How to Shop for a Tea-Lover

Tea makes a fantastic gift for birthdays and holidays for just about anybody, but if you're shopping for a self-proclaimed tea-lover (teaist, tea connoisseur, tea hobbyist, tea master, etc.)  then the choice to buy them tea can be a bit risky, especially if you know less about tea than they do.  The last thing you want to do is buy a gift that remains tucked away in a cupboard, unused and growing stale.

As a tea vendor, some of my 'favourite' questions gift-shopping customers have asked me include, "What's a really good tea?" and "What should I get someone who likes tea?"  Even if the person you're shopping for 'loves' tea it doesn't mean that they like the same tea as I do.  Don't let this dissuade you, one of the reasons why we love the ceremony of gift-giving is to see our loved ones smile when they get something that they really, really like.  With just a little bit of effort (and some help from our guide) you can get the perfect tea gift.  Here's how.


Learn What They Have

Under any gift giving circumstance, you want to avoid getting someone something they already own.  Tea is no different.  It's one thing if they have oolong and you buy them a new kind of oolong, but it's another thing if they have an Ali Shan Oolong and you buy the same kind (unless you bought it on a trip while visiting Ali Shan mountain in Taiwan, then that's ok).  You also don't want them to catch on to what you'll be gifting them (we still want to keep the surprise factor) so a little bit of tact is needed.  Try expressing a curiosity about tea and get invited for a drinking session.  While there, see what they have and ask lots of questions.  Tea-lovers adore sharing their knowledge about tea so prepare to get your ear talked off.  Just make sure you leave the session with at least some understanding of the following:

-Tea that they have. This may be too much to remember so it's good to also know what they don't have and...

hopefully their house doesn't look like this

-Tea that they like.  Despite being tea-lovers there's also probably a short list of teas they're not fond of.  For example, I don't particularly like flavoured teas, such as jasmine and earl grey.
-Tea companies that they like.  Also, there may be some that they don't.  For instance Teavana, the largest loose-leaf tea brand in the US is often criticized in the tea community for their predatory sales methods.  If you walk into one trying to get a gift for your tea-lover, you'll likely spend a pretty penny and only get a strained smile in return for your efforts.
-Teaware that they have.  Have you thought about getting them a teapot instead?  A tea-lover can become overwhelmed when they have too much tea, especially since tea can go stale after awhile.  But a teapot never does, so let's take this from bullet point to paragraph and talk about...

Buying a teapot

If the tea selection has given you a headache, you'll find no respite in teaware.  Porcelain, yixing, gaiwan, glassware, tetsubin, tokoname, chawan, Breville, Cuisinart... do you see where this is going?  Relax and follow these steps:

1. See what pots they have and learn their names.
2. Do they have yixing pots? If a tea drinker has a yixing pot, they're always happy to have more.  This isn't the kind of pot to only have one of, as each can only be used with one type of tea.  I have three myself, one for light oolongs, one for dark oolongs, and one for puerh, but I'll happily have more and I'm sure to use every one I get.

 yixing teapots

3. Do they have a gaiwan? No? Do they drink loose leaf Chinese green teas, white teas, or oolong teas? Yes? Gaiwan is a good option then, and not too expensive.

 gaiwan

4. Do they like Japanese green tea? Yes? Any Japanese pots? No? You can get them a side-handled kyusu teapot. Or a tetsubin cast-iron pot, although these can be pricey.

 side-handle kyusu

 tetsubin

5. No glass teapot? Get a glass teapot with an infuser.  It's nice to watch the tea as it steeps.

 glass pot

6. Do they have a collection of over ten teapots? Jackpot! This is someone who will love almost anything you give them.  Collectors are easy to shop for.

An important note to all this: look out for fakes and poor quality!  This especially goes for yixing pots.  The problem here is that the amount of clay from yixing is becoming scarce so to meet demand many pots are made from a synthetically made clay.  These aren't necessary bad, but vendors may lie and try to charge an authentic price.  If you can't find a vendor you trust, leave it alone and buy something else.

Other Teaware

You need not limit yourself to just teapots, there are lots of other tea accessories your tea-lover will be thrilled to have. Do they like Matcha? There's countless types of chawan, tea bowls, and they'll always need a new chasen, tea whisk, after a while.  Are they into the Chinese tea ceremony, or gong fu cha?  There are tea tools and tea sinks to consider, as well as ceramic tea mascots.  Just look around, tea inspired art is all over the place, as is literature.  Check and see if they have any books on tea.  I'd give some suggestions, but that's worth another post all on it's own. 

gongfu cha set-up

You're Rich

Really? Great! You're friend is going to love it when you surprise them with some Ming-era porcelain or a Yamagata tetsubin.  Unfortunately, it's too late to go to the Long Jing auction, that was in the spring, but perhaps you can plan that for their birthday?  Speaking of which, I'm sure your tea-lover would love to take a tea tour around harvest time...