Show me your Teapots.

Show me your little teapots, short and stout.
It seems like there are endless varieties of teapots ranging from the tame to the abnormal.

What teapot is your favorite and why?

Timothy, have you been holding out on us? Do you actually *own* that awesome cast iron teapot? I definitely have teapot envy now!

I will take a photo to add later... I have an every day one, and an "invite a crowd" one... and a modern pewter one... (old pewter may contain non-food-safe metals)

Edited to add the picture:

Tea Pot Assortment

The fancy Chinese one fits in the basket to keep it warm for hours, but it's really too big for just me.

The smaller white pot was rescued by a friend who didn't have space for it. It is a perfect size for 3 friends to share mugs of tea and I use it a lot.

The pewter one is surprisingly delicate, so it only gets brought out on special occasions.

at total count of 9 teapots and 2 gaiwans (chinese steeping bowl/lid combo), i have several favorites. i may space them out here a bit.

this first one is in nearly daily use for black tea. it makes 1 ‘diner mug’ cup. was a gift maybe 10 years ago or so.

i’m not sure where our cast iron one is hiding, after a recent kitchen reorganization.

this one was made by a friend and was a wedding gift nearly 20 years ago, makes 2 ‘diner mug’ cups, and was in daily use for quite some time. still a favorite for larger ‘sharing’ amounts of tea (especially oolongs).

these little guys were a recent anniversary present to ourselves (19yrs). they’re tiny (approx. 2.5 pots to the mug) but exceptionally well made. the one on the left has three little feet. the one on the right, like the other, is plain unglazed clay, but polished in a traditional way with smooth river stones.

i’m told the cast iron has stashed itself in my wife’s office/studio/witch hut, may get a pic yet.

this silly thing, though…it was commissioned for me from an excellent local potter with, unfortunately, not a lot of teapot experience. the lid is too small and too close to the little handle to make using actual loose-leaf tea reasonable, and it pours like a guy who been holding it for awhile - a powerful stream nearly straight ahead instead of down into the cup. better on the shelf, sadly. it’s got four little turtle feet on the bottom. if only its usefulness approached its cuteness level…

I have two pretty cast iron teapots (I'll post Amazon links to them in a minute). The most recent one was purchased with four tiny little cups, a non-breakable tea set for my handicapped daughter; her toys all end up on the floor, so I didn't want to get china for her. (She's 45, not a small child.) I also have a SS kettle for heating water for making tea with tea bags, although, to be completely honest, I've found that my coffee maker also makes good tea, so I haven't been using the kettle much. It will come in handy in case of a power outage, though, when we have to heat water on the wood stove.

My daughter's tea set:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DDPZ7HNK?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1

The SS kettle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DFF5WPQ?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_5

And my cast iron teapot - I got the light green one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NBGH9Q9?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_3&th=1

I’ve had this glass teapot since I was in my teens. It’s particularly precious because my Mom gave it to me. I just love all things glass!

I pick a tea pot depending on what I’m preparing. This one is sturdy!

Gaurī Rasp wrote:I’ve had this glass teapot since I was in my teens. It’s particularly precious because my Mom gave it to me. I just love all things glass!

It's so nice to have, and treasure, something that your mother gave to you! I eyed the glass teapots with some longing when I was looking for one, but I'm so prone to breaking things...that's why I ended up with metal teapots, instead.

LOVE all these!!!  Here is a pic of what I have, not mine exactly, but nearly exactly.  I LOVE cast iron.

Many a teapot has come and gone in my life! Currently I make tea in a revere ware pot.  

What is worthy of this thread but I have no photo, is a teapot shaped like a chicken, complete with a chick head poking out from underneath one of the wings.  The spout is where the hen’s beak belongs.  It’s a functional spout .

I found it at a junk store last fall, got it for $6.00, a STEAL!  And sent it in my daughter’s birthday box.

Thekla, I have used that tea pot many a times!! Best go to around. Us tea drinkers just like a little pretty with our tea moments. I can't physically collect tea pots or cups, so I have a HUGE pinterest collection of teapots & cups.

Kathleen Sanderson wrote:
It's so nice to have, and treasure, something that your mother gave to you! I eyed the glass teapots with some longing when I was looking for one, but I'm so prone to breaking things...that's why I ended up with metal teapots, instead.

I have this glass teapot made of Jena glass that is supposedly unbreakable, had it for about 20 years. I haven't been brave enough to throw it on the floor to test it out, but so far no breaks, and I'm notorious for breaking glass when washing dishes..

Suzanne, LOVE the clear ones, especially when you use teas that blend colors. I often use blueberry or hibiscus (or both) to create colors for my teas. Really anything that produces colors you'd like to see. Clear always shines the beauty of the tea.

My new solid copper tea  kettle

BEAUTIFUL!!! Also, I LOVE the tile of the tree (of life?).  Is pure copper able to be used consistently in a safe manner? This could also be my tired brain thinking of another metal that is nice & shiny but changes over time after exposure to water/fluids.

thomas rubino wrote:My new solid copper tea  kettle

That's gorgeous! I drooled over some copper teapots when I was looking for one, when I ended up with my SS kettle. But the really nice ones are out of my budget.

