BS: Best teapot in the world

17 Mar 08 - 01:18 PM (#2290686)
Subject: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: Thompson

What is the world's best teapot: the right size, the right material, and *non-drip*?

I have a nice little iron teapot that makes delicious tea, but it drips like billy-o. There must be a model that doesn't.

---

17 Mar 08 - 01:52 PM (#2290720)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: McGrath of Harlow

A fat little earthenware one I bought for 50p in a charity shop. Friendly looking, the right size, keeps the tea warm and no drips at all.

Sorry that won't be any help...

Quite why almost all mass-produced teapots are made so that they drip is a puzzle. You'd think it'd be the one thing they'd make sure to test before settling on a design.

---

17 Mar 08 - 01:53 PM (#2290724)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: Stilly River Sage

Porcelain or ceramic, not metal. This is what a Chinese doctor acquaintance insists is best. For me, the best size is one that holds as much tea as I want to drink over the course of a couple of hours--about three cups. I put a tea cosy over it to keep the tea hot.

SRS

---

17 Mar 08 - 02:01 PM (#2290731)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: Emma B

Personally my two favourite pots for black teas are a traditional Brown Betty (especially the one person dinky one that sits in it's own teacup) and a terracota, bamboo handled, Chinese style with infuser.

I had a glass teapot that enabled me to watch the 'agony of the leaves' but this was not very good at bouncing and I now just pour water onto green tea in the glass and let the leaves settle to the bottom.

---

17 Mar 08 - 02:17 PM (#2290748)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: Stilly River Sage

My teapot dribbles, but I drop a hand towel on the counter beside my cup when I pour tea and catch it.

---

17 Mar 08 - 02:52 PM (#2290781)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: Thompson

Porcelain or earthenware? Thanks! I love the iron teapot, and it makes tea really fast, but I long for the lovely old Bewley's one of my father's that I managed to break - brown with a blue inside.

---

17 Mar 08 - 02:53 PM (#2290782)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: GUEST,Scooby Doo

Glad to see cosys are still been used as i was told when i was young that a cosy helped brew the tea.


Scooby

---

17 Mar 08 - 02:57 PM (#2290784)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: Stilly River Sage

My Chinese friend also insisted that you should never wash the inside of your tea pot. Let it get really dark brown.

I made this tea cosy many years ago, and don't even think about it, it's automatic to plop it on top of the pot. I should dig out a couple of others I have around here. Maybe my daughter would like one, now that she's living on her own at college. I don't know if she has a tea pot--I'll have to check. :)

SRS

---

17 Mar 08 - 03:00 PM (#2290786)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: MaineDog

A teapot will dribble, or otherwise not pour correctly if the shape of the edge of the orifice is incorrect. Usually, a sharp edge pours best, and this means that the spout, at least, should be made of metal.
If the lip is too fat, the tea will actually run around the drip down the spout.
The same principle is applied in roofing. The sharp metal drip edge, when correctly installed , will keep the rain from actully running back up the bottom of the edge of the roof, and eventually rotting your sturcture. It took me a long time to figure out how the drip edge works, and it seems many contractors have never learned that secret.
MD

---

17 Mar 08 - 03:22 PM (#2290822)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: Ross Campbell

Picquot Ware make the best metal teapots.
We accumulated a set (teapot, water-jug, milk-jug and sugar-bowl, with a matching tray) for my mother over various birthdays/Christmases (they were relatively expensive back in the '70s!) and they were her pride and joy. The teapot is one of the best pourers I ever came across.

Rarely use a pot these days (teabag in a pint mug is fine for me!) but I still have a couple of Picquot teapots around should I get the urge (or sufficient number of guests in the house).

Ross

---

17 Mar 08 - 03:56 PM (#2290870)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: Morticia

I used to have a Denby teapot, ugly as sin but brewed the best tea in the world. It travelled all over the world with me, survived 20 odd years, two children,numerous cats and countless drops onto hard kitchen floors and still kept doing it's little tea potty thing with nary a complaint nor dribble. Eventually, and heaven knows how, I lost the lid....I suspect I shall never see it's like again.

---

17 Mar 08 - 04:10 PM (#2290886)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: Bee

A hand made reasonably heavy earthenware pot has been my favourite. Made by someone who knew what they were doing, the lip of the spout is shaped like a rounded spade tip (by virtue of having the potter's thumb pull it out, I think); it doesn't drip, and if you warm it well first, keeps tea nice and hot.

