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I found a little Japanese style cast iron teapot in the garage, probably holds about two cups. Not one of the high dollar hand cast ones - probably came from Walmart, but I'd like to try it.
When I consulted Guru Internet-san for advice I found two opposing views. One said these were for brewing only, and this one does have a stainless steel infuser basket, so it could be used that way. Others said that it should be used to boil water (over low-moderate heat) and would impart a distinctive pleasant taste, and showed a picture of tea brewing in the cups.
I don't want to hurt it by putting it on an electric stove burner, and a charcoal hibachi seems a bit too much trouble.
Anybody have an experienced opinion?
Edited by - DougD on 11/15/2024 15:37:40
Stationed at Yokota AB for a bit, so this is the little that a "Gaijin" learned:
Everything about the ceremony has a procedure, but the brewing is pretty much pouring hot water into the cup and whisking it with the tea, so I would expect you use your pot to heat it (which also has a procedure).
I drink tea many times a day, with breakfast and even faithfully during practice. But I highly recommend the OXO Tea Kettle instead. Much easier to heat to the accepted temp for the different teas.
Context.. It may depend upon the country.. My lovely wife is English/Irish and a TEA time is a special event probably unlike others.. but YUM..is it fun..Different Teas for different folks...I guess. The TEA she is hosting soon as a fundraiser for a charity will not focus on tea, but rather on the tea/snacks/comradery..
The fact that it's iron makes me think it would need to be preheated with hot water that you would discard before actually making the tea, otherwise the water temp would drop immediately (faster if the air temp is cool). That's the gung fu method when using clay teapots. I have 5 teapots and two gaiwans for tea preparation. Mostly use the 250 ml one for red (black) tea and a 200 ml for oolong.
I sorted through the references online, and believe this is a small version of a tetsubin, an iron kettle used for heating water, traditionally over a charcoal burnng hibachi or hearth (not so different from a colonial hearth over here). This one holds about 20 ounces - the old ones were usually larger. At some point smaller ones were developed to hold enough for a couple cups of tea. Still later they were made with enamelled interiors and and a stainless infuser, just for brewing tea - the enamel is too fragile to be heated directly. This one has an infuser and can ne used for heating the water or brewing too. The iron supposedly imparts a particularly soft and sweet quality to the hot water or tea.
The making of these by traditional methods is a revered craft in one area of Japan, and the "real" ones are collectibles and quite expensive (hundreds of dollars). Of course they are prone to rust, and the traditional ones are baked in a very hot oven after casting, which develops a protective oxide layer inside.
The bottom section of this one was quite rusty, and I followed the instructions of this serious artisan, and now its ready to use. youtu.be/I_N0cWSHwBY?feature=shared
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