The other thing I would love to have someday (but probably never will) is a genuine wood-burning (or even coal or charcoal burning) samovar. They are kind of the original Kelly Kettle!

Kathleen Sanderson wrote:I have two pretty cast iron teapots (I'll post Amazon links to them in a minute). The most recent one was purchased with four tiny little cups, a non-breakable tea set for my handicapped daughter; her toys all end up on the floor, so I didn't want to get china for her. (She's 45, not a small child.) I also have a SS kettle for heating water for making tea with tea bags, although, to be completely honest, I've found that my coffee maker also makes good tea, so I haven't been using the kettle much. It will come in handy in case of a power outage, though, when we have to heat water on the wood stove.

My daughter's tea set:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DDPZ7HNK?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1

The SS kettle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DFF5WPQ?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_5

And my cast iron teapot - I got the light green one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NBGH9Q9?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_3&th=1

Kathleen your daughter's set is so pretty and functional, thanks for including the link.
I have a disabled nephew who loves herbal teas and think he would love this one so I am getting it for him.
He is a disabled artist with Studio Artes and Little Umbrella (here in Australia), and was so taken with the colours in this little set he is painting it for his monthly art exhibition.
I bet your daughter just loves it too.

Annette Jones wrote:

Kathleen Sanderson wrote:I have two pretty cast iron teapots (I'll post Amazon links to them in a minute). The most recent one was purchased with four tiny little cups, a non-breakable tea set for my handicapped daughter; her toys all end up on the floor, so I didn't want to get china for her. (She's 45, not a small child.) I also have a SS kettle for heating water for making tea with tea bags, although, to be completely honest, I've found that my coffee maker also makes good tea, so I haven't been using the kettle much. It will come in handy in case of a power outage, though, when we have to heat water on the wood stove.

My daughter's tea set:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DDPZ7HNK?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1

The SS kettle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DFF5WPQ?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_5

And my cast iron teapot - I got the light green one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NBGH9Q9?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_3&th=1

Kathleen your daughter's set is so pretty and functional, thanks for including the link.
I have a disabled nephew who loves herbal teas and think he would love this one so I am getting it for him.
He is a disabled artist with Studio Artes and Little Umbrella (here in Australia), and was so taken with the colours in this little set he is painting it for his monthly art exhibition.
I bet your daughter just loves it too.

That is so cool! Thank you for sharing!  And yes, my daughter does love her tea set. She has just been keeping water in it, which she drinks throughout the day, and that's fine - it's getting used!

Chicken teapot!  Chick standing on hen, not peeking out from wing

My favorite teapot sprang a leak.

I have a chicken one too. ;)

What a great question!  It's not surprising that this forum is home to plenty of places you could end up sharing a warm drink...whether it's from a gorgeous clay or copper pot, or a practical pot on the stove.

I'm not usually a fancy person, but I have been known to occasionally think that it's VERY IMPORTANT to have the right kind of teapot.  

I have more than a few teapots. I can match several of the ones posted already, so I'll post different ones. I'm into reuse, and I hate seeing beautiful china being sold cheaply at thrift stores, knowing someone loved it.  I rescue what I can.

The first teapot I ever got was this one. It was my grandmother's, and when I was in high school I used it all the time, so she gave it to me. In the rat trap off campus house I had in college, it was used by starving students :D



When grandma cleaned out her house to move she gave my mom a set of violet pattern tea party plates, my mom knew I loved them, and gave them to me.  I have bought more of the pattern over the years, and have had a lot of tea parties involving them!



At one point I found a teapot that matched them and got it to go with the violet china.



Some of the tea parties were with my friends, we would all dress up in garden party clothes and use all the pretty china and be elegant and silly.

Some were more interesting though. I'd make an appointment with an old lady who lived alone, all I asked of her was I needed a pan of boiling water, and I was willing to fill it and do it.  I'd show up with a cooler, packed with a tablecloth, linen napkins, lovely china, beautiful dishes filled with all kinds of neat nibbly things, and I'd make tea in the pot, and we'd have a tea party and laugh and I'd get her to tell me stories of her life. When we were done, it all packed up into my cooler and she had no mess to deal with.  It was great fun and I learned a LOT.

My neat antique china has had an interesting life, both before I got it, and since.

I wondered whether to share this here, since our teapot isn't nearly as pretty as those above, but since this is permies I think you'll appreciate it anyway!
Our everyday teapot is one I've had since our old house. I remember buying it in a local charity shop. At that time the lid had a cherry on, but that lid got broken and I managed to find one on ebay that almost matched. As you can see the pot has an authentic patina from the tea tannins (we only ever rinse, don't scrub the pot). The cosy was a gift from a customer - the outer is Harris tweed, the inner Irish linen. I repaired it with a bit of elastic so it fits over the handle more snugly. We use it three or four times a day as we drink a lot of tea! It's a nice china one and is pretty robust, depite the incident with the lid.

our everyday teapot

When our friend comes to visit, our normal pot isn't really big enough so I did buy a huge village hall teapot. However it is actually a bit heavy for me so doesn't actually get used much, but comes in for parties. I have a cat design teacosy that covers it nicely. This isn't mine, but similar:

British village hall enamel teapot

source