Which Gyokuro Teapot is Best: a Shiboridashi or a Kyusu?

Which gyokuro teapot is best? 🤔🫖

That’s exactly what were going to find out! 

We’ll be comparing two all-star Japanese teapots to see which works better for the emperors tea. Later on, we’ll show you how to brew gyokuro in kyusu and whether or not you need a gyokuro tea cup.

Let’s get brewing! 🍃

 

Finding the Best Teapot for Gyokuro Made Simple

Finding the best teapot for gyokuro is a matter of personal preference.

You need to consider which type of brewing you will be doing.

Will you brew tea everyday or just for special occasions?

Do you want to use the teapot for other types of teas or just stick to gyokuro?

In the next section, we will compare a kyusu and a shiboridashi to find out which one is the best teapot for gyokuro.

 

How Kyusu and Shiboridashi Differ in Brewing Gyokuro

So which is the best teapot for gyokuro, a shiboridashi or a kyusu?

If you are a more casual gyokuro drinker and want a practical teapot for everyday use, you can’t beat the kyusu. 

If you envision drinking strong cups of gyokuro with a friend for special occasions, the shiboridashi provides an extra level of elegance.

Let’s go through the advantages and disadvantages of each one.

Kyusu: the iconic Japanese teapot

The kyusu is the classic Japanese teapot and it can be a great teapot for gyokuro. It is more convenient for pouring because it has a hollow side handle that allows you to pour with more refined wrist movements and it has a great mesh filter that sifts out the leaves as you pour.

Another advantage of the kyusu is that it is more practical for other tea types. Unless you are a serious gyokuro purist, you probably want a teapot that can be used for multiple types of teas. 

Shiboridashi: a flat teapot without handle

The shiboridashi is a special tea pot for gyokuro and sencha. This almost looks more like a flat saucer than a teapot.

Unlike the kyusu, it doesn’t have the side handle or a mesh filter, but rather small grooves carved into the spout. 

When you are preparing gyokuro with less water (10 grams of leaves and 50ml of water in some cases) it allows a more even extraction because the leaves aren’t as piled on top of one another.

It also makes it easier to view the tea leaves, so you can pour out at the moment they have all been opened up.

Flat Kyusu: a Hybrid Between Tradition and Practicality

Using a flat kyusu for gyokuro can combine the best of both worlds, offering both the elegance of traditional brewing and the convenience of modern design.

These gyokuro kyusu are almost a hybrid between the shiboridashi and the classic kyusu, featuring a side handle for easy pouring and a proper built-in filter to keep the leaves out of your cup.

This design makes pouring effortless while still concentrating the tea into a smaller brewing space, which helps bring out gyokuro’s intense umami and sweet flavor notes.

It’s a versatile option that works well for daily brewing while still feeling refined enough for special tea sessions.

 

How to brew gyokuro in kyusu

Brewing an everyday gyokuro cup is easier than you might think.

First, add in 5 grams of gyokuro leaves into your kyusu, pour in 150ml of water at 140°F/60°C and let the tea brew for 2 minutes.

You can then pour out your kyusu and it will automatically filter out the leaves and stop the infusion.

If you’d like to dive deeper into brewing techniques, check out our detailed guides: Gyokuro Brewing Guide by Tea Experts or How to Cold Brew Gyokuro Step by Step. These resources will help you experiment with both hot and cold brewing to find your perfect flavor balance.

 

Building your own gyokuro tea set

So now it’s time to build your gyokuro tea set. Once you’ve picked out your gyokuro kyusu or gyokuro shiboridashi, there are only a couple of other things you might need!

Water heater

After making sure you have high quality gyokuro, the water heater might actually be the most important part of your gyokuro tea set. Gyokuro is very sensitive to temperature, and if you want to brew the perfect gyokuro cup, you’ll want to use water that is 140°F/60°C.

This can be hard to eyeball, so we recommend to get a temperature controlled kettle so you can set the perfect temperature everytime. This will save you time and precious gyokuro leaves.

Timer

With gyokuro, it is hard to keep track of the temperature, and it’s also hard to keep track of the brewing time. To make the perfect gyokuro cup, you’ll want to brew for 2 minutes to give the leaves enough time to expand and release their flavor into the water.

This is a long time to count in your head, so you may want to get a timer. You can of course use your phone timer, but if you want your tea brewing to be a digital detox, you can get a sand timer instead.

Do you need a gyokuro tea cup?

For an everyday cup of tea, you can get by without a gyokuro tea cup. We prefer the double walled glasses that have plenty of space to hold the 150ml of tea. 

If you are brewing a strong pot of gyokuro for special occasions, it’s nice to have 2 small gyokuro tea cups. These make the drink feel special and they are more appropriately sized, considering the strong brewing will only make about 15ml of tea for each person.