New Passion.....

Lately, i've discovered a new passion.... one that i enjoy immensely because it stimulates my senses of sight, taste, and smell.... the last two bringing new sensations to me ever since i quit smoking almost 4 weeks ago now!!! it seems that 32 years of smoking had deadened my senses of taste and smell.... and it's only now that i'm beginning to experience them more intensely.

my new passion??? Chinese tea!!!

i so love doing Chinese tea.... that i'm fascinated with everything that has anything to do with it.... from the accessories, the utensils, and the teapots and cups, to the different teas themselves and how to prepare them!!!

in terms of the utensils for preparing Chinese tea, we use wooden utensils such as these:

this set includes a wooden scoop to scoop out the dried tea leaves; a wooden forceps to pick out individual tea leaves and to handle the cups during washing; a wooden spatula to remove spent tea leaves from the pots; and a wooden needle with handle to remove tiny tea leaf particles blocking the strainer. A brush with bamboo handle is also used for cleaning the cups and pots as well as the tea tray.

a stainless steel strainer is what we use to prevent the tea leaves from mixing with the poured tea.

for brewing or steeping tea..... we currently have the following:

a Yinxing clay monkey teapot

a Yinxing clay rabbit teapot

a wide, low clear glass teapot

a round, high clear glass teapot

a clear glass gaiwan

a porcelain blue & white teapot with house and mountain designs

a porcelain teapot with colorful flowery design


a porcelain gaiwan with shrimp design

for pouring tea into the cups..... we have:

a small clear glass pitcher

a porcelain pitcher with Chinese landscape design

a porcelain pitcher with shrimp design

as for tea cups..... of course we have the cups that go with the different teapots above.

an electric heater with a stainless steel kettle is what we use for heating the water on the table top.

now, some of you might ask, "how come i'm telling you and showing you all these?" well, just so you'd know what my interests are now..... and also.... maybe.... to help out those who are thinking of giving me something, but doesn't have any idea what i'd like!!! bwahahahahahaha!!!