Same tea, different cups

Experimenting with different porcelain cups and a ceramic one. 1) Porcelain yunomi 2) artisanal ceramic yunomi 3) porcelain tea cup.

Few days ago, I received a beautifully glazed Japanese yunomi in the mail by mistake as I had originally set my mind on regular porcelain ware. It was a rustic work of art. I have very few handmade ceramic pieces in my collection and this was the perfect addition so I realised on hindsight.

Being unfamiliar with ceramic pieces, I decided to compare the influence of tea cup materials on brewed tea -  Bi luo chun green tea brewed open style in an old blue and white bowl. Doing so will allow the tea to cool down faster on a hot summer day.

Next, I spooned equal amounts of tea from the bowl into individual cups and went about tasting. Before the infusion was ready, I already did a pre trial on the cups using boiled water and yes, I did notice slight differences in the liquid texture on my palates. Water from the ceramic piece felt softer and gentler on my throat.

Now onto the infusion. Notice the difference in colour intensities? This could be a clue as to how the tea will taste. Through this experiment and also from earlier experiences, the handcrafted ceramic yunomi in the centre gave the mellowest tasting tea. The porcelain cups on the other hand, seem to highlight the tea's fragrances well.

A reader suggested that I could switch to glass - a neutral material that potentially does away with any performance irregularities. Personally, I enjoy the process of collecting intriguing data. This way, I may be able to choose to drink tea out of glazed ceramic when my craving calls for a balanced cup of tea or pick a porcelain yunomi on a Monday morning so the fragrances can provide for an invigorating wake up call. There is always room for discoveries and fine-tuning one's brewing techniques along the way.

What are your experiences so far? Do you have a preference for certain materials or a particular dislike for others?

 

The many facets of water

It may seem commonplace at first to fill your kettle with water and bring it to the boil before infusing your tea leaves.

Upon closer observation, the boiling vessel's material largely affects the taste of the resulting boiled water. Our taste buds are tingled by the silkiness of boiled water and once it comes into contact with the tea leaves, yet another dimension of the tea-licious brew unfolds. The same water source when boiled in different vessels, under different heating conditions, results in the law of interaction between tea and water. A sort of hidden order behind the rhythm of the tea. Weak at times, overpowering the next minute.

Starting at a common water source, one should experiment with different boiling vessels. Making use of the concept of relative objectivity in one's experiences, water should be allowed to interact freely with those different materials that make up boiling vessels. The essence of a seemingly ordinary activity such as boiling water resides in the diverse experiences inherent to the combination of water, fire and earth.

Adapted from TeaParker