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Accuracy of Tetsubin Use
Everything I have read on iron tea pots (tetsubins) is that they're used primarily in the West as a teapot. However, their actual use is as a kettle as the iron content reacts badly with the flavor of the tea. No one in Asia, Japanese of otherwise, would use Tetsubins to brew tea. Heat water use, not brew. Below is a section on proper iron teapot usage by teh website In Pursuit of Tea:
"Iron is a bad material for infusing fine teas. The iron reacts with the tannin in the tea, discoloring and flavoring it. Even when enameled, the tea comes in contact with un-enamelled parts of the spout, rim, and lid of the teapot, and as the enamel deteriorates, iron seeps into the body of the pot as well...In Japan, small cast iron teapots are NEVER used in Japan for infusing fine tea. They are sold mainly as souvenirs by makers of cast iron tea KETTLES. American restauranteurs and tea shops have misunderstood the use of these tiny kettles in Japan. When challenged, the explanation is always, “they don’t break.”...The Uji tea merchant and promoter whom In Pursuit of Tea works with to ship much of its fine Japanese teas has never seen anyone EVER use a small cast-iron teapot to infuse tea. In fact, he was puzzled by my question when I asked if he had ever used one. Patricia J. Graham, author of Tea of the Sages: The Art of Sencha, has never heard of such a thing."
Based upon this article, I am not sure what the concept of tetsubin actually is. For example, is tetsubin a translieration of the concept of iron tea pot or is it used to connote an iron tea pot for cultural or ritual purposes as in tea ceremonies? Either way, this article would be greatly enhanced by further clarification.