I wouldn't think not washing the pot would be good, though: 'dark brown' indicates a buildup of tannin, which I think would be bitter.

I'm also tragically fond of a little two cup pink round ceramic pot I found at a flea market years ago. Has no maker's mark on it, so likely a very cheap pot when new, tragic because the glaze has crackled dreadfully inside, and that often leads to cracks occurring in the ceramic.

---

17 Mar 08 - 05:28 PM (#2290976)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: gnomad

Depends how many you are serving.

---

17 Mar 08 - 07:51 PM (#2291153)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: Stilly River Sage

A friend who traveled in China fairly recently concurred about washing the pots. She said it looked like sometimes you could pour in just hot water and take back enough of what was on the sides to make a pot of tea. :)

I usually can't stand it after a while and run the Dobie pad around inside. I haven't given it the truly authentic treatment dictated by those from the oldest tea-drinking culture. But neither do I feel compelled to wash it after every use. Once a month is often enough.

SRS

---

17 Mar 08 - 08:04 PM (#2291169)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: number 6

I with Emma B ... the Brown Betty is the answer.

biLL

---

17 Mar 08 - 08:37 PM (#2291196)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: GUEST,Imminent brewer

Metal teapots are the work of Satan.
Brown globose pot ones are the best.
Morrisons do a beauty.
Happy guzzling.

---

17 Mar 08 - 10:15 PM (#2291277)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: Q (Frank Staplin)

Picquot metal teapot 139.95 Pounds? Ouch! Metal? Institution ware!

A brown betty and one of those wire mesh tea balls does me just fine for those odd times when I want tea. Lapsang soochung.
We have two brown betty's, both earthenware, one English, the other Chinese.

---

17 Mar 08 - 10:19 PM (#2291278)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: John Hardly

green

orange

---

18 Mar 08 - 02:22 AM (#2291365)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: Stilly River Sage

Are those yours, John?

Are you going to be in Fort Worth again for Main Street?

Maggie

---

18 Mar 08 - 11:31 AM (#2291634)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: Bill D

None of these teapots drip. (pardon the cluttered background..flat space is at a premium)
And I have had all of them for over 15 years...a couple for 30 or more. I actually use the largest one the most.

None are ever washed: only rinsed well and VERY occasionally wiped with a heavy-duty paper towel.

---

18 Mar 08 - 11:34 AM (#2291637)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: Bert

Stainless steel teapots make the best tea.

---

18 Mar 08 - 12:02 PM (#2291648)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: Big Al Whittle

'Best tea I've had recently came from Mariage Freres in Paris, and was delicious, subtle, scented with the Himalayan leaf.'

I've said it before Thompson - you have at your command all the secrets of gracious living. You're an example to us all. In fact it borders on decadence.

Black sheets, aromatherapy oils, unblocking the chakras, difficult poetry on the bookshelf, wise and witty e-mails from national heroes....all washed down with sips of tea from the foothills of the Himalayas.

Oscar Wilde would have gone to you for style tips....

---

18 Mar 08 - 12:03 PM (#2291651)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: Bill D

Wow, Bert! Now tell us what 'folk' really is! *grin*

(having never even seen a stainless steel teapot, I wouldn't be able to make a comparison, but aesthetics are also a factor.)

---

18 Mar 08 - 01:09 PM (#2291714)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: Big Al Whittle

the stainless steel ones in Sainsbury's cafe all have drippy spout things.

decent cup of tea though.

That Ausrian cafe in Bakewell makes nice tea. Taylors of Harrogate.

---

18 Mar 08 - 01:17 PM (#2291726)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: Stilly River Sage

Bill, I see you had Mudcat on the screen when you pushed aside clutter to photograph your tea pots. I don't feel so bad about the mess on my desk now. (Except I've been an active participant on the decluttering thread so I'm trying to get past this mess.)

I don't use soap when I clean out my pot (that monthly swipe inside that I mentioned). Soap never tastes good in tea, and the flavor does linger no matter how much you try to rinse. Looks like we're on the same tea-brewing wavelength.

I have a pretty little stainless steel pot, but it cools too quickly, even with a tea cosy. I use it as the spare, and that's where I brew pots of non-black tea. It doesn't do to brew a gingery or cinnamony herbal tea in your regular tea pot. Mashes up the flavors, and then you do have to wipe out the inside.

