My daughter fell in love last week—with a teapot.
It happened in one of the new “lifestyle” stores that are popping up in our increasingly gentrified small town. You know the type. They fall into several categories: furniture and curios; kitchen and cookery; local artisan crafts; garden and landscape; bed and bath; pets (indeed, in our town of 7000 human souls, we now have two boutiques devoted exclusively to things for dogs).
Back to the teapot, which, interestingly enough, was in the “bed and bath” category of lifestyle store. Prominently displayed on the front counter by the cash register, visible as you entered the store, there it was: White porcelain in a modern teardrop design, complete with two little cups, a tiny creamer and tiny sugar bowl, the whole ensemble sculpted into interlocking shapes and made to fit onto an oval bamboo serving platter. My daughter is a regular tea drinker, holds a degree in Fine Arts and notices things like design–she was hooked!
The maker of this set went one step further in the whole marketing seduction process: on the shelf next to the set were boxed “gift sets” of tea. Not bags, not loose-leaf tea. These sets contained anywhere from 6 to 12 individual pyramid-shaped infusion “constructions” with tea leaves inside, designed to fit perfectly into the aforementioned pot. Each pyramid had a little twiny “twig” on top, complete with leaf, made to rise through a hole in the pot’s lid. Tres charmant!
We happened to notice all of this while the cashier was wrapping another purchase for us, so we had time to admire it. Small enough to be practical for one person’s regular use, yet dressy enough to be brought out for a special guest; tasteful in a clean, traditional way, yet modern enough to catch my 20-something contemporary artist daughter’s eye. No way of knowing how it works as a tea-brewing vessel, although I think porcelain has a track record there.
Some things feed your body; some things feed your soul; some things feed your aesthetic sense. This package was definitely in the latter camp. But for me, something was missing.
Some of you are probably old enough to remember the moment in the 70’s when people started becoming aware of the connection between all of the paper products we used and the trees used to make them. This led to recycling, awareness of where our metal and 
plastic items came from and yet more recycling. We started using cloth coffee filters (with ambiguous results), and I think this is when I actually bought my first stainless steel tea infuser.
In the last few decades, many of us have probably boomeranged back from our “Save A Tree” consumer habits, but a few major changes have stayed with us, recycling being one of those, and a new awareness of the energy used to manufacture things and transport them. And while I really enjoyed the look and feel of these charming pyramidal tea infusers, I had a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that it took a 9 x 12 inch box with a plastic display window to contain 8 of them (each individually wrapped). It bothered me that each tea infuser was a “one-off”. Something so meticulously designed, built, and wrapped should be displayed on the mantel!
To be sure, these would be something to bring out for a special occasion. In the meantime, the teapot could be used over and over again, with your favorite infuser. No cans, plastic bottles, or paper cups.
I think I will opt for the teapot set when buying my daughter her birthday gift this year, and leave the boxed tea-bag gift sets on the shelf for all to admire.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 9th, 2008 at 5:04 am and is filed under
Commentary,
Design,
Tea.
January 9th, 2008 at 9:34 am
I’m not normally one to coo over teaware, particularly large, English-style pots…but this one awakened all my mad consumer cravings. It’s gorgeous.
If any one is looking to purchase this set, it is sold by a company called Tea Forté and can be found at their website store under “Gift Sets.” It is marketed as the “Tear Drop Tea Set.”
January 9th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
There was also a “one-cup-and-saucer-with-lid” number made by them that was equally alluring!
January 10th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Wow! Now this is some clever marketing! The alluring cup which Anne mentions comes with a lid that has a hole designed to accept the artificial leaf wired to the pyramidal tea disposable infusers. There’s also a two-cup glass teapot similarly designed to look smart and perfect when the pyramid infuser’s tea leaf flourish is poked through the hole in the lid. Also marketed to the TeaForte customers are rectacular saucers, with a depression the precise size of the square footprint of the infuser. I’m not sure what human emotion this taps into but I can feel the initial sense of infatuation with all these specifically designed components tidily fitting into one another. And what an incentive to purchase more of these infusers……any other means will render these smartly designed items to be second rate.
I can’t help but feel manipulated by the aesthetic scheme even though I’m seduced by it, too!
January 10th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
“I can’t help but feel manipulated by the aesthetic scheme even though I’m seduced by it, too!”
Eric, this sentence is at the heart of a debate going in my head too. Beauty is everywhere, and is informed by everything from “the eye of the beholder” to the trends of the times we live in. Marketers study these trends and use them to design and sell us goods–it’s been this way forever, I’m sure you know. It always makes me remember to try to be aware of why I’m drawn to something, and what my intention is (not easy to do). That’s why the superfluous packaging of these infusers bothered me.
In the case of these insusers though, there is a practical side; the space inside them allows for more whole tea leaves, and for them to swell and be used over and over again efficiantly. They sure are smart-looking too!
January 10th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
I personally don’t want to be required to buy one brand of tea exclusively. TeaForte ware isn’t compatible with other teas from other companies. It’s too gimicky for me. Great marketing idea but it must be more than that for me. I love having different pots to use each day, as well as different cups and different dishes to hold the strainers. Variety is the spice of life after all. The true convenience of the tea bag is for brewing tea away from home. If I’m home, why would I want to use teabag tea…….which is lower quality and typically less fresh?
January 10th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Michelle, I see your point and agree with you; one of the wonderful things about tea is that it really doesn’t require a lot in the way of gadgets or contraptions to make a decent cup. In the case of this teapot, one could stil use a ball infuser with any kind of tea inside. No reason at all that you couldn’t use the rectangular “bag platter” to put the infuser on when it’s done steeping. However, the marketers are hoping that you associate the set with the pyramidal teabags, and buy them.
Therein lies the debate that I am having about form versus function.