gaiwan has no spout. You pour the tea by merely slippery  the lid back slightly, and together with your thumb holding the lid in situ, tilt the gaiwan to pour out the tea.

The Saucer

Initially it sounds like the saucer is just there for adornment but, it serves a way more serious purpose; the saucer permits you to choose up and pour the tea while not touching the bowl. The dilutant materials utilized in creating gaiwans tend to induce extremely popular - by slippery  your fingers beneath the saucer and choosing it up together with your thumb on the lid you avoid touching the bowl and doubtless burning your fingers!

As has been shown, gaiwans square measure improbably straightforward vessels but, having been used for over five hundred years currently generally the recent ways extremely square measure the best!

James Franklin Bluth may be a tea authority with over a decade's expertise sourcing and choosing loose leaf tea and is particularly fascinated by on-line tea outlets.