The reason why ceramic teapots are best for traditional teas such as Pu’erh and black tea is due to their great temperature retaining property. Ceramics are good at keeping the temperature constant and it also doesn’t transfer heat too high unlike how metal or steel does.
A regular ceramic teapot has thick walls that keep the temperature of the water steady throughout your tea party. Both Pu’erh and black tea are often brewed using higher temperatures, thus, requiring the tea maker to keep them warm for a long time. That’s when the temperature retention property of ceramic comes in handy.
How do you make tea in a ceramic teapot? (Step by step)
So, how exactly do you use a teapot to make tea? Well, before we get started, let’s get to know your teapot size. How much tea will it hold?
- For a 2-cup teapot (usually around 16 ounces), you’ll need to use 1 to 2 tea bags or 2 teaspoons of loose leaf tea.
- For a 4-cup teapot (about 32 ounces), consider 2 to 4 tea bags or 4 teaspoons of loose leaf tea of your choice.
Steps in making tea:
- Get boiling. The first step to preparing tea is boiling water. We don’t recommend microwaving water because it may destroy the infusion quality of your tea. In short, it might result in a bitter aftertaste when you infuse your tea. This also happens if you over-boil your water. Furthermore, green tea and similar teas can be badly affected by microwaving, making them too bitter.
You can consult different steeping charts online as to how warm your tea should be depending on the tea that you have. Certain types of tea require a different temperature from the others to achieve the desired flavor.
Moreover, when choosing your water source, we recommend spring water that has low chemical and mineral content. However, any available source of water will do, if that’s not the case in your living conditions.
- Add your tea. As a general rule of thumb, for each cup of water, you’ll want to add 1 teaspoon of loose leaf tea leaves of your choice (or tea bag). Here are the common methods of infusing your tea, depending on the teapot design that you have:
Most teapots have an external infuser or strainer, which is ideal for herbal teas. They are best for steeping at about 5 minutes or so. They can also be used for oolong, green, black tea, and the like. They can be comfortably taken out when you pour the tea.
Other teapots have an internal infuser. You’ll have to read the instructions for the teapot and the type of tea that you want to prepare on how to specifically use an internal infuser.
If you have delicate botanical teas, such as rooibos and chamomile, we’d recommend a tea-to-go filter due to its easier cleanup.
For people who don’t have loose leaf at home or readily available in stores, you can simply go with teabags and they’ll do just the same thing as loose leaf tea. Teabags are also the easiest to clean and maintain compared to traditional loose leaf tea.
- Start steeping your tea. Steeping is pouring hot water over the leaves and into the teapot. Different tea leaves require different steeping instructions so it’s best to do your research depending on the tea you have.
- Take the tea leaves out. Whether you use a tea bag or loose leaf, you have to take out the tea leaves to avoid getting residue in your cup. After that, you can finally enjoy your warm cup of tea!
What is better: ceramic or porcelain teapot?
Both ceramic and porcelain have their qualities for different kinds of teas. Here’s what you should know before buying either of these teapot types:
Ceramic teapots that are unglazed, such as a Yixing pot, are more suitable for only one type of tea. However, if glazed, you can use it for all sorts of teas. These ceramic pots have a wide spout that makes pouring easier.
Porcelain teapots, on the other hand, work well with green tea, white tea, and any tea that requires a slightly lower temperature to steep. Generally, they aren’t dishwasher-safe and are more fragile, which is why hand-washing is done to clean them up.
How to use a ceramic teapot with an infuser
Some teapots already come with an infuser to simplify the steeping process and allowing fewer leaves to get into your cup of tea. It’s just a matter of simply taking out the infuser once the tea has been infused, and then pouring your tea directly onto your desired cup.
If you want to use the infuser for later, set it aside. On average, most loose leaf teas will be suitable for 3 to 6 steeping sessions depending on the size of your teapot.
How to keep a ceramic teapot warm
There’s always the inconvenience of having to wait for your folks to come on in and have afternoon tea with you. Unfortunately, you can’t keep a ceramic teapot warm forever – but you can lengthen the time that it remains the same temperature.
The most common way is to keep the lid closed when not in use. You can also wrap the tea in a towel to protect the temperature inside.
A teapot warmer, which can be purchased separately, will help keep your tea warm for hours. Added to that, tea lights (small candles) also work well to maintain the temperature of your favorite tea.
Can you use ceramic teapots on the stove?
No – ceramic teapots aren’t recommended for the stove due to their warping tendencies. Instead, use a tea kettle to pour tea onto your teapot. Even if the manufacturer says that it’s safe for stoves, don’t take your chances to avoid voiding your warranty (if any) and ruining your teapot in the process.
Can you put a ceramic teapot in the microwave?
We don’t recommend putting anything ceramic in the microwave. That’s because you’ll never know if the ceramic teapot has bits and pieces of metal and the like (even just the paint finish) and that will make it not so microwave-friendly.
Making tea requires a lot of patience so most tea lovers will tell you to ditch both the microwave and the stove, especially since they also don’t heat the water evenly. In most cases, microwave-heated water also causes tannins to overflow from your tea, resulting in a bland or bitter taste, which you don’t want for your tea.
How to clean a ceramic teapot
While most manufacturers will tell you that they are selling ceramic teapots that are dishwasher-safe, most tea enthusiasts will tell you that the best way to get to know and love your teapot is through hand-washing it. Here’s a simple way to clean your ceramic teapot:
What you’ll need:
- Polident or any retainer adhesive
- your ceramic teapot with the lid
- large bowl (fits the teapot)
- a large cloth (should be larger than the bowl)
- dry cloth
- warm tap water
- soft cleaning towel
- straw cleaning brush
- toothpick
- dish soap of your choice
- boiling water
Instructions:
- Take the bowl and put a large cloth over it, wrapping around the edges. This will sit on your sink.
- Put the teapot in the middle and take off the lid.
- Use Polident (or any retainer adhesive) and put it inside the teapot.
- Add warm tap water and let it overflow slightly. This will help the Polident to go over all the areas of the teapot and not just the inside.
- Put the lid on and let it sit from 30 minutes to a couple of hours.
- Scrub underneath and over the lid using a soft towel. Use a toothpick for the hole on the lid.
- Pour out the solution in the teapot through the spout as you normally would on any cup of tea.
- Use a straw cleaning brush to clean the spout, scrubbing back and forth.
- Scrub inside the teapot using a soft towel. It’s okay if you have stains that are not cleanable because it’s normal for tea to stain over time.
- Rinse off the lid and the teapot. Be careful because Polident might make it a little slippery so handle it carefully. It’s best to let the water run to the spout or the other way around for thorough cleaning.
- Use your regular dish soap and let it sit inside the teapot with the lid for a short while. Rinse afterward.
- Look and inspect every part of the teapot and lid to make sure that there isn’t any dirt left. By this point, your teapot and lid should be less slippery due to the addition of the regular dish soap.
- Dry it using any cloth.
- Fill it up full of boiling water, let it sit for a second, and then pour it out. Dry the teapot again.
- The teapot is now ready to be used again!