Favorite Things: Teapots

As a tea lover, I am naturally concerned about passing on my passion to the next generation, and in our family, that means making sure that our children have properly-sized utensils to that they can enjoy their own cup of tea whenever they want.

What this means is that any time I see a small teacup or miniature teapot, I buy it. Right now we own several teapots, including the Grand Dame, an antique 12-cup vessel I inherited from my grandparents, a fat white low 3-cup that is the veteran of many tea sessions between my husband and I, a chipped white 5-cup pot that is the "family everyday" pot (whose lid was replaced and now doesn't fit), and this pretty Blue Betty in the photo, which was a holiday present for baby Joan. We used to have a larger Brown Betty that belonged to my oldest son, but it has vanished except for the lid, which we use on my oldest daughter's white one-cup pot.

So yes, we have many teapots, and pretty much all of them are in daily use, except for the Grand Dame, who holds court in the china cabinet and may not be touched by anyone under 30 without the shrieking banshee emerging from my innards. We also have our very own china teaset-with-pictures-all-in-blue, but that is so much of an antique that we all look at it, without using it, by common consent.

As blog reader Jim commented, a good pot of tea is one of life's joys! I hope you -- and your children -- get a chance to indulge.

Comments

Kimberlee said…
Lovely pots, all. So what's your favorite tea? And your children's? My grandmother's pot sits in my cupboard too. :-)
Lynn said…
How lovely - I love your blog!
Tea is a very important ceremony as well as beverage. Long may it be so!
Lynn.
Kristyn Hall said…
During the Christmas season I bought the Celestial Seasonings holiday teas by the box from their website. They are our favorites, and nearly all herbal so the kids can drink all they want. We are still enjoying them, although I gave quite a few away as stocking-stuffer gifts. Our tea pot collection stays small as we are a notoriously "breaky" family. The silver pot that was a wedding gift looks like it is used a lot (and it is) but it still serves its purpose. My grandmother has a huge "Grand Dame" type of tea pot that she uses daily... no one puts away the tea like Grandma! My girls have a few of the mini tea sets that are fun but when the girls want tea they want a coffee mug! Today I have awoken to a light dusting of snow on the ground... it is definitely a "tea morning."
Sally Thomas said…
Oh, we are great tea drinkers! Just today I blogged about -- well, all kinds of things, but I included a shot of my two youngest children's cups of tea from the other morning, in cups of differing blue-and-white/blue-white-and-yellow patterns, of sentimental significance to us. My 10yo loves a cup of tea while doing his schoolwork as well. We lived in England for four years, so we have this deep-seated craving for good tannin-y tea, which we weren't born with, but which now seems hard-wired into us.

Lovely post!
JoAnna said…
Well, I can't seem to get myself to like hot tea-- I try! I'm a Southern sweet tea lover. I do love teapots, however. I have a 5 now. My latest is a brown betty (8 cup). I vow to use it soon...
Unknown said…
Thank you, Regina, for having your son exhibit your "Blue Betty". I have learned a few things here - primarily that I was just aware just of Brown Betty's, of which we have one - but not that there are Blue Betty's. I much prefer the cobalt blue that I see here. Living in Seattle, where the climate can be much like England or Ireland, tea is not a luxury, it is a necessity! Some people need their hot latte - give me my tea time! My favorite tea pot (along with my daily two cup Brown Betty) is a pot I picked up in London on a business trip - called the Holly and Ivy. It holds 8 cups and is our special weekend pot. Jim
Unknown said…
I am a tea lover myself, Regina. I too collect tea pots. I will keep an eye out for you when I go antiquing for tea pots. love you, Aunt Maryanne

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