> I just finished a new post, that I thought might make a good
> discussion starter about brewing tea at work. I know it has been
> covered in the past, but I know my habits have changed or have been
> dictated by job changes.
>
> Today's "In Cup" post is actually about the cup itself. Since, like
> most, I spend most of my waking hours at work I tend to do much of my
> tea drinking there. I have tried all manner of approach to good tea at
> my desk, and many have worked well but always had a drawback or two.
> I've gone from three piece ceramic tea brewing mugs (which were a pain
> to clean), to People's Brew Baskets in regular white coffee mugs
> (again a pain to clean and wear out/break quickly), and a few other
> failed experiments in between... but I never seriously thought of using
> a gaiwan at work. I always thought them too fragile. I was dead wrong.
> While I wouldn't bring a very high-end gaiwan, I have only had one
> incident in two years, a nice regular quality $10-20 gaiwan is
> perfect. I've been using a very inexpensive one I bought at Kam Man in
> NYC for about a buck or two for almost all of those two years daily.
> Here she is: ...

> The only issue with those Kam Man gaiwans is that they're so
> big. I think brewing in gaiwan works best when you put enough
> leaf to expand into whole volume. Then the leaves don't get
> stale taste even if you brew them again and again for half a
> day. I used to use a mug without infuser with just leaves
> floating around at work. I also used a chinese rice cup.. I
> put some kind of lid on top of it but I don't remember what
> lid exactly.
>
> I wish Kam Man had varying sizes of gaiwans..
>
> It's a really good store for teaware by the way. Good
> selection of cups and cheaper than pearl river mart.
> They have good tetsubins for a very cheap price now.
> But the lids don't fit too well on them, that's the only
> problem.

> [...now using a big Kam Man gaiwan at work...]
>
> I had initially thought them to be a bit clunky and formal but the
> great folks at Rec.Food.Drink.Tea (Usenet group) finally wore me
> down, and I'm glad they did.

> It's been a while, but I hope I played a part in breaking you down,
> and I hope I wasn't brutal about it!
>
> My slant is a little different from yours, though. I figure that
> since I spend so much time at work, and since I'm lucky enough to be
> allowed to brew tea there, I might as well use really good tools. So
> I use a really good porcelain 100-ml gaiwan even though I live within
> walking distance of Kam Man.
>
> /Lew
> ---
> Lew Perin / pe...@acm.orghttp://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

> "Dominic T." gmail.com> writes:

>> [...now using a big Kam Man gaiwan at work...]

>

>> I had initially thought them to be a bit clunky and formal but the
>> great folks at Rec.Food.Drink.Tea (Usenet group) finally wore me
>> down, and I'm glad they did.

>
> It's been a while, but I hope I played a part in breaking you down,
> and I hope I wasn't brutal about it!
>
> My slant is a little different from yours, though. I figure that
> since I spend so much time at work, and since I'm lucky enough to be
> allowed to brew tea there, I might as well use really good tools. So
> I use a really good porcelain 100-ml gaiwan even though I live within
> walking distance of Kam Man.
>
> /Lew
> ---
> Lew Perin / pe...@acm.orghttp://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html ...

> [...]
> By the way, how are the teas in kam man? I almost bought some last
> time but I was sceptical about them being in open jars that, now
> that I thought about it, are in fact clear plastic.. So they're
> probably all stale? And there are so many boxed teas I wasn't sure
> which one to pick..