5 Reasons To Steep Pu Erh & Oolong Tea in a Glass Teapot

Any tea enthusiast will tell you that pu erh and oolong tea must be steeped in teaware with good heat retention properties, such as porcelain or ceramic ware. Yet, the art of tea making isn't exact science, and you alone should decide what works the best for you. So, if you feel like using a glass teapot and you enjoy the tea you make with it, you should go for it.

In fact, we believe there are a few reasons why using a glass teapot can improve your tea experience. We'll discuss them below.

1. Your crave for a gentle tea

In some way, oolong tea and pu erh tea can be considered stronger and more intense teas. However, sometimes you may crave for the taste of pu erh/oolong, but you want a less 'aggressive' cup of tea. In that case, steeping pu erh or oolong in a glass teapot is a perfect option. There are actually a lot of tea drinkers that like to steep raw pu erh tea at lower temperatures.

2. You enjoy staring at the tea leaves

Unlike ceramic teapots, glass teapots are fully transparent. It's a known fact that we all enjoy seeing the tea leaves swirl in the teapot and slowly unfurl. After all, it's not just the tea you enjoy, but the process leading to the first sip.

Moreover, for novice tea drinkers, it's also very practical to be able to see the tea liquor colour, as it's often a good indication of the intensity of flavour. Hence, the tea colour may tell you when the tea is ready to be served!

3. You want to sleep well

Often times, we start preparing tea during daytime, but we don't fully finish it. In other words, there may be a few steeps of aroma left in the tea leaves. When it's evening, you  may want to enjoy tea, but worry that the caffeine in tea may affect your sleep. As a result, most people will just discard the tea (as keeping used tea overnight is not a good idea).

However, for most people who aren't too sensitive to caffeine, it's worthy to try to steep the tea at lower temperatures. The amount of caffeine will be minimal as you already steeped the same tea leaves during day time.

4. You want a different tea experience 

For any kind of tea, when you steep it at a different temperature, it's like drinking a different tea. Therefore, playing with the steeping parameters can be a lot of fun. After all, real tea lovers don't like consistency, they like to be surprised.

In addition, sometimes you may not like a tea that's steeped at the recommended temperatures. During your tea journey, you likely have encountered teas that are too bitter or tea earthy for your taste buds. By steeping those teas in a glass teapot at lower temperatures can potentially make those teas suddenly enjoyable!

5. You want to boil tea

At last, when you want to boil tea, you can't use a Yixing teapot or porcelain gaiwan. Glass teapots (if made from high quality glass) are in fact suitable to put on an electric stove. As with steeping tea at lower temperatures, boiling tea at high temperature again offers a totally different taste and aroma profile.

Do you use glass teapots? And are there other reasons why you enjoy using them? If so, feel free to share your experiences in the comment section below.