It’s been an arduous two months of trying to fix a situation with Teavana and finally, finally – I have my cast iron tea set! I’ve wanted it for years (I estimate 7 or 8) and with patient evaluation and a lovely gift card from friends, I now own the set I’ve had my eye on. For now I’m just going to enjoy the fact that I have the product at hand, but I’m still dealing with them to resolve the situation to my satisfaction. That will be quite a story for another time.
Let’s enjoy the products, shall we? 🙂 These cast iron items are meant to last a lifetime, so it’s certainly an investment. As you use them, the black is supposed to wear off a bit to reveal some more gold. I’m certainly happy with the quality of the items and the elegant feel of using them. I got the Imperial Dragon teapot because dragons are immensely important to Asian cultures and this is the one that I was attracted to time and time again. Best part? The ways the spout is designed is perfect. It doesn’t spill!
My Teavana imperial dragon cast iron teapot and free tea sample.
The box the teapot came in, with a message as you open it: Opening the Doors to Health, Wisdom & Happiness
I ordered the accessories separate from the pot so I could take advantage of a deal. To reach the minimum spend, I ended up getting an extra cup. The rock sugar was the free product for the purchase.
If you ever go to a Teavana store, you’ll see them using one of these to brew Monkey Picked Oolong tea samples. Now I have my own!
Inside, everything is coated in enamel that is supposed to slowly absorb the flavor of the tea and enrich it with each brew. There’s also a stainless steel strainer that reaches pretty much to the bottom of the pot for steeping.
I got these gold ones to go with the black and gold theme. The cups are also enameled like the pot.
These are the matching cups that go with the pot. All these cast iron products are made in Japan.
I got a medium warmer to keep the pot hot. It’s almost the same size as the base of the teapot so maybe I should have gotten the large.
You put a tea light inside and the heat of the flame helps keep your tea heated for hours! It maintains a temp that’s more than warm but not too hot to drink.
I got a free ounce of Peach Tranquility when I got the teapot.
My favorite, the Monkey Picked Oolong. The manager at Teavana gave me this sample for free because she felt so bad that should couldn’t help me. This was about a month into my ordeal.
Here’s a peek at the rock sugar that I got free with the cups & warmer order. It’s supposed to help enhance the flavor of tea without affecting it.
And there’s my tea set! As you can see the dragon cups and the gold ones are different sizes – the gold ones are wider and lower with 4 oz capacity while the dragon ones are taller and narrower with 3 oz capacity.
I’ve been using the set for about two weeks now and I’ve really enjoyed it. The flavor of the tea is great and doesn’t ever seem to get bitter as it often does in other scenarios. Something about the cast iron perhaps? I use the flame only when I plan on drinking quite a bit of tea in one sitting. For the most part, I add hot water to the pot and bring a cup to wherever I’m sitting. It makes the experience special every time and I’m so glad I got this. I shouldn’t ever have to replace it!
