HwaGuiJapanese Cast Iron Teapot With Stainless Steel Tea Infuser, Tea Kettle Stovetop Safe 600ml/20oz

I use this product daily and it boils water quickly and my tea comes out great every time! I followed the manufacturers enclosed instructions and I have no complaints! I recommend it to anyone who enjoys full leaf green or black tea, it works great on loose herbal teas as well!

So I'm loving this teapot butI'm no expert on what constitutes a "proper" Japanese teapot. This one is made in China, looks attractive, seems to be made from good materials and to have structural integrity. As a note, my version is the 27 oz and does have a plastic or resin lid knob on the lid, presumably so that it doesn't get too hot to hold. (Iron really conducts that heat!) The knob has visible seam if you look closely, but I wouldn't say it's easily noticeable. And no, the inside does not appear to be coated. More on that down a bit.DO NOT PUT THIS TEAPOT IN THE DISHWASHER. I really can't stress that enough. Same as anything that is cast iron, this will be damaging at worst and strip the nice patina / stick resistance that you get with use. ....while I'm at it, don't put anything wood or wood-handled in the dishwasher. And please, not good cutting knives, the sort that can be sharpened and honed, if you care about these at at. There are lists out there: google it.What you are going to want to do is brew and throw out a few pots of the least favorite tea in your cupboard to acquire some coating that will stop the iron from leaching heavily into your tea, which will be readily apparent and visibly alarming from the blackness of it. If you have hard water, all the better - the pot will get that protective layer that much faster. You won't need to wash it out with soap - ever - and really won't want to as this isn't a ceramic pot and yes, the flavor of soap may linger, plus you'll lose that nice protective coating. No scrubbies or other abrasives like Comet or Barkeep's Friend whatever-its-called. Just rinse it out with a soft cloth or sponge after use, and know that if you leave the tea in the pot all night, you are going to get a nice black eau-de-iron tint to your brew from iron embedded bits of that calcium-in-the-water from your more-or-less hard water, so you know, finish off that tea in a reasonable time or pour it into a heat-proof thermos if you are seriously going to dawdle.Does all this sound like a bit much? Maybe, but I love the aesthetics of an iron pot and the extra shot of iron for my health when I brew tea. Bottom line, the black flakes thing that has some buyers freaking out is aesthetic, it's probably not going to hurt you unless you are already way over the limit on your iron consumption.My Amazon Warehouse Deals unit came with a slightly banged up handle - some previous user tried (unsuccessfully) to insert it in the proper holes in the pot. What we did to get it in was grab the little jack from my car - really, no kidding! - to expand the ends just enough to insert them. Go slow, be gentle, and proceed at your own risk I suppose. Maybe there's better info with the paperwork, but for me the (previously returned) item didn't come with any instructions.It looks lovely and keeps tea hot for a good amount of time, although the advantage there over ceramic isn't quite as big as I'd hoped. I'd say this is amazing for a devotee of cast iron or lovely and practical asian implements. I consider it a future family heirloom I can use and well worth my five stars! - but if the care cast iron requires in order to last basically forever - which it can - sounds like a pain to you, go for a stainless or porcelain pot and take an iron pill, if you need it.

