Chronicles of a Tea Lover: I Love Tetsubin Teapots!
Hello tea friends, and welcome to another installment of Chronicles of a Tea Lover! In my first Chronicles post earlier this month, I shared pictures of my cute-as-a-button Pusheen teaware collection where we oohed and ahhed over Pusheen's hilarious antics on mugs, ha! Today we take a peek into my small but so, so loved collection of...tetsubin teapots!
Also referred to as cast iron teapots, Japanese tetsubin teapots come in a variety of gorgeous colours, shapes, sizes, with beautiful intricate designs on the outside and an enamel coating and steeper basket commonly found in the inside.
I looooove tetsubin teapots, so much so that I illustrated and created stationery featuring a tetsubin inspired by one from my own collection for Dessert by Deb's initial launch last year! The "You, Me & Tea" tetsubin greeting card design above has been a beloved part of my suite of products ever since and I'm always so geeked to experiment with this illustration in different ways. You can definitely expect to see this design on more than just greeting cards really, really soon!
So, without further ado, my lovely tetsubins, ta-da!
We've got flowers, we've got PINK (!!!), and we even have a mini (oh my gaaaawd, can you believe it?!). Now, I know the questions that some of you may ask so I'm going to nip it in the bud and answer them in advance! I find my tetsubins at Winners Homesense and Marshalls (for those who love to shop at TJX stores, you know the thrill of the treasure hunt and you definitely know what a goldmine these stores can be!) and the little one was found at one of my favourite gift stores in Toronto by Yonge & St. Clair called Greetings.
With the pandemic situation, it'll be quite some time before I feel comfortable and safe enough to both shop for fun and venture into the city so unless I feel compelled to shop online (which I'm reeeally on the fence about because tetsubins are quite heavy!), these four will be my collection staples.
Do I use them? For me, these ones are for decorative purposes and collectibles only, but I've had the fun and joy of steeping tea with them in different restaurants and cafes in the city in the past so it always feels special whenever I get the chance to use a real tetsubin. I'm positive that at some point I'll designate one teapot from my collection to use while the others will remain collectibles.
If I could add another colour to the collection, I'd be all over a turquoise, lime green, or purple one. I mean, it's me we're talking about so all 3 colours will find their way into the mix at some point down the road (ha!) but I've definitely set my sights on those colours to seek out next, even though I'm just drawn to whatever inspires me and catches my eye.
Are there specific types of teawares that you're absolutely in love with and that you love to hunt for and collect? Share your teaware loves with me! I hope you enjoyed seeing my tetsubins and I'll be back with another Chronicles of a Tea Lover post in June to share more of my tea collection loves!
