(Subject line an homage to Larry Niven)

I like the idea of glass teaware. Having spent a number of years in
academic and industrial research labs, though, my standards of quality
and utility for glassware are somewhat distorted relative to the
pots'n'pans market. I do quite like cut (as distinct from molded)
crystal from Ireland and Bohemia; there, the many irregularities give
voice to the hand-worker's efforts. But I have yet to see a piece of
glass tea-brewing equipment that I thought well-designed and -executed,
especially as regards glass weight over various parts of the object.

Nonetheless, I keep a few glass pots and gaiwans, mainly to give away
and to show newbies what's going on in there. Since hot, strong tea
supersaturates on cooling, leaving tough residues, cleaning is an
annoyance even with greens and whites.

Now that my main daily tipple is cool-brew shu Pu (and the occasional
low-roast fragrant oolong), though, I've been finding a glass gaiwan
ideal. With steep times running many minutes to a few hours, a glance
across the room gives an immediate gauge of infusion strength. And since
nothing is cooling, there are no deposits to clean.

Main feedstock for this is Tuochatea's various Yunxiang bricks, which I
think are about the best value going on ripe Pu-erh. That cherry-cola
note really comes through on room-temperature brewing. Haven't had such
good results with sheng Pu-erhs; good presentation of plum and camphor
notes, but flavor balance otherwise not comparable to that achieved with
fast, hot steeps.

-DM

dogma_i > wrote:
>I like the idea of glass teaware. Having spent a number of years in
>academic and industrial research labs, though, my standards of quality
>and utility for glassware are somewhat distorted relative to the
>pots'n'pans market. I do quite like cut (as distinct from molded)
>crystal from Ireland and Bohemia; there, the many irregularities give
>voice to the hand-worker's efforts. But I have yet to see a piece of
>glass tea-brewing equipment that I thought well-designed and -executed,
>especially as regards glass weight over various parts of the object.

Ask your local laboratory glassware guy to make you one. Should not be
too hard to take a couple pyrex beakers and some glass rod and make a
gaiwan from them.

Where I work, we shut our glass shop down about five years ago, since
it was getting cheaper to farm custom glasswork out. Among the miscellaneous
stuff lying around when they shut down were dozens of beautiful pyrex coffee
mugs and a 30-inch model of the Space Shuttle made out of borosilicate rod.
Oh, and a one-gallon French press made from part of a damaged Dewar.

You should note that a lot of people value the very thin glasswork,
as used in the Jaener infusers, for instance. It is very delicate,
and they consider this to be a good thing. Clearly your goals, like
mine, are different.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Scott Dorsey wrote:
> Ask your local laboratory glassware guy to make you one.

Interestingly, the pre-eminent private lab-glass shop in the country
used to be just a few miles from here. (Proprietor disappeared
mysteriously a few years back.) Never occurred to me to ask him. Because
it was more or less required in my technical field, I was pretty good at
lampwork myself (though never in Finkenbeiner's league), and saved some
equipment; perhaps I'll have a whack at it when cool weather returns. No
need even for Pyrex with such thin sections and moderate profiles.

> ... stuff lying around

Funny; I salvaged some hummingbird feeders and a Klein bottle.

> You should note that a lot of people value the very thin glasswork,
> as used in the Jaener infusers, for instance. It is very delicate,
> and they consider this to be a good thing.

I very much prefer thin, with suitably reinforced edges. It's mainly
excessive thickness and clunky handles that put me off commercial glass
gaiwans, as well as the wrong curvature where the lid sits cocked for
pouring. Another shortcoming is their excessive regularity: ceramic ones
distort just enough in firing to ensure that one can find a stable
position for any desired pouring-slit width.

How nice that we live in a society so rich in time and material goods
that we can even dwell on such trivialities...