SRS

---

18 Mar 08 - 06:10 PM (#2292043)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: Bill D

Yep...but since I make 97.482% black tea in a tea ball or other strainer for loose tea, I never worry about mixing flavors. We have all sorts of 'herbal infusions' available for guests, but I seldom brew any for myself.

I will sometimes mix a bit of (loose) Earl Grey type..or Jasmine or Lychee flavored tea... with my Darjeeling or whatever, but those flavors don't seem to cling. If I intend to sip tea all day, I will sometimes put some in a special glass-lined thermos which never is allowed to have coffee in it.

---

18 Mar 08 - 09:52 PM (#2292253)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: Stilly River Sage

The strong ones that pollute the pot are the Celestial Seasons herbal ones with pie-type spices. I tend to drink non-caffeine or low-caf in the afternoon and evening or it can keep me awake.

SRS

---

18 Mar 08 - 09:56 PM (#2292255)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: Bill D

Yep...those are usually tea bags, and we tend not to do them in a pot, but to make users make do with just a cup...*grin*.

I only use tea BAGS under duress, or to help make iced tea.

---

18 Mar 08 - 10:14 PM (#2292268)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: John Hardly

SRS<

Yup, those are two of mine. And, no, I'm not doing Ft Worth this year. Good show and I'll miss it. But the year's shaping up pretty well for summer shows.

---

19 Mar 08 - 01:54 AM (#2292370)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: The Fooles Troupe

Back in the 1960s, one of my Aunties (who reminds me strongly of Hyacinth in 'Keeping Up Appearances!') had a neat gadget for teapots - they were 'trendy' at the time and I recently saw one as the 'Mystery Object' on the ABC TV show "Collectors".

It was a loop of elastic black string with a little metal loop to draw it tight, that went over the lid to hold it in place when poured, a metal hook that held on to the handle, and a small sponge that went under the spout to catch the drips.

---

19 Mar 08 - 04:33 AM (#2292414)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: Thompson

I cede the gracious living crown to Bill D with his beautiful collection - particularly the gorgeous cornery teapot with the blue bamboo glaze.

---

19 Mar 08 - 05:02 AM (#2292427)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: peregrina

Foolestroupe--I was given one of those gadgets once in Germany, where it was called a Troppenfaenger. I think they still exist!

---

19 Mar 08 - 06:04 AM (#2292454)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: The Fooles Troupe

Some of them had a little china ornament that sat on top of the lid handle too.

---

19 Mar 08 - 10:49 AM (#2292620)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: Bert

...it cools too quickly...

It is supposed to cool quickly. If it stays warm for too long it will stew. That's what's wrong with earthenware teapots and tea cosies. Don't forget that they were invented long before we had microwaves to quickly reheat our tea.

---

19 Mar 08 - 10:49 AM (#2292622)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: Bill D

Why, thank you, Thompson! The teapots are 'gracious', even if they reside in usually less-than-gracious surroundings.
And it is nice to meet someone else who has the proper attitude toward tea bags! (I have a couple times won bets that I could find a cup of tea bag tea among 10 cups of properly steeped loose tea. Once you get the taste buds calibrated, that paper taste is obvious.)

---

19 Mar 08 - 01:29 PM (#2292758)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: Stilly River Sage

Don't forget that they were invented long before we had microwaves to quickly reheat our tea.

I'd rather drink it fast enough that it is hot in the pot (yes, it gets stronger, but that's okay) than reheat it in the microwave. That does change the flavor.

I drink loose tea mostly, but we (Moonglow, actually, but she wasn't drinking it) had a Secret Santa box of Yorkshire Gold bags (via a Secret Santa whose initials are "Micca") and I ran out of the loose tea and was a little short on funds so started using the bags in my tea pot. That stuff is so strong that one bag makes a pot full of very stout tea. Now back to the loose tea again. One of my favorites is a very strong Chinese variety called Yunnan. Hard to find around here, though, unless you buy it very expensively in loose bulk at Central Market. I order it by the can from Pearl River in New York City.

SRS

---

19 Mar 08 - 04:43 PM (#2292974)
Subject: RE: BS: Best teapot in the world
From: John Hardly

Any teapot can have a drip-free spout.

Take your teapot (the one that drips) to the local hardware and buy clear tubing that fits the end of it snugly. Cut 1 1/2 inch length of the tubing and force it on the end of the spout. Then cut off the protruding end at an angle. No more drips. Not even a little.

---