I am a very lucky tea reviewer this week! Umi Tea Sets contacted me on Instagram and kindly sent me this tea cup to review on the blog, from their Gongfu Tea Cups collection. It took a little while to arrive… much longer than I expected, to be honest. But I was very happy with how it was packaged. It took me almost 20 minutes to hack into the outer box! It was so well packaged and secured.
If you are worried about ordering teaware online in case it breaks during transport, I highly recommend buying from Umi Tea Sets. Highly-quality teaware and careful packaging!
The Rainforest Wall Japanese Tea Cup at a Glance
- Method: Brew in another pot, then pour into the cup
- Best For: Sipping single origin teas
This small teacup has a very small capacity and it’s ideal for lightly sipping on single origin and specialty teas. If you have a gaiwan, this is a good tea cup to use with it.
Full Review – Umi Tea Sets Japanese Tea Cup
- Type: Teacup
- Material: Jun porcelain
- Volume: 45ml
- Ease of Use: Quite easy
- Where to Buy: Umi Tea Sets Official Website
The Rainforest Wall Japanese Tea Cup comes in 4 different colours – I have the yellow version. It holds 45ml of liquid and is very beautiful. It’s made form Jun porcelain which is made in a Jun kiln. I can’t express enough how high-quality and exquisite this tea cup is. The materials are phenomenal. It’s perfectly made and formed, with a totally unique pattern in the glaze.
The edge of the tea cup has these ridges in it, which make it really easy to grip and also feels pleasant to drink from.
Drinking tea from this teacup is a pleasant experience. It doesn’t hold much tea, but it does hold the heat of the tea well. I loved using it for my favourite pu-erh tea, made in a gaiwan then poured into the Japanese tea cup.
How to Use a Jun Porcelain Teacup
You don’t really need detailed instructions here! I wouldn’t recommend pre-heating this tea cup. Instead, just keep it on your tea board and brew your tea separately. Once your tea has brewed, pour it into this tea cup and sip away.
Cleaning and Storing The Rainforest Wall Japanese Tea Cup
Cleaning this little tea cup is really easy, you just need hot water, a squirt of washing up liquid, and a soft rag. You can wash it up in the sink in seconds, then dry it with a tea towel. I wouldn’t put this in the dishwasher as that may damage the porcelain.
Anyway, with the glossy glaze on this tea cup, any lingering tea just slides off easily.
As for storage, I keep mine in a glass-fronted cupboard with all my other pretty teaware items. If you want to store this in another cupboard or somewhere more accessible, you might want to buy a little box for it. You could even wrap it in bubble wrap. Anything to stop it shattering if you drop it is a good idea.
Summary
This is a really lovely tea cup by Umi Tea sets. The design is beautiful and easy to grip, and it’s a wonderful way to drink single origin teas. I highly recommend you check it out! Umi Tea Sets sells it in sets of 2, and they have lots of delicious teas you can buy as well, for drinking from your new Japanese tea cup.
Tea Recommendation
If you’re looking for some delicious tea to brew in this tea cup, look no further than my tea reviews on this blog. I recommend the Teapro White Tea box, which contains 4 different white teas that you can brew and sip from this Japanese tea cup. If you want to go for a traditional Japanese tea, I recommend T2 Sencha!