Cory brought us to his favorite tea house tonight. One interesting aspect of tea drinking is the relationship between water and tea leaves. Unlike coffee, the leaf releases its flavor bit by bit, so naturally, as the water sit longer, the flavor becomes stronger. The tea drinking etiquette therefore involves an "interim pot" which is called "公壶" (sharing pot). A pot full of tea is poured into this pot first, and then poured into the cups of each drinkers, this eliminates the concern of uneven flavors between the first guest and last guest.
This pot is an interim pot. It only receives brewed tea without leaves. The designer got rid of the lid entirely, and made the entry system on the bottom. the design inside essentially is an upside down funnel, water is pured into the pot and when its flipped, water stays around the funnel and doesn't spill out. To emphasize the design even more, the shape of the pot is made into an lucky peach, a symbol for longevity and long life. I loved this design decision, its one of the few shapes that involves a vertical line. The designer is using it to contrast how the lid, which will require a horizontal line for the cut, is not there. Very clever.
The tea house is on Dong Si Shi Tiao street. near Sony Certified service center.
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