Does Teaware make better tea?

(short answer: yes, but)

I want you to come to your own conclusion, and to help you do that, I’ll lay out as much relevant information as I’m able to.

Depending on what you use, teaware can play a major or minor role in the overall tea experience. In my definition, teaware is more than just teacups and teapots, but even restricting the original question to “Do special teacups and teapots make better tea?”, I believe the answer is still yes, special teacups and teapots make tea better. 

But how!? Why!? 

We need a starting point, let’s discuss shape first, and let’s use wine to prove this point. Wine is generally consumed from wine glasses. Sometimes $90, 0.5mm thin specialty pinot noir glasses, other times 4mm thick dollar store generic glasses. Will a wine taste different in different glasses? I’d hesitate to say yes. Will a wine smell different in different glasses? Absolutely. The difference is so completely obvious it just takes 1 opportunity to do a side by side comparison in different glasses to be converted for life. This is the reason why companies like Riedel, Spiegelau, and Zalto exist. 

Material for teaware could be anything, but usually, it’s glass, metal, or ceramic. Ceramics are a big category though, you have earthenware, stoneware, porcelain, and on top of those categories, you have glazes, colors, and thicknesses. Unglazed stoneware or earthenware can give off a really ‘rocky, mineral’ aroma when it’s hit with hot water (or tea). That aroma will interact with the tea in a way you could deem positive or negative. It has the potential to ruin what’s good about the tea, or make it better. It’s case by case and depending on the tea being prepared.

Is tea just flavor and aroma though? I don’t think so. It’s warmth, color, depth, and texture too (and that isn’t including any potential emotional attachment you may have with certain teas). There are teacups which prevent you from feeling the warmth on your hands, whether that is because they have insulated walls or handles, and this will change your experience. 

There are teacups that prevent you from seeing the color of the tea, perhaps because they are too dark, or because they’re too tall to easily see inside without effort, etc. (let’s be real: you’re probably not going to intentionally look at the color of your tea. If you find yourself staring at your tea, that’s probably unintentional, or perhaps pre-meditated by buying certain teaware. That might seem like a ridiculous thing to bring up, but the color is very important to your perception of flavor, it’s something you should pay attention to. On the other hand, you can have porcelain, white glazed, or glass cups, the size could be small enough to only hold 1oz of liquid. No matter when you look at that cup you will unintentionally see into it, and clearly see the color and clarity of what’s inside — this will change your experience. 

I think the depth of aroma and flavor is linked to the material, it adds another layer of flavor to the total picture.

How the cup meets your lips is something I think you need to experience before you can understand its significance. How the cup feels in your hands is important too — is it rustic, and jagged; Is it ‘manly’ and natural? Is it dainty and fragile? An attempt at perfection through symmetry and design? You might not actively have those thoughts when you drink from different teacups, but I believe subliminally, all these aspects have silent conversations and motionless interactions with you (and each other) and as a result, you will deem the combination to be positive or negative.

That covers what I wanted to say pretty well, but I feel there’s one last bit I need to say too. It’s about the compound effect of using many different types of teaware. 

The water and tea-infused water (tea) can be manipulated at 4 points in the brewing process:

1) Before boiling
> Water source: Reverse Osmosis, Spring water, well water, rainwater, glacier melt water, etc.
> Water storage: Water is taken from a source and used vs water stored for long periods in jars
> Water manipulation: Adding iron to the water, minerality from kilned clay bars or balls, etc.

2) During boiling
> Boiling medium: Stainless Steel vs Iron vs Copper vs Silver vs Ceramic and the flavors imparted by the metal during boiling

3) During the brewing
> Brewing vessel material: clay teapots of different compositions vs something neutral like porcelain or glass

4) After brewing
> Drinking from specific cups of different materials

Let’s say ‘person A’ goes super neutral through the whole brewing process. They used their RO filter to fill up their stainless steel kettle, brought the water to a boil and poured it over their tea leaves in a glass teapot, and once infused, poured the tea into a big porcelain mug. What they’ve made is sure to be a clear, enjoyable cup of tea. 

Let’s say that ‘person B’ stores their filtered water in a clay pot for several days before using it. They pour their strong tasting mineral-rich water into an iron kettle and bring it to a boil. Iron goes into the water giving it another layer of depth and changes what can be extracted from the tea leaves. They put their tea leaves into an unglazed ceramic teapot to brew and once done pour their tea into a small, rough stoneware teacup. Person B doesn’t just have the flavor of the tea, they will have a substantially more powerful flavor because of the 1) water 2) kettle 3) teapot 4) teacup.

Would it be better? The flavor and fragrance would depend on the tea, but the overall experience? They’re not even related. One is hot water and herbs, the other is like some form of passionate art or occult ritual.