Do you use a teapot and cozy?

[razz]

Our 2 litre stainless steel carafe which we used for a tea finally needed replacing when the plastic lid fell apart. The replacement lid did not fit and the price for a new carafe was up to $72 so was a 'no go'.

I went looking for a new large teapot as DH and I (especially me:|() drink a number of cups at a sitting.

There were none to be had- just one or two small shoddy looking things at a Winners (discount store) and one small one at Sears. I asked around for advice for a source of a large teapot. In looking around several communities I found only two spots that had any teapots at all but nothing beyond the 6 teacup size.

I finally went to the old hardware store that seems to have everything that no one else seems to have anymore and on the back shelf, they had a 60 oz 'brown betty' which meets our needs.

I made a teacozy to fit and we are happy but I am wondering why there is such a limited choice of teapots and so few tea cozies.

So, do you use a teapot, what size and where did you get it?
Do you use a tea cozy? Where did you get it?

Tea cozy instructions here:
http://www.ehow.com/how_4498780_make-tea-cozies.html

[leslieann]

When I bought my house, I bought a brown betty via mailorder. It was necessary, according to me, somehow, and I got a cosy to go with. However, we hardly EVER use a teapot and our kitchen is very small so there isn't even room to display it (I might use it more if I kept it in sight). We share our King Kole teabag and have a lovely spoon rest that holds the soggy bag (very attractive, in a frugal sort of way). I do drink a lot of tea during the day but even with the cosy the pot gets cold over several hours. So I fire up the kettle and boil water fresh for my soggy teabag.

I do know that making tea in the cup is not the same kind of experience as making it in the pot; I love the look of the pot 'n cosy, and the ritual of pouring out the cup of tea, the steam rising, the scent, all of that. But on an everyday basis, it doesn't happen here. All that feeling about the pot, though, means that even though I have been consistently decluttering, removing things that I don't use, that pot and its cosy are still in the basement and they come out when tea drinking friends arrive.

I don't have an answer as to why it is hard to find a real pot except in a tea shop. Maybe people are more happy with Tim Horton's?

[herbgeek]

My current favorite tea pot has its own tea cozy that's made of neoprene (wetsuit material) incorporated into the design. The cozy part zips off for washing. The pot is a Bodum 24 ounce round pot. For fancy, my mom gave me a white eyelet one, the kind you have to take off and put back on which isn't all that practical. I also made one from fleece for my last tea pot.

[Float On]

I don't use a teapot even though I probably have 20 or so beautiful pottery ones (they just sit on top of my kitchen cabinets looking pretty and artsy). I did knit a cozy for my french press out of wool and added a couple of antique buttons for easy access to wrap it and it keeps my french press nice and hot!

[artist]

Mine is 2.7 quarts, or 85 oz. I got it from a Salvation Army store for $5 about three years ago after a long hunt for a kettle that whistled. I do not use a tea cozy.

stacy.

[Mrs-M]

I'm traditional, so I'm all about the teapot. I love a pretty teapot. Mostly, if I'm making tea for myself, I make each cup fresh, one cup at a time, but when we have company out comes my teapot.

[domestic goddess]

I'm the only one here who drinks tea, so I make it a cup or two at a time, and I usually use a french press. My dgd's are starting to like tea, and I think we will start having a cup together after school. Of course, theirs is mostly milk, and somedays we will have cocoa instead, but I think it would be fun to sit together and talk about their day, sip a hot drink and have a cookie or two, or a brownie, or a muffin, or...

[kally]

I always use a teapot for traditional tea. It has a metal cosy for the top and it is even lined with horsehair, it is that old. I never make tea in a cup with a bag, can't stand it.

[Zoebird]

yes. i love my teapot. :D

i have a teapot in the US in storage that is my favorite. it's a eva solo teapot, and it has a neoprene cozy. and it's gorgeous. and i love it. and it's the best. :D

here in NZ, i have a teapot on the stove, yes? it's a funny, blue dented thing. LOL it's functional. when the tea is brewed, i pull out the metal tea holders, and I put a towel over it -- ihand-sewed the two edges together to make a little pocket, and that's my cozy. it works pretty well, actually. So, i put my dented teapot on my cutting board, and then put the old towel over it. Classy. i got the towel and the teapot for free. the cutting board cost $6 at a thrift shop. :D

[Gina]

Years ago I used a teapot to brew tea all the time, but never used a cozy. I still have several tea pots that range in size from medium to small (restaurant size). They are sort of a collection of yard sale finds. I love their looks, but I only use them for company, and these days, not all that often.

I think a couple things caused me to stop regularly using them. Unless there is company, I am the only tea drinker. The microwave made making (and reheating) single cups easier. There is no ambiance, but it's more efficient, and clean-up is faster.

I refuse to use teabags, but finding good loose tea also has become difficult. There is one oriental market that does have a very large selection of teas from around the world that is very impressive.

http://www.dvorak.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/teaparty1.jpg

[razz]

Cute picture, Gina. There are obviously a multiple of good reasons for the limited choice of teapots and non-existence of cozies, thanks for the info.