-DM

On Aug 22, 1:45*pm, dogma_i > wrote:
> (Subject line an homage to Larry Niven)
>
> I like the idea of glass teaware. Having spent a number of years in
> academic and industrial research labs, though, my standards of quality
> and utility for glassware are somewhat distorted relative to the
> pots'n'pans market. I do quite like cut (as distinct from molded)
> crystal from Ireland and Bohemia; there, the many irregularities give
> voice to the hand-worker's efforts. But I have yet to see a piece of
> glass tea-brewing equipment that I thought well-designed and -executed,
> especially as regards glass weight over various parts of the object.
>
> Nonetheless, I keep a few glass pots and gaiwans, mainly to give away
> and to show newbies what's going on in there. Since hot, strong tea
> supersaturates on cooling, leaving tough residues, cleaning is an
> annoyance even with greens and whites.
>
> Now that my main daily tipple is cool-brew shu Pu (and the occasional
> low-roast fragrant oolong), though, I've been finding a glass gaiwan
> ideal. With steep times running many minutes to a few hours, a glance
> across the room gives an immediate gauge of infusion strength. And since
> nothing is cooling, there are no deposits to clean.
>
> Main feedstock for this is Tuochatea's various Yunxiang bricks, which I
> think are about the best value going on ripe Pu-erh. That cherry-cola
> note really comes through on room-temperature brewing. Haven't had such
> good results with sheng Pu-erhs; good presentation of plum and camphor
> notes, but flavor balance otherwise not comparable to that achieved with
> fast, hot steeps.
>
> -DM

When I was working at the university the one lab had been given these
amazing, thick, beaker-looking coffee mugs from some custom glass
place that was trying to win some business. I angled forever to get
one but it never happened. I use clear glass for lower temp. Japanese
greens mainly. They are so pretty and the color of the liquor is just
too cool to obscure.

The best all-glass piece I own is a "whistler" glass tea kettle that
can be put right on the burner. It heats water super fast and there is
no metal or anything involved, it is even sturdy but just seems
fragile as hell and makes a lot of scary creaking noises at times.
It's lasted over 10 years though so it is solid.

On a sort of related note, I'm not a coffee drinker, but the Chemex
line of coffee pots are pretty cool and made by a former lab guy.
Bodum has a newer vacuum double glass pot setup that is pretty neat
too.

- Dominic

Seems like a glass canning jar would work. My glass gaiwans are nice
to look at but flimsy and the first thing you think cheap. Even if a
piece of art work I dont think practical for long term brewing. Not
enough volume. I never thought of cold brewing shu. Ill try that for
contrast when I start simmering shu.

Jim

On Aug 22, 11:45 am, dogma_i > wrote:
....if your newgroup server doesnt archive too bad
> Now that my main daily tipple is cool-brew shu Pu (and the occasional
> low-roast fragrant oolong), though, I've been finding a glass gaiwan
> ideal. With steep times running many minutes to a few hours, a glance
> across the room gives an immediate gauge of infusion strength. And since
> nothing is cooling, there are no deposits to clean.

I don't have a real good technical response to your question but I'm
reminded, and strongly in a nostalgic way, the class coffee brewing
that my Father would do on the stove.

Here is a picture of one I found via Google:
http://www.cyberattic.com/stores/Win...yberattic.html

Watching the 1st bubbles of water percolate through the coffee grounds
and steep into the clear water below was very entertaining to myself
as a youngster- even though in later years I came to understand it
wasn't the best way to treat the coffee itself.

That said, having a see-through implement might have it's place in the
aesthetics department if in no other way.

Watching the tea brew can be part of the enjoyment.


berk

On Aug 24, 8:31*am, Space Cowboy > wrote:

>
> Seems like a glass canning jar would work.

Actually, this is exactly what I've been 'tea-ing' in. My current one
is an antique Atlas brand jar.

berk

On Sep 1, 3:22*pm, berk > wrote:
> I don't have a real good technical response to your question but I'm
> reminded, and strongly in a nostalgic way, the class coffee brewing
> that my Father would do on the stove.
>
> Here is a picture of one I found via Google:http://www.cyberattic.com/stores/Win...yberattic.html
>
> Watching the 1st bubbles of water percolate through the coffee grounds
> and steep into the clear water below was very entertaining to myself
> as a youngster- even though in later years I came to understand it
> wasn't the best way to treat the coffee itself.
>
> That said, having a see-through implement might have it's place in the
> aesthetics department if in no other way.
>
> Watching the tea brew can be part of the enjoyment.
>
> berk

Never saw a glass percolator before. My parents still swear by their
(regular) percolator and it is the only way they make coffee to this
day, every day. I was talking with a local coffee roaster in my area
and he was telling me that they keep selling out of percolators and
they are becoming the "in" thing again. I mentioned them erlier in
this thread but if you've not seen them, the Chemex glass and Bodum
Vacuum pots are really cool.

- Dominic