Teapots 101
August 27th, 2007, 10:31 am
Teapots may be used to brew black teas, herbal teas, green teas, or any number of specialty teas. Teapots should be distinguished from tea kettles, as the former is used exclusively for steeping tea and the latter is used for heating water. Teapots have been around for well over a thousand years in Asia, but it wasn’t until the Europeans discovered a way to make (hard paste) porcelain that teapots would start being created in Europe. Teapots have been done in every possible design trend and most interestingly, the novelty design teapot was first introduced way back in the 1820s.
Clay
Ceramic teapot is prepared from clay that is heated at a high temperature in a furnace. The body of clay that remains permeable even after firing is used for creating terracotta flower-pots. All the tea pots are made from red sand clay which is found very deep in the ground.
China
Teapots are available in ceramic, glass, clay, stainless steel, bone china, etc. Bone china is made using a different type of clay containing feldspare that makes the china a translucent white. Light does not pass through earthenware like it does bone china. Bone china is made using a different type of clay containing feldspare that makes the china a translucent white.
Most black teas are best brewed in stoneware teapots rather than teapots made of metals or porcelain. Lighter teas such as herbal infusions and green teas work well with porcelain teapots. Oolong tea, a tea midway between green and black teas, is best brewed in an Yixing teapot, a special type of clay teapot produced in the Jiangsu province of China.