Tea set is the essential utensil when brewing tea. We should combine with the characteristics of tea in selection of the tea set, to maximize the performance of the quality of tea as a principle. Here Teavivre introduce the details for you all.
Green Tea
Green tea is not fermented tea, whose essential feature is "green tea clear water". When brewing the good quality green tea (such as Long Jing, Bi Luo Chun, Tai Ping Hou Kui etc), generally we will choose the colorless and transparent glass cup to see the teas stretching in the water and to enjoy the ups and downs of the tea dancing. For the normal grade green teas, the white porcelain gaiwan should be good.
However, no matter you choose gaiwan or glass tea set, the water used to brew tea should not be very hot. If the water for making tea is too hot, tea leaves will be spoiled and tea liquor will turn to dark yellow very quickly. Besides, the flavor will be weakened and the tea liquid will be bitter.
White Tea
According to different criteria in plucking, white tea, belongs to slightly fermented tea, can be divided into silver needle white tea, white peony tea, Gongmei white tea and Shoumei white tea.
Silver needle white tea is the top grade white tea, whose buds are tender and delicate. So it is best to follow the green teas’ brewing method. With the colorless and transparent glass tea set and the water of 80℃ to 85℃, we can enjoy the white tea stretching and dancing in the water, smell its fragrance and view its unique characters.
In addition, other white teas can be brewed with ceramic tea set.
Black Tea
Black Tea, fully fermented tea, has Xiaozhong black tea, Gongfu black tea and broken black tea in China.
Xiaozhong black tea and Gongfu black tea can be brewed with white porcelain cup or white porcelain gaiwan. But broken black tea usually can be brewed with porcelain pot. Also we can add some milk or sugar into the brewed black tea to enjoy the delicious afternoon tea. While the glass tea pot is more suitable for high graded black teas like Jin Jun Mei black tea.
Pu-erh Tea
Pu-erh tea, post-fermented tea, can be divided into raw pu-erh tea and ripened pu-erh tea.
For the aged pu-erh tea, we suggest brewing it with Zisha Teapot. Zi Sha teapot has the characteristics of fast heat transmission, good heat preservation and also can absorb the off-flavor from tea. Thus it can enhance the mellow of pu-erh tea.
New pu-erh tea and loose pu-erh tea can be brewed with ceramic gaiwan. Through this way, we can see the tea liquid and the brewed tea leaves well. Thus we can adjust the brewing time and methods based on what we see.
Oolong Tea
Oolong tea, which belongs to semi-fermented tea, not only has the fragrance of green tea, but also the mellow of black tea.
Oolong tea should be brewed with hot water. But with glass tea set, which loses heat easily we cannot fully enjoy the original taste of oolong tea. So glass tea set is not suitable for oolong teas’ brewing.
Oolong teas should be brewed with Zisha Gongfu set. With the fragrance smelling cup, we can enjoy elegant floral aroma and light milk fragrance.
All in all, each of the tea has its own unique quality and fragrance, so we need brew with different temperature and different tea set. But generally speaking, gaiwan is the most common tea set. Hope everyone can enjoy your own tea with your own selected matching tea set.
