One more reason, a gaiwan is so much easier to clean than a teapot, you just turn it down and leaves will fall. Teapots always keep some leaves inside.

Gaiwans are definitely my favorite way to brew tea. One of the reasons is that I'm usually drinking tea by myself and gongfu portions are much more practical :)

I just had my first tea tasting session at a local tea bar with non-tea friends. Went through the basic greens, Dragon Well, Sencha and Gen Mai Cha. It was unreal how different they all were. I am just starting out but I am hooked.

The gaiwan is the epitome of tea culture. Not only can it be used as a versatile brewing device but can also be sipped from. I've used pots but I always finding myself going back to a gaiwan on default.

Just bought my first Gaiwan! I’ve been looking at in my local tea shop for months but was too nervous to buy it. Thanks for the inspiration ❤️

Great video! Thank you!

I so agree! ( Well, who wouldn't, when everything is so well put- I just love your videos, you do a wonderful job!) To combine the advantages of two worlds I got myself a few Yxing clay gaiwans- (of course the clay may not be the best.) They are cheap , beautiful, I love the handling ( it is so much more comfortable since they are not as hot to the touch as porcellan ones) and I adore the sound the lid makes. Plus it is not such a luxury to reserve them to a specific kind of tea. Gong fu Tea makes me happy!

Love your passion for tea. Thanks for the videos. Learning a lot here.

My favorite tea brewing utensil is a shiboridashi. Shares many of the same traits as a gaiwan, but makes pouring without a strainer easier, at the cost of not being able to pour as quickly as a gaiwan.

My favourite way of brewing is definitely the gaiwan! Even though I've got a few beautiful pots I like to use, I don't feel compelled to take them out as much. There's something so down-to-earth and connected with the gaiwan and your video articulated the experience so well!!

I just bought that same exact gaiwan from your shop, and I am OBSESSED. I am terrified of dropping it while pouring, though! It is such a beautiful piece of teaware. :)

Hi! Congratulations on the channel, I'm really learning a lot! I still brew my tea with a cup and a strainer, or a teapot, but I was thinking of buying some more "advanced" tea ware. Would you recommend to buy a gaiwan first, or something different? Thanks a lot!

great vid. again thanks

Got my first gaiwan ( Mei Leaf’s True Tea Gaiwan) yesterday and I love it so much! Since it arrived yesterday afternoon I’ve had three sessions. It’s a pleasure to brew with and beautiful. I love watching the tea pour out over the slope of the gaiwan’s edge. Pouring out of a pot makes me think of water flowing from a hose compared to the gaiwan’s river like flow. Strange thing to love about it, I know, but there it is.

And you can also brew your favourite tea the way that you drink the tea directly from gaiwan. Some teas are the best to prepare this way.

I really enjoy with your videos! Thank you very much!

I am normally a coffee drinker and I mean like latte person. However I've been trying to give tea a chance. I tried a few bagged teas and really liked it. So I've been researching. At first I realized I needed loose leaf so I was looking for pots. I found a couple (american) tea pots that I thought of buying but I'm glad I waited because as I kept looking into tea the gaiwan started to be mentioned. As soon as I saw it and how it's used I just had to have it. I bought one off of etsy but it doesn't have tracking and might not be here for over a month. I couldn't wait that long so I bought one off of Amazon and it arrives tomorrow. I also bought some loose leaf tea both from a tea store near me (they don't have gaiwan's ) and from mei tea. I can't wait to try it.

Awesome... I was about to buy a few teapots from your store but now I decided to just get a porcelain gaiwan instead! Saved me a ton of cash now I can buy more tea

My only problem with gaiwans is that I am forever burning the heck out of my fingers. The gaiwan gets so hot when I'm pouring. I still enjoy brewing with a gaiwan. A little bit of pain is worth the reward of good tea :)

Thank you. I know this isn't a new video but I've been trying to figure out if I should get a gaiwan or go with a gong fu. I think that a gaiwan is first on my list to purchase and I'll do a gong fu later. My boyfriend bought me a Breville tea maker for Christmas and it's AWESOME but it's not so good for the bigger leaf teas.

Hi Don, love your videos and was wondering where you stand on Chinese import ceramic infuser mugs? Would you consider showcasing one in a video? Also Celine is a charming girl with great screen presence - why not let her narrate more here and there?

We love chai tea and many different types of teas here in Afghanistan!

Please make a video comparing the gaiwan, shiboridashi, and hōhin, and their pros and cons when brewing both Chinese and Japanese teas.

With a gaiwan you can brew tea "the grandpa" style and control the process even better.

Just discovered your youtube videos and love them. Interested in the gaiwan but link is not working properly. I did find it by use the search option.

Proud life moment: Tonight my husband and I both brewed tea with a gaiwan for the first time. It was waaaay easier than I made it out to be in my head. I can't imagine going back to western style brewing.

