Cast Iron Teapot.

This Christmas my sweet guy got me a beautiful cast iron teapot. I love the little flowers on it and how it keeps my tea so warm! Being from an Iranian family, I almost feel like a traitor using this kind of pot instead of the classic samovar. I had my reasons.

Below is an image of each pot. The samovar image I provided is from a google search and you can find more modern, less expensive versions on amazon.

First off, the samovar is usually a much bigger teapot and being the only one I would be making tea for it is somewhat of a waste. I also don't usually drink more than one glass at a time. I try to limit my tea drinking to one in the morning and one in the evening.

Brewing

Samovar: The samovar provides a much more vibrant tasting tea as you are not only pouring hot water over the leaves but then keeping them warm by putting them on top of a kettle. If you truly want to taste the tea fully brewed this is the best method however it takes time.
Cast Iron: The cast iron pot provides a much better brewed leaf than the other small travel teapot I had. The metal helps keep in heat and the enamel coat on the inside keeps the metal from interfering with the taste of the tea. Although the samovar brews the tea best, it is a matter of having time to do so. In the morning where I have tea before work to get me going, I would have to wake up at least 30 minutes earlier to get the true brew of the samovar. The cast Iron teapot lets me enjoy a pretty good brew in a timely fashion.

Price

The kind of samovar pictured below or any model that looks similar to it can cost anywhere from a couple hundred dollars to a couple thousand! As mentioned above there are more modern versions of it on amazon with two pots on top of each other that are affordable but I have yet to find a pretty one. That's right my decision was partially shallow as well :)

I would suggest looking up cast iron pot on amazon and you can find many for under $50 with beautiful designs! Make sure to get one with a stand so that it doesn't burn your surfaces, a tea basket included and one with a coating on the metal so you're not drinking metal tea!

Samovar.

Photo credit: dima barsky via VisualHunt / CC BY-NC-ND