This is an excellent teapot at a good price. It is completely cast iron except for a small part of the knob on the lid which is plastic to avoid burns. It is important to follow the directions to treat the pot before its 1st use in order to avoid any rust. The process is very simple and does not take much time, in spite of my detailed comments which follow. Anyone who has complained about rusting clearly did not follow those instructions. The ones in the product description here are a little bit cryptic due to poor translation, but the printed ones that come with the product are better (although not perfect). In any case with the application of common sense they can be deciphered. (My opinion: Instead of pouring out the tea used to treat the inside of the pot, save it in a container or jar and soak a soft cloth in it, which you can use to clean the outside of the pot after which you should dry the pot on the stove.) The pot is not lined with enamel or anything, so the iron molecules can leach into the tea providing a health benefit, which I believe is the best reason to use an iron teapot.The bottom surface of the pot is small, but fits on any of the burners on my gas stove top. For the few teas which ought to be brewed with water at boiling temperature I boil the water in the pot and then add the tea to the strainer, turning the flame to the lowest setting to keep the pot warm during steeping. For most teas I heat water to the appropriate temperature in a Keurig machine, then pour it into the pot and insert the strainer with the tea in it. Prior to that I pre-heat the pot on the stove in order to prevent the water from cooling while steeping. Then I move it to an electric mug/teapot warmer so that it will not cool significantly before I finish drinking the tea. If you plan to drink it quickly or are making tea for more than one person this last step is not necessary. For me it is better to leave the tea in the pot after it is steeped instead of pouring it into a mug or cup placed on the warmer, so that I get as much benefit from the iron as possible. I then pour an ounce or 2 at a time into a small cup for sipping. I even poor Matcha into the teapot after mixing with appropriate temperature water (obviously no strainer), to keep it from cooling and get the added benefit from the iron.It is important to follow the simple instructions for drying the teapot after use to avoid rust, even though you have followed the instructions to treat the pot before the 1st use. Something not mentioned in the printed instructions, but I believe may be in the description online here, is that you should dry the lid separately and leave it aside while the pot is drying on the stove, to avoid condensation remaining in the pot. Wait until the pot is completely dry and then allowed to completely cool before putting the lid back on the pot for storage until your next use.I think if you follow all the instructions and in my opinion my comments you will find using this pot is enjoyable and adds to health benefits.

I love this little teapot it’s adorable it seems to be durable; the rope handle cover moves around a bit but hasn’t unraveled. If you fill it up more than half way it can potentially come right out the spout on its way to the stove or when it boils. The spout is low and make it easy to spill. I still love it, it’s perfect for one cup in the smaller sized pot I’d suggest it for a tea lover or even as a little kitchen decoration

Lovely little teapot! Perfectly enough for two full cups of tea (16 oz) with a little to spare! However the lid doesn’t fit with the tea infuser basket…so instead I don’t use the basket and replaced it with tea filters! They work just as great with loose tea’s! They usually come in a packet of 100’s! The teapot heats up perfectly (I use the kettle first to pour the hot water in) and just let it steep with the electric burner put to usually low so it sits throughout the morning nice and hot for your cup’s of delicious tea😃!!

Tend rusting very easily…

This teapot was almost everything I wanted. It's aesthetically pleasing, nice and heavy, and pours well. The problem is with the mesh tea basket insert: it's not deep enough, at least not in the 1200 mL/41 oz size pot. To get the hot water to touch the tea suspended in the basket, you must fill the pot to maximum. This obliges you to make a full pot of tea every time. Sure, if you've bought this size pot, you'll often want to do that... but not always.Even then, once you've poured off the first cup, the basket's sitting up out of the water again for the rest of the pot's worth. You can insist on a really long steep before you pour off your first cup, but if you're a slob like me, and you like your leaves to steep until the very end of the pot, you're out of luck.

We use it daily, and it has a great size, keeps the tea nice and hot, and the custom fit large tea basket is very convenient for daily use + easy to clean.Because it is cast iron, you need to be careful to dry it at night/when you're done for the day, but after doing this for a while it becomes second nature.It looks great as something you can keep out on the counter (we use it with a matching cast iron stand from the same company), and customer support from the company is very helpful and understanding if you have any issues.Couldn't recommend it enough :)

I have never written a review, but I love this tea kettle so much that I had to share the joy, in case my words inspire you to get your own. It’s so beautiful to look at, it feels perfect in terms of weight, texture. I drink so much tea now, mostly because I just love using it and somehow the tea tastes better. It also pours wonderfully. Also easy to clean, just rinse with water, wipe, and keep dry. We sometimes place it over a candle stand (cast iron too) to keep tea warm longer. Overall, you won’t regret it!