Probably one of the most important aspects of your tea party event is the tea pot itself. With a cupboard full of options, how do you know which tea pot to choose?
Lets start with the size
One of the most important first things to consider is to choose a teapot according to the number of cups that you need to fill in each round. How many guests will be attending the tea party? For example, a normal teacup usually holds 150 ml so a 600 ml pot would be ideal for a group of 4.
If you only have one pot and don’t exactly want to buy a new pot to serve more
than 4 cups, simply make two rounds of tea and decant into a separate jug. If possible, rinse the jug in hot water first to help the tea maintain its temperature. This way, you can use the jug as a decanter for more teacups, so the quality of the infusion is even for all the cups served.
To summarize, if you typically only serve tea for up to 4 people then make sure you purchase a teapot that fits well for that use. If, for example, you decided to buy an 8-person pot for extra assurances, while you normally make tea for 4, then when making tea for only 4 cups, the volume of air in the pot is so large that it would cool down the water significantly during infusion. And we don’t want that.
Now onto the body
The best shape tea pot for effective infusion is a spherical one, or any shape close to that.
A very flat tea pot, even with round bottoms, are only good for short infusion time and when using a large amount of tealeaves. These are better used when on the smaller side. A tall teapot, especially one that is more rectangular, is only good when it has a thick inner wall and when the material has good heat
retention. Large tall ones used to be popular in the past in tea sheds, where tea is soaked the whole day and was served in large rice bowls. The spouts of these tend to start close to the bottom so that the stronger tea would be poured out first. The lighter portion is then gradually drawn to the bottom where it again meets the tealeaves and becomes stronger for the next serving.
One frequently overlooked aspect of the teapot is the thickness of the body. The ideal design is to have thicker material towards the bottom and thinner toward the top. More thickness at the bottom holds the heat better, while the speed of heat loss is focused at the top, encouraging smooth integration within the whole body of water inside the teapot. This ensures optimum body and texture of the tea infusion. When choosing a porcelain pot, shine a strong light through the body and you should be able to see the thickness.
Give it a try! Compare the infusion effects using different pot sizes and varying thicknesses with the same tea and see the results for yourself.
We’ll be learning more about the spout, handle, lid and neck in Part 2 of our ‘Lets talk teapot” series.
