Defining Your Tea Pot Culture

Tea pot culture is something that is taken very seriously in many communities. In a Chinese gongfu tea ceremony, tea is prepared with great attention to detail regarding the amount of water used and where and at what temperature the tea is served.

The Yixing tea pots used for these ceremonies are incredibly ornate, well-crafted and range in price from a few dollars to several thousands of dollars per pot. The price depends on a pot's age, the type of clay used to make it, who the artist was that painted it, its style and a variety of other variables.

With time, a well used pot develops a coating on the inside that retains the flavor and color of the tea, enhancing the tea drinker's experience. Soap is never be used to clean the inside of these pots, in order to preserve the integrity of the tea drinking experience.

Have you taken the time to define your own personal tea pot culture?

[Image courtesy of Flickr]