Saturday mornings are for getting my sheng fix on. But it's been a gamble- sheng roulette. I have a sweet potato and a bucket of coconut ice cream waiting in the wings just in case things go awry. This morning I tried to figure out the smallest amount of tea I can brew where I can make a quick decision whether or not I want to spend the rest of the day and even tomorrow with a tea. Even if a tea is highly bothersome, I've been pathologically continuing on. I can't change that behavior but I can change how much of it I drink.
Behold the thumb pot. I can barely fit my thumb in there and I've put the teapot on a tablespoon so you can see how tiny it is. Probably if my blog readers were to make fun of me for which there is ample material, I won't fault anyone for laughing at my ridiculously tiny tea pots and the 12 leaf brew. Note it takes real gongfu to pour hot water from the kettle into such a teapot. I'm positively grateful no one's about to giggle at my sloshing. One brew provides three dainty sips(or 1.5 man sized sips) and is perfect for a solo quickie session. I really cannot go any smaller than this pot.
Behold the thumb pot. I can barely fit my thumb in there and I've put the teapot on a tablespoon so you can see how tiny it is. Probably if my blog readers were to make fun of me for which there is ample material, I won't fault anyone for laughing at my ridiculously tiny tea pots and the 12 leaf brew. Note it takes real gongfu to pour hot water from the kettle into such a teapot. I'm positively grateful no one's about to giggle at my sloshing. One brew provides three dainty sips(or 1.5 man sized sips) and is perfect for a solo quickie session. I really cannot go any smaller than this pot.
Can you really evaluate a tea seriously in this way? Not really. This process is more for weeding out tea that is still to astringent to drink on an empty stomach. You can get to the 10th brew rather quickly and register flavor profile, mouth feel or lack thereof. Does it matter that the leaves can't really stretch their legs out? I'd have to experiment a bit more.
The main problem with my recent drinking has been that I try a lot of good teas but for whatever reason- there's just no chemistry between the tea and me. But since a certain amount has been brewed, I have to prolong the session for the entire day because I rarely ever pitch sheng. I tried two of Israel's samples this new way and right away I know I enjoyed the 2004 He Shihua Jingmai more than the Nannuo but the Jingmai is a little bit too conventional for this weekend. I want something wild or old or both!
You can see from the sizes above that the thumb pot contains less than a fifth of Emmett's teapot which is my regular session pot. With a teensy weensy pot like this- 2 oz sample bag will now last aeons.
The main problem with my recent drinking has been that I try a lot of good teas but for whatever reason- there's just no chemistry between the tea and me. But since a certain amount has been brewed, I have to prolong the session for the entire day because I rarely ever pitch sheng. I tried two of Israel's samples this new way and right away I know I enjoyed the 2004 He Shihua Jingmai more than the Nannuo but the Jingmai is a little bit too conventional for this weekend. I want something wild or old or both!
You can see from the sizes above that the thumb pot contains less than a fifth of Emmett's teapot which is my regular session pot. With a teensy weensy pot like this- 2 oz sample bag will now last aeons.
How do you manage to put those large pu-erh tea leaves in that teapot?
ReplyDeleteGongfu style of course! Actually the dry tea leaves are much more manageable and a little delicate wiggling is involved.
DeleteH
Where did you manage to find teapots that small?
ReplyDeleteIn Insadong alley in Seoul, there was a vendor who specialized in Buddhist paraphernalia and mini-pots. I think they were either a toy set or meant as decoration.
DeleteAh, Insadong! Jujube tea..
DeleteBelieve it or not, I've seen even smaller Yixing pots.
ReplyDeleteWere they meant for brewing? I have tinier tea pots still meant for adding water to the calligraphy ink stones and are not useful for tea due to the slow drip.
DeleteGood question--I was never actually served in said pots, but I have seen them on display in various Taipei tea shops.
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