The Return of the Tilting Teapot

After an absence of 100 years, the “tilting teapot” is being reintroduced to America. Douglas Cochran, Scotland’s 12th Earl of Dundonald, was a man who knew a good cup of tea and demanded no less. Tired of his tea being steeped for too long, in 1905 he patented a teapot with a built in infuser shelf. Tea could be placed on the shelf and the teapot simply laid on its back to steep. After the tea was done, the teapot was tilted up for the leaves to drain and then stood up for serving. In the vertical position, the leaves remained on the shelf and out of the water, so his tea didn’t steep too long and become bitter.

Over the years, tea bags took over more of the market and what the Earl called the SYP or “Simple… Yet Perfect” teapot faded in popularity before disappearing entirely by the 1930’s. Today’s tea drinkers are moving away from tea bags, however, as they’ve rediscovered that loose leaf teas offer better quality, a wider range of choices and more tea for the money, since they pay only for the tea and not packaging. To make it easier to enjoy loose leaf teas, as well as herbal teas such as chamomile or peppermint, Virtual Tea has reintroduced the “tilting teapot” and is currently the only supplier in the USA. Their Castle Cairn teapot stands seven inches tall and holds about 20 ounces.

The 12th Earl of Dundonald was an interesting man, in addition to being the inventor of the world’s most practical teapot, was a decorated general in the British Army and a novelist. Thomas Cochran, the 10th Earl of Dundonald, was a naval hero and the true life inspiration for Jack Aubrey, the “Master & Commander” character played by Russell Crowe. I’ll bet even the Admiral would have liked using his grandson’s teapot, especially at sea.

The teapot is only available directly from Virtual Tea, the home of “good tea made real”. If you want more information you can visit www.virtualtea.com.

(this article was taken from theopenpress.com)