[IshbelRobertson]

I have 2 sizes of brown betty teapots (the smaller one is actually dark green!) - one holds 2 cups, the other 8 cups. Being Scots, I always make tea the traditional British way, ie. Boil water, pour a little water into the pot and swirl it round to 'warm the pot'. Empty out the water. Bring water back to the boil. I always use loose leaf tea (hate teabags) One teaspoon per person and 'one for the pot'. Pour on the boiling water and leave for 4 minutes or so to allow the tea time to 'brew', but not 'stew'!

Then there is the perennial argument: milk in the cup first, or after pouring the tea? I'm a milk first sorta woman!

I drink a few traditional teas, but don't like fruit or herbal teas. Mostly I buy Twinings teas - Earl Grey (although they have recently changed their recipe, and it tastes a little soapy to me and very, very heavily infused with the bergamot, so I may have to change to another blender for that flavour), Lady Grey, Lapsang Souchong, Darjeeling.

[razz]

Have to get back to loose tea, Ishbel, as the teabags are having less and less tea in them. I really don't like bergamot at all so avoid Earl Grey but emjoy English Breakfast tea if I can get it.

[IshbelRobertson]

Twinings Breakfast blend is perfect for my husband, it gives a strong cuppa, without being too tannic!

[Marianne]

I'm a coffee drinker as a rule, but I have my grandmother's teapot and handmade cozy. I wouldn't part with it for the world.

[rose]

I don't drink a lot of tea but did go through a tea phase where I had teapots on the wallpaper even. I have a small hutch (supposedly traved on a wagon train, wood but folds up pretty flat with old fashioned hinges and hook locks on the shelves). It is small and I have six teapots displayed in it. Three I bought and three of my grandmothers. I have a cozy. When I used to have my book group in I'd get out the teapots and the cozy and it was fun. Now I just make tea one cup at a time when I have it. I'm done with the teapot collecting but they are cute and everyone that comes here likes the hutch and the display so I tend to hang on to it. It is about the only thing in my house that is more decorative that serviceable.

[thinkgreen]

I only drink tea once a week or so. When I do make it I like to use a metal teapot as the tea tastes better to me. In the winter I use a cozy to keep the tea hot but in the summer I don't bother. Sometimes in the summer I make a pot of tea to drink later as iced tea with lemon. The metal teapot I have now was perhaps someone's granny's teapot as I got it at the thrift shop. It is silverplated and has tarnished but I don't worry about polishing it up.

[canadianrose]

I have a 60's pyrex tea pot that I got at a thrift store. It is used daily, and I use an electric pot warmer instead of a cozy. I like it because it has character.

[Nella]

A few months ago at an auction I bought a Hall teapot that has the cutest little aluminum cozy lined with flannel that is designed to fit right over the top of the teapot. It's made so you can poor the tea without having to remove the metal cozy. Too cute!

P.S. I'm an English Breakfast tea gal (especially Harrod's Breakfast Blend No. 14), and I'm a cream/milk first, then the tea pourer.

[Bastelmutti]

I just made my first tea cosy! We drink PG Tips, and I generally use a mug, but DH has been making a pot and his tea was getting cold, so he jokingly asked me to make a cosy. I had some time, so I found a simple pattern online (no shaping, fits over the entire pot) and used some scrap cotton and fleece for the lining. Fun!

PS I am also a milk first girl. And I'm familiar with the heat, swirl, steep method from the Scots and Irish I used to work with, but I use teabags for convenience.

[margerymermaid]

Being an expat from England I have to have teapots. I have two that were my mums and antiques that I don't use and two more that I got at a great second hand shop in the nearby city. That's a GREAT place to find teapots. One is large and green and the other is sort of an ugly willow pattern, but I like it cos it reminds me of England. And I still use the knitted tea cozy my mum made YEARS ago! It's held up well.. you know, sort of a bumpy knitted pattern. Thanks for the topic. And yes, PG Tips is the best. I'm glad you can get decaf over here now (in the usa) so that I can have a cuppa at night if I want to. Altho I've given up digestive biscuits in favor of being a little thinner!!

[Acorn]

Do tea cozys really work to keep the teapot warm?
I use a teapot if I am making tea for more than one, otherwise just for myself I will brew it in my cup.

[Bastelmutti]

It seems to, yes. The tea cosy I made has fleece from a jacket as the padding, so that is an insulating material.

[IshbelRobertson]

A teacosy is just that: something that insulates the teapot and ensures that the teapot is insulated, without 'stewing' the tea!

[margerymermaid]

Yes, they really do work. I've kept a pot warm for hours with one. Knitted wool rules!

[Acorn]

Lol, like a little coat for your teapot. Okay, I'm sold, I will look for a tea cozy. I don't knit so I'll have to find a pre made one somewhere.

[Bastelmutti]

Acorn,
An easy way to make a wool one w/out knitting would be to felt a wool sweater (wash in hot w/ lots of agitation and some detergent, then further shrink in dryer), then simply cut the shape you want and sew up the sides. Like this:
http://apronstringsandothertiesthatbind.wordpress.com/2010/02/21/repurposed-felted-wool-tea-cozy/