I drink two or three sessions a day and share a kitchen with three other people, so everything lives in a box on a shelf and comes out and goes back. Budget is about $40 total. I mostly drink oolong and some black tea. Gaiwan or a 150ml clay pot?
Gaiwan, for your situation specifically.
It is one glazed vessel, it needs no seasoning, it washes in seconds, it does not hold flavour so you can go from a roasted oolong to a black tea in the same session, and it survives living in a box. A clay pot wants to be dedicated to one tea type and wants to dry properly between uses, which it will not do packed away damp in a shared kitchen.
At $40 you can have a decent porcelain gaiwan, a small pitcher and a couple of cups, which is a whole setup rather than one nice pot. The case for clay is real, but it comes later, once you know which single tea you drink enough of to dedicate a pot to.
Not having to dedicate it is the argument that lands, since I drink two very different things.
Add a cheap kitchen scale to that budget before you add anything else. It changes results more than any vessel will.
Whatever you buy, buy one you would not be devastated to break in a shared kitchen.
@braise_brenda · last yr. · 2 replies
Get a thick rimmed one. Thin rims are traditional and beautiful and they will burn your fingers for a month until your technique is right.
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@tbr_theo · last yr.
Or start at 100 to 120ml rather than something large. Less hot liquid to hold and easier to pour cleanly.
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