What is a Gaiwan and should i buy one?
- Harvey Cocks
- Jan 22, 2020
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 1, 2020
Hello fellow tea folks, today I am going to be talking all about one of the most commonly used teawares out there from Asian countries as well as some western that is used for brewing tea in.
So, let's dive into a few questions and then go onto my recommendations of where you can buy some!
Disclaimer:
Links at the end of this post are affiliate links, this means that if you make a purchase through any of the links shown within this blog post, I will earn a commission for each sale. My honesty to my audience is a priority and thus why this disclaimer is in place.
Okay, so what the hell is a Gaiwan?
A Gaiwan is a teaware that originated from China many years ago and developed into being popular all over the world in later years.
Put it simply, a Gaiwan is simply a cup, saucer, and lid. That's it really! Below is what a gaiwan typically looks like:
Cool, so hang on. What so special about it then?
Gaiwans aren't special or anything, it's just they are so popular due to the versatility of them as there is enough room for the tea leaves to expand and they are perfect for a style of tea brewing called "Gong-Fu" style. This is essentially where you have more tea leaves in a smaller teaware brewing tool, and little amount of hot water being used with the leaves and reusing the leaves after multiple times in order to get the best taste and qualities of the tea out.
On top of being versatile, they are generally quite cheap and usually decorated to look quite nice in a variety of styles so they work for most people if they are picky about what teaware they want to use. Below you can see some really interesting gaiwans I found online:
Links to these gaiwans are below if you want to buy them!
Wait there a second, how do you brew tea in it then?
The way a gaiwan works is you put the tea leaves in the cup itself, pour the hot water into the cup and leave to infuse for 10-20 seconds usually depending on the tea of course and place the lid on top but leave a gap open so its angled, take your hands in the following position showed below on the left and pick up the gaiwan with the lid only and simply pour your tea into your pouring vessel or drinking vessel with your fingers gripping onto the edge of the gaiwan at the top so it doesn't burn your fingers with your index finger holding the lid on top.
However you can hold a gaiwan in many ways possible, some people will hold the gaiwan with the base is the gaiwan gets too hot like as shown on the right side. It's completely down to whatever is best for you.
Okay and finally what is the cost to buy one and where should I get one from?
So typically, the average cost of buying a gaiwan is around from as little £5 all the way up to £100+ honestly though it really depends on where you are buying it from.
Some places that I recommend for buying some gaiwans from are the following websites:
-Etsy
So now you know a bit more about Gaiwans and what they are/where to get one from! I hope you all enjoyed reading this little blog post today!
If you would like to purchase some of the gaiwans shown in the images earlier, here are the links (non-affiliate):
Affiliate Links:
Gaiwans I recommend from Amazon.co.uk:
Gaiwan Traditional Teapot - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00M6I5OI2/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=B00M6I5OI2&linkCode=as2&tag=harveyc-21&linkId=04afe3c39a41104856a240fe1b729bda
Chinese Gongfu Gaiwan Tea Set - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00S2KMS4G/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=B00S2KMS4G&linkCode=as2&tag=harveyc-21&linkId=c1c289228c0599f5aa1410d85ec0deee
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