One popular site for teaware sets is Umi Tea Sets. They got practical tea sets, silver, miniature, novelty, but also loose leaf teas. Umi Tea Sets sent me one of their lovely teapots as well as a Shou Mei, so let’s get the whole set up a test run.
Umi Tea Sets Teapot
This cute lotus pot has a 150ml capacity and ergonomic kyusu design.
I am left-handed and these right-handed kyusu pots tend to end in disaster for me, but the side lid knob that is offset makes it easier for me to get the right angle to pour, though the art isn’t aligned.
I also got small hands so the design is great for me to actually one-handed pour as I can reach the lid. This pot can pour cleanly, but slowly. Though tilted more aggressively it does lid dribble but pours fast.
Colourful Tea Shou Mei from Umi Tea Sets
This Shou Mei is from Fujian and comes pressed into 6 gram, individually wrapped squares. The compressed square has a dandelion scent.
I used a gongfu ratio of 1gram of leaf per 25ml (6 gram square in a 150ml teapot), steeped in boiling water. Usually, I go 1g/20ml for white tea, so I steeped a little longer to compensate for the lower ratio, so around 30 second infusion, looking for a faint golden tea colour. After a steep, the tea smells of freshly laundered cotton towels.
The first infusion is light with notes of golden straw, barley, and honey. After that, the next infusions darken up tasting stronger honey, straw, linen, wheat.
As the Shou Mei develops, it gets strong, dark, wheaty, and more pronounced honey flavor, with a bit of bitterness and astringency.
For the final infusion, I let it steep for 15 minutes and it tasted pretty similar to the previous strong infusions. I got six infusions total.
Comments
Umi Tea Sets’ teaware is legit and their Shou Mei is lovely, packaged great for travel and office tea drinking. If you are looking for a site to get some tea and teaware in one go or buying for a tea lover, Umi Tea Set is a convenient and nice option.
(teaware and tea provided for review)
