Teapots worthy of dragons (& a giveaway)

Lovely people, you know we take both our tea and our dragons seriously around here.

Which is as it should be. Nothing good ever came of disrespecting dragons, after all. And as for tea … well, tea’s one of the forces that holds the universe together, I’m sure of it.

Cold? Time for some tea.

Tired? A brew’ll fix you right up.

Sad? Sit yourself down and I’ll get you a cuppa.

World in chaos, and at a loss as to what to do? Get the kettle on.

Broken heart? Get a brew down you.

Broken leg? … okay, that one might need an ambulance, but you can have a cuppa while you wait.

We’ve even talked at far too much length about how to brew the perfect cuppa, and our list of potential baked goods to accompany said tea is even lengthier. Like I say, we do not take these things lightly.

Because, of course, as silly as the list above is, tea is much more than just a hot beverage. Or it can be. It can offer a moment to take a breath, to step out of the day or out of a situation for as long as it takes to boil the kettle and brew the leaves. It can be a way to offer comfort when words aren’t working, to extend friendship when we’re not sure how to proceed, to soothe ourselves and others when things are less than ideal. The simple act of it, the process, can be meditative and rewarding in and of itself.

And, of course, tea is nice and dragons like it. Which is reason enough to get the kettle on, in my mind.

So, why are we talking about teapots for dragons?

Well, we’re not. Catering-sized teapots are recommended for that, and soup mugs, unless one wants to be refilling them every two minutes, and also picking up the shards of Aunt Ella’s best china (dragons aren’t necessarily destructive, but they do get a bit excited and forget their own strength). But we are talking about utterly beautiful little teapots that one would be happy to hoard like a dragon oneself.

You all know I don’t do product placements or anything like that (there’s a name for getting stuff for free in return for advertising it, but I can’t remember it), and you know I’m not an influencer, unless that includes having undue influence on the cheese stocks at the local shop through my own purchases. So when I was approached by Umi Tea Sets I almost ignored it (I am very bad at this, I actually almost never had audiobooks because I thought the message I got from the publishers was spam …). However. The title of the email was ‘Can we talk about tea?’, which I could hardly ignore, so I went poking around their site.

And, lovely people, they have glorious tea pots, and mugs, and all the covetable things. They are so pretty. Which means I did answer them, and they very nicely offered to send me a teapot if I told you about them. Not only that, I said that this was a space for dragon-enthusiasts, so they sent me a dragon teapot. How cool is that??

Of course, I feel weird keeping it and talking about it (that seems very influencer-y). so I’m going to talk about it then run a giveaway in April where one of you can win this utterly adorable little tea pot. I have unpacked it, but not used it, so I promise there are no used tea leaves in the bottom. (I’ll update this page once I have the giveaway up and running, but if you join the FB group you’ll be first to know about it!)

Now, to the tea pot itself! It’s this one here on the website (I think), and it is delightfully compact, just nice for one cuppa. It’s packed in a very pretty box, and comes with a certificate and explanation about the purple clay it’s made from (I got translation from them, which I’ll copy below).

The pot itself is a lovely matte brown (not shiny as in the website photo), and has soft detailing of dragons all over it, plus a completely adorable little dragon curled up on top of the lid as the handle. It’s very sweet, and looks really well-made, and if you want to check out their other variations (including other dragons pots!) they have a really extensive website that includes modern teapots as well as these little treasures.

From Umi Tea Sets:

This teapot is made of ore purple clay and is handcrafted with exquisite craftsmanship. It is simple and elegant, perfect for tea tasting and collection.

The Purple Clay (Zisha) craft has been famous all over the world for hundreds of years for its simple, elegant and vivid artistic style. In addition to its long history and prosperous tea culture history, the Yixing Zisha craft also has masterpieces handed down from generation to generation that embody the brilliant artistic characteristics of the Zisha craft. Its artistic achievements are unparalleled.

The Yixing purple clay craft has various shapes and designs, with different shapes and sizes. From the perspective of artistry, the status of purple clay craft should be above all other ceramic crafts., the status of Zisha craft should be above all ceramic crafts.  

Key points for identifying purple clay (Zisha) collection:

Clay material: hue, particle size, gloss and texture. Different mineral veins in different eras have their own characteristics. The “celestial blue clay” (Tian Qing Ni) in the late Qing Dynasty is different from the clay materials of previous dynasties.

Differences in modeling styles: Each period has specific standards for the perception of beauty and formal requirements. There are differences in modeling style, overall proportion, and the configuration of the spout, handle, and lid button.

Craftsmanship: Craftsmanship can have different styles even if it is taught by the same master.

Temperament and charm, it is the most important criterion.

The works of famous artists have an inimitable charm due to their unique artistic accomplishments and skilled professional skills, as well as their in-depth understanding of the properties of clay materials and the control of kiln temperature.

Seal style: The seal is one factor in determining authenticity, but modern counterfeiting technology can make the fake look real, so you can’t trust it completely.  

So! Should you covet an adorable little teapot with dragons on it, to brew your tea in while reading about dragons drinking tea, this seems like a veryappropriate option. You can check it out at their website here (the shipping was really quick, too, should you want it immediately), or you can enter the giveaway once it’s up and running!

Again, for the competition, I’ll update here, but the best option is to join the Toot Hansell FB group to make sure you don’t miss any details. Plus it’s a good place to talk about tea, cake, and dragons, and we all need more of those in our lives. (Fair warning, though, there’s a also a lot of cats and an astonishing amount of ducks going on …

Now over to you, lovely people! Do you use teapots? What’s your favourite one, if so? Do you have one you covet? Share away below!