New Toys! Porcelain Tea Cups

This past weekend I purchased some new "gaiwans" (cup with a lid and saucer) and one with a spout from a teashop in the Kennedy and Hwy 7 plaza in Markham.

This pot-like "gaiwan" is painted with the four seasons on it and it is a beautiful yellow colour.

It comes with a metal strainer.

And, here are 2 beautiful white porcelain "gaiwans" or cups with a raised fish design on the cup and lid. The porcelain is very thin and delicate, you can see the tea through the cup.

I do not know if this is good quality porcelain or not but I thought they were quite pretty. Doing some reading on-line, here are some tidbits of info (Wikipedia):

• porcelain was first created in China by firing Chinese kaolin clay (one of the ingredients) at high temperatures.




• early forms of porcelain were manufactured during the T'ang dynasty (around the 600's AD).




• in general, there are 3 categories: hard paste, soft paste, and bone porcelain.




• true hard-porcelain (the first type of porcelain made in China) is described as translucent, non-porous, and it rings when struck.




• during the 17th and 18th century, the refined porcelain created a stir in Europe where it was highly regarded and much effort went into replicating the porcelain which then resulted in the development of soft-porcelain and bone china.

My first tea using these *new toys* was a Taiwan Alishan Jin Xuan tea (spring 2011). Jin Xuan tea is a tea varietal developed in Taiwan by cross-breeding in the 80's and is characterized by a "milky" aroma. There should be a "milky" aftertaste that is naturally occurring.

Beautifully rolled...

...and very lightly oxidized leaves. Most had a bud and 3 or 4 leaves.

The above steep is the liquor from the 4th steep.
Hope you can see where the tea is in the cup! You can only see it when the lid is off the cup though.