Difference between pottery and porcelain teawares

Pottery

Raw material: pottery clay

Firing temperature: 800-1300℃

Water absorption: high

Pattern: none or simple pattern

Characteristics: no gloss on the surface. High heat retention, tea does not cool easily. Easily absorbs tea aroma. (However, if the inside of the tea utensil is glazed, it is difficult to absorb the tea aroma, just like porcelain.)

Bizen ware, Tokoname ware, Kyo ware, Shigaraki ware, Iga ware, Seto ware, etc.

*Bizen ware, Tokoname ware, and Shigaraki ware are technically stoneware, but here we will broadly classify them as pottery.

Porcelain

Raw material: clay made by crushing a stone called porcelain stone

Firing temperature: 1200-1400℃

Water absorption: almost none

Pattern: Many pictorial patterns

Characteristics: glossy surface. Thin and durable. Does not easily absorb tea aroma.

Arita ware, Nabeshima ware, Kyo ware, Kutani ware, Tobe ware, etc.

Potteries are made from clay, so the difference in the clay from each production area is a characteristic. The patterns created by firing in a wood-fired kiln and the fluctuating taste of the glaze are attractive. Since potteries easily absorb the aroma of tea leaves, we recommend brewing one type of tea, such as oolong tea or pu-erh tea, or a similar type of tea, with pottery tea utensils.

Porcelain is made from clay made by crushing stone. Since the raw material is hard stone, thin and durable tea utensils can be made. While there are celadon and white porcelain that pursue the beauty of form without painting, there are many tea utensils with delicate patterns. Since porcelain does not easily absorb the aroma of tea leaves, it is okay to brew multiple teas with different aromas, such as rock tea, white tea, and black tea.