How important is your teaware collection and what does it bring to your tea sessions?

Teaware is very important to me – but not so much to my tea drinking. My tea addiction began with a teaware obsession, I collected miniature tea sets, and then I moved to larger tea cups and teapots. Eventually, I thought, I have all this teaware, I should learn to appreciate what goes inside it.

So, I started exploring tea. Before that, my experience with tea was limited to the stuff in teabags from the grocery store, the stuff that comes in the yellow, white and red box. And I’m pretty sure that the one box that was in my parent’s house growing up was the same box that my step-mother brought into the house when she married my father when I was eight years old, and I’m pretty sure that was the same box in the cupboard when I left the house when I was 18. So yeah. Icky.

So, I went to a tea house and I tried loose leaf tea for the first time and it was like, wow … tea is actually GOOD. LOL

But, for my everyday tea drinking, I am usually brewing in my Breville and pouring the tea into my favorite mug that my daughter got me for Christmas. For oolong or pu-erh or other teas that I deem worthy (yellow tea), I’ll get out my gaiwan. Sometimes I’ll use my Kati Tumbler depending upon how much tea I want to brew.

My ‘collection’ stays in my tea cabinet.

I started collecting tea cups before I got into loose leaf tea. :) So I’d say my teaware is pretty important! I usually drink tea out of a big mug, unless I’m doing a multi-steeper, and so I have a few big mugs as well.

I was perfectly happy with my gravity steeper, infuser basket, a coffee mug and my travel mug until someone started talking to me about teaware….. That’s really all I have to say. ;))

Oh and Instagram…. it gets some blame too.

If I get any more teaware (and I will), we may have to add a room on the house. There are different sets for different moods, different foods, different size gatherings, different types of service. We even consider the appearance and color of what we are serving when choosing the teaware and China for the day. Tomorrow we will be serving strawberry cake, homemade by daughter using freshly ground wheat, fresh and frozen strawberries and a homemade strawberry syrup in the frosting, so the teaware of the day will be Old Country Roses with one red teapot, one blue, and one white. But the one-on-one introduction to tea I will be doing for another student of mine will be held all cozy on the floor using a bamboo tray and a gong fu set.

I have too much teaware, and I have a list of what comes next! Much of what I have came at ridiculously low prices. My OCR set was acquired about 65% off, one Yixing was $3 at an estate sale, a mahogany tea caddy that was $100 was acquired for $8, Sterling spoons for $4 each. And I keep going to those estate sales and hunting! Next I want the blue Pagoda teapot from Stash, the small black and gold dragonfly tetsubin from Teavana, and some clay Chinese cups that are very plain. Teavivre has some that I have my eye on for my birthday!

I have a collection of mugs that I use on a regular basis. I enjoy tea much more when I’m drinking it out of something that looks nice and that feels good in my hands.

I also find some items to be really important to my daily tea drinking routine from. In addition to my mug, I have my steeping basket, a small bowl for resting it in, and ceramic spoons for testing a hot cup. They’re super practical but also elegant looking.

I have a small, practical collection of white porcelain, glass and stainless steel tea ware that I use semi-regularly (gaiwan, teaboat, cha hai, tiny cups, etc), and then also a bunch of antique tea ware from my grandmother that I never use but have no plans to part with.

The tea is first for me, but like others, I think it is a better experience when you love the vessel you are drinking it from (one word – Goldie. We all need our Goldie!) . :)

That being said, I had to move my tea out of the china cabinet I use to store it in because my teaware was taking over the kitchen. I MUST own all the teaware!

Lately I have been collecting large, cozy mugs for brewing. I have obtained them on trips and on Etsy mostly haha. There’s something about drinking a cozy cup of tea in the cold winters we get here. I also have my staple gaiwan that I love for gongfu sessions, it’s delicate and really helps me to relax and enjoy the flavors of the tea. I have collected some cups as well, but mostly use my bubble teacups for gongfu just because they are practical, hold more and still look nice. I have only one yixing so far that I don’t use as much as I should, and I would like to expand my collection (I need at least 2 more, one for sheng and one for black tea, maybe one for oolong lol).

Mugs are the main obsession currently, but I am always browsing :D I got some nice antique items (not really for use, more for admiring because they are beautiful) at some estate sales, but I am always looking for new additions. I would love to grow my teaware collection (Instagram is feeding that desire haha) but I need space, time to enjoy them, and have to watch my budget lol. There is lots of time to acquire teaware over the years at least!

I also have a pretty decent collection of DavidsTea mugs and regular mugs for when company comes over. And of course tons of steepers!

You, my little fairy, are a notorious teaware enabler. :p

I would drink tea even without the beautiful wares, but they add a whole new dimension to tea drinking, so I wouldn’t want to be without them.

I love my wares and I love seeing other people enjoying theirs on insta. <3

I have just one mug that I really like. I usually use a nicer grade of disposable tea bag and fill those up with what tea I want to steep. I have been trying some metal infusers, and they have been driving me nuts. I did like the Kati until I broke it (it dropped). The basket out of that one is nice, but it is too small for my mug. So, I tried a smaller mug, but I didn’t like the fact that it was smaller (I have to get up to the hot water, and it’s not close to my desk). So, I bought something from World Market. It’s the right size, but the holes are too big, and I seriously burn my fingers every time I remove it from the mug (because the handles are METAL, and get hot!). So, I’m back to my original setup, unless I can find a basket that has small enough holes to not deposit a bunch of tea leaves in my tea, that will fit this mug, and does not get superheated handles.

Sorry…that’s my rant today. :P

I have been watching for an antique tea caddy but some of the nicely preserved ones are a wee bit pricey. :)