Rare Tea Company | Sustainable Loose Leaf Teas, Teaware and Gifts

Traditional Gaiwan Teapot

Traditional Gaiwan Teapot - Main image
$6 $12 In stock

Category: Teaware

The perfect traditional Chinese teapot for loose leaf tea.

Gaiwan teapots has been used for millennia for Chinese Gong Fu style tea making - this translates to "making tea with skill".

Gong Fu tea in a gaiwan uses a high proportion of tea leaf to water - and a very short infusion time of just a few seconds. In this way, you can infuse the leaf many times and reveal many layers and subtlety of flavour.

At Rare Tea we had this little fellow made to our own specifications with our friends in China. Its a wonderful companion for any infusion. We recommend trying it with all your teas but it is especially well suited to whole leaf teas and rolled oolongs – where using a lot of leaf (4-6g / 0.2-0.3 oz) and a small amount (100ml / 4 fl oz) of water allows you to extract as many as six infusions from the same leaf - not losing a single drop of delight from your lovely loose leaves. It has no spout to hold in all the aromas. The lid is designed to hold back tea leaves whilst you pour your delicious tea - so there's no need for a strainer.

Made from pure white bone china this teapot is both strong and elegant.

This teapot is also included in our charming Rare Tea Traditional Gaiwan Set.

Customer Reviews (4.7 / 5 · 11 reviews)

James M. ★★★★★

The thick porcelain walls hold heat beautifully, so my oolong stays steamy through three infusions without the outside getting too hot to handle. I've been doing gong fu sessions every evening since it arrived and the pour is clean with no drips.

Julian W. ★★★★★

The wide, open lip makes pouring gong fu sessions a breeze, and the glaze feels silky smooth against my fingers. I've brewed oolong and pu-erh in it daily for two weeks now, and the thin walls heat up evenly every single time.

Isabella X. ★★★★★

The lid sits snugly without rattling, and the wide rim cools fast enough that I can brew multiple Gong Fu infusions back to back without burning my fingers. This is my first step into proper loose leaf brewing, and the craftsmanship really shows in how evenly it pours.