Tea Pets
Almost everyone is familiar with tea cups, tea pots and teaspoons, but most have not heard of tea pets. With tea pets being a quirky way to show off a tea-enthusiasts individuality, we at Cup of Personalitea thought a shout out to these little guys is well deserved.
If you are unfamiliar with what a tea pet is, let us add a little touch of ardour to your tea knowledge. Physically, tea pets are small, ceramic ornaments; emotionally, they are companions to the tea-drinking experience.
Generally made from unglazed Yixing clay, tea pets are often used to decorate a tea space, and offer a ceremonial aspect to the practice of serving tea. In this case, during the tea ceremony, tea is poured over the tea pet, allowing the clay to absorb the tea. Over time, this sees the tea pet change colour, often become shinier, and fragranced.
A more modern view of tea pets is that of companionship, during moments when the savouring of tea is relished. The pouring of the tea over the tea pet is seen as nurturing the soul that the tea breathes into the clay, and the transformation it undergoes through absorbing this cherished beverage is one of ‘raising’ your tea pet.
Due to this personable approach, contemporary tea pets are most often animal figurines, typically those of the tea-enthusiasts zodiac sign (such as pigs, rabbits, and foxes). Western countries tend to opt for representations of household pets, namely dogs and cats.
Some prefer to nourish a tea pet in the mindset of it bringing them luck, in return for their care of it. In which case, lucky symbols such as the Three-Legged Money Toad – which in China is said to bring wealth – are also commonly seen. Other historical or mythical creatures are at times selected, for similar reasons, that being their believed prosperity in fortune, wisdom, strength or happiness.
A rather amusing variation is that of the ‘pee-pee boy’, which is one of the panaches of a watering tea pet. This cheeky tea pet has a practical use, as it can indicate if water is hot enough to use for making tea. The pee-pee boy is hollow, with only one tiny opening (take a guess where…). Pre-filled with part cold water, part air, once enough hot water has been poured over the figure-boy’s head, the thermal expansion of the air results in the cold water being squeezed out through the tiny opening, making the tiny clay boy look as if it is, yup, peeing! Other members of the watering tea pet range are water-breathing dragons, and water-spraying tortoises and whales.
For those seeking a tea pet for the companion role, it can take months to years to raise your tea pet to be glossy and exhibit the aroma of tea, all dependant of course, on how often you feed it. Below is our tea pet, a frog, which is six months into its journey as our tea companion here at Cup of Personalitea headquarters.
Aside from the traditional reasons of having a tea pet, we obviously value how tea, tea wares and tea accessories can highlight one’s personality during tea-drinking moments: In enabling a voice for individuality, but also strengthening the revitalising nature that the tea-drinking experience evokes, we think tea pets are a perfect, and must-have, addition to every tea-enthusiasts home.
The colour of the poured tea is starting to be visibly absorbed by the clay of out Tea Pet.