Very easy to clean too 😁

Gaiwans are great 😊 I use my gaiwan almost every day. Big plus for gaiwans is their size - it's perfect for drinking alone. We can use less tea leaves and enjoy more brewings than from bigger pot. I know there are also very small pots but they are pretty rare items. For cooling water I often pour it over lid - this one you didn't show on video ;) ...and I absolutely love watching leaves to open in gaiwan - that's why I usually use the glass one. Glass don't hold temperature as well as other materials but while brewing gong-fu style it's so short that water doesn't really have time to cool down so no worries here :)

The gaiwan is the killer app of tea. Simple, efficient, pleasurable to use. When you do your next gaiwan video, maybe talk about the 2 types of gaiwan: flat saucer and cupped saucer. To some extent, the design drives the handling style. Great video.

I'm definitely getting this Gaiwan for the simplicity, beauty, low capacity, and the fact that it's not glass, as well as the glass pot for when I'll be really thirsty and for the lighter teas. Also a question - does this porcelain over time start revealing the tea stain lines like the porcelain of your cups and gong dao bei?

Hi Don! I was curious to know what are the important things to look for in purchasing a gaiwan (size, material, etc.) Hopefully you can cover this in a new video. Thanks for all the information!

I just ordered my first gaiwan yesterday

Thanks for your videos. They are great. I have a question that is is not exactly relevant for gaiwan, but rather to a way that you brew your oolong. This way that you pile infusion on infusion to fill in the cup, is there a different taste to the final brew in comparison to brewing in a big (~250ml) cup with a filter? Sort of western style?

Can I use gaiwan for oolongs and another teas or it's just for green tea?

the gaiwan is similar to the shape of the body during a sitting meditation position, which analogously represents the same three things

Apart from being way better than pots, can we say how much cheaper they are?

very informative! I've ordered one and was wondering if there was a real difference with the professional cup for tea tasting. looking forward to receiving it :)

Love your videos, Don, but I keep find myself trying to get a decent view of the painting behind you. Haven't been successfully yet. Any chance you could angle the camera just once to let me see it? I'm both a tea lover and an art lover. 😃

Is gaiwan good teaware for brewing Japanese green teas or for this purpose is better to use a kyusu (e.g. from Tokoname)?

what kind of kettle is the one you use in the video

Never had an gaiwan but I like the idea and I don't know why but gaiwan looks so small when think than need to make a oolong and the leaves start to open more and more,is it enought place for the leaves and water together? For one person?

Why should I get rid of the bubbles? (you use the lid for this purpose...)

Hey, I just purchased two Gaiwans and some pots from your shop after learning about these. A question I have is the following: Is a Gaiwan also suitable for brewing Japanese green tea? (Mainly Sencha and Gyokuro)? I seen a vid of you brewing these and you used other brewing times for them than in your brewing chart from your website and also these Japanese tea wares. So is it possible and if yes what would be the brewing time for japnese green tea in a Gaiwan? Cheers!

I thought you're supposed to drink the tea directly from the Gaiwan. pushing the tea away from the section you will drink from, tilting the lid.

I see you use Gaiwans of around 150 or 180 ml? What's the ideal size, or maybe the most traditional in your opinion? What about 100 ml?

So I just bought a Gaiwan and a Yixing teapot. How do I know how much tea leaves to put in my gaiwan? Also, do I have to be specific with which teas I put in my Yixing? Is it forbidden or bad if I were to put lol types of tea in my Yixing?

what water catcher would you recommend to go along with the sky blue gaiwan? that is not the gonfu guru lol

Hey you? 😘😘😘 😘

A great video, as always...I like your new logo, but I think the gaiwan in the picture seems just a bit "stiff" :) Perhaps the curves and the shape of a gaiwan should be a bit more emphasised.

*symbolism

I think you missed the most important reason for a Gaiwan..There is NO metal strainer..The metal strainer can leech nickel from the metal into the water especially since there is acid in the tea..That can also change the taste of the tea..

For simplicity, can i just drink straight from the gaiwan?

That sofa looks really uncomfortable. Great video otherwise, as usual.

Your intros remind me of customgrow420

I find it is too hot to hold for pouring...

盖碗容易烫手

- 'authentic'? I'm not chinese but think honestly that it is a bit more of a pragmatic 21st century style object.

Hello. I follow with great interest your videos and I am surprised that you seem to attach little importance to the water that constitutes 99% of the tea. You usually use an electric kettle with hot water which is in contact with plastic (bad). Like the Japanese, I think the water quality is paramount and a non-enamelled cast iron kettle (Tetsubin) is required to achieve adequate water for tea. Filter water with charcoal is even better. You do not seem to be interested in Japanese quality teas (Gyokuro, Sencha) nor the Japanese teapots (Kyusu) that seem (for me) better designed that Chinese teapots.

0:10 i have love affair with this gayvan

no wake in up the tea ware, no rinsing the tea, moving the tea with the gaiwan lid. bro, you may need to review your gongfu cha skills