The Making of Handcrafted Silver Teapots

[@just_limerence]

"Handmade items have life in them. Machines can't do that." Absolute poetry.

[@emersonvae]

This channel is honestly a gold mine for breaking misconceptions about China. Everyone in the west seems to demonize people in China, but they are just down to Earth people living their own life. This channel honestly changed the way I look at the world, and how I think about the people of other countries. ❤

[@mercluke]

i think they tend to misdirect their anger at the party towards the people.

[@fearsomeman3]

@@mercluke It comes through in other ways, like when we in the west assume China is a low quality producing country when its one of the best today or how people assume that Chinese standards in living and safety are below the west when they are sometimes even more rigorous and better than us

[@annacollins501]

The ordinary Chinese people can be very nice, unfortunately the government is not 😢

[@lekiscool]

I generally assume that all people every where are just living day by day doing what they need to do to survive and doing what they love to do. Its a shame that government seeks to divide. Rather than encourages us to explore and share.

[@EunusRex]

They hate China because it is th only non-Western nation with the potential to catch up with and even surpass the West. The 'party' and 'communism' stuff is just the politically-correct cover up.

[@tildessmoo]

I looked up the teapots on your site, and they're a little much for my budget, but they really are lovely, and given the work that goes into them, I do think it's a fair price. Highly recommend anyone who has the spare cash pick one up, I can imagine having that literal silverware on the table enhancing the experience of a gong fu cha session.

[@braidedribbon]

I'd love to hear hong-laoshi's instructions for taking care of silverware and keeping it as lovely as it is when new.

[@jessesteahouse]

Oh this is a good idea! Let’s see if we sell any, they are expensive 😂

[@eigilholm6979]

@@jessesteahouse These are beautiful works of art. If I had the money I would love a teapot like this, but Im a student, that is gonna wait some years sadly.

[@raynmaker]

as a chinese person who wasn't born in china, thank you jesse for showing me parts of my heritage that i would never normally get to see. this sort of information is invaluable and you treat our history with so much genuine interest and respect. thank you so much for honoring my people!

[@jessesteahouse]

So glad to be a part of it! It’s hard to learn a lot of these cultural things without being there so it’s super fun to bring these things to everyone :)

[@ShowcaseOnly]

- His level is much higher than mine. - Wow, so your father is still working. Love this one.

[@ogsickk]

I don't know a damn thing about tea but ran into this channel yesterday and I'm more interested and curious about tea and love how informative the content is and it does look amazing

[@jessesteahouse]

Yessss glad to be a part of your tea journey :)

[@kagondemon]

as a biologist...the plants. Just wow, I'm at a loss.

[@TralalaptaTurtleMan]

I love your videos and shorts. It's really gotten me into tea. When your shop restocks on some things, I plan on buying a tea set, tea, and tea pets.

[@jessesteahouse]

Thanks for the support!! Yes we have lots of restocks coming including a big one which should be here 12/31. We sold out a lot of stuff over the holidays 😂

[@elizamainethebrave]

I love this video so much! I am Hmong and seeing silver-work like this is absolutely incredible and reminds me of my own cultural heritage. Their craftsmanship and quality of work is stunning, and learning about the Bai people and this family’s bonsai collection was fascinating. Thank you for translating and bringing their artistry to light!

[@jessesteahouse]

Very cool! Is there a lot of Hmong silver work too? Where could I find it

[@TheArchiver]

Those pots are swag as hell!

[@JohnKay79]

Sweet! Just ordered before watching the video! Been waiting for these to hit the site since the last video about these silver tea pots

[@jessesteahouse]

Got your order!!! Thank you so much - I was worried nobody would be interested but they are amazing pots and you couldn’t do better even if you went to china yourself :) enjoy them - we will get them in the mail for you asap

[@JohnKay79]

@jessesteahouse , a few I wanted were already sold out, so I had to go with my number three choice, plus a strainer! BUT all of those Silver Teapots look amazing, and i can't wait to get and use the one I ordered. Thanks for the great products and content!

[@Softshelltaco99]

Jesse thank you for uploading this video today. I worked today and I'll be working on Christmas day tomorrow, as well as the next day. I'll be spending this Christmas alone because of this, so it's great to at least have a new video to watch from one of my favorite channels

[@robotY0UTUB3]

Been following for years and im glad to say I ordered a couple things from your website so hopefully by this time next week I will finally be able to share tea times with you 🤩

[@Thebakedbaker413]

True craftsman, with such a deep connection, this is beautiful to watch.

[@BKDocHoliday]

Wow! The attention to detail is amazing.

[@samneibauer4241]

Very cool workshop area and garden. Seeing the craftsmanship process from start to finish was more intriguing than I originally expected. Much respect to Mr. Hong and all the workers. Also the place where they live seems to have a very pure and relaxed vibe. Good video!

[@Kev2500]

Just got a tea sample box for Christmas, enjoying the Pu’er tea orange well I watch

[@IvoCournaneWard-gl1tr]

Another great testimony of Chinese excellence

[@tenxkeaton]

Honestly these pots are incredibly reasonably priced given the amount of labor. I was expecting upwards of $3k.

[@jessesteahouse]

The metal alone is worth $1 a gram, it’s really not crazy prices, we got a good deal and sell direct from the workshop

[@Venus_beenus]

Hello tea man, I am a fairly new viewer. I've watched your shorts for a while but ive just started on your long form videos. These are some of the most beautiful videos ive ever seen, you truly bring joy with every frame and every utterance, thank you from the bottom of my heart for introducing me to a new world of tea and for doing it with such a brilliant form. It is very apparent its not only a business but your hobby too

[@jessesteahouse]

oh wow this means a lot to me! I work so hard on these long videos, and even steps like the subtitling, we pay good money to have professionals translate. But then they only get a few thousand views when the shorts get all the traffic. Really would love to make more of these videos, make sure to like and subscribe :)

[@Venus_beenus]

@@jessesteahouse I was honestly surprised to see you don't have millions of subs, the videos are massively educational in a way that does not feel preachy. You are bringing an approachable format to something that may be difficult to understand for most. I'm sure like me, all your other viewers appreciate the effort in the videos. I'll definitely be purchasing my first proper tea equipment from your site

[@jordankelley9174]

I really hope one like that bunny tea pot that was on display becomes available, its super unique

[@BlastedOffRawPuerh88]

That flying saucer pot is incredible 👽

[@BluDawg]

I love this , thank you so much for taking us on these fantastic journeys, I’ll check out the pots on your site 😻

[@simplybananas]

Oh I love this style of video!!!

[@lekiscool]

The language sounds like the kind of language where it takes a lot of words to say one thing. Like instead of just being able to say “here” its like “this thing here in this very specific spot”

[@audramitchell9894]

The tea pots are gorgeous 🌹❤️🌹

[@taelend5301]

beautiful silver teapots maybe I'll save and get one this time next year if they are still available

[@josephmcgurty3822]

man these look so good

[@abagailbutterman4373]

Well I did, I didnt think I would but I bought one. I'm too scared to own a teapot, plus that would be way to much for me to afford. But I bought one of the basket to present tea. I'm extremity happy to own even a small peice of such a lovely art. But I would definitely say I would spend any about of money for that sliver and gold flower fairness pitcher. It's so pretty but if I had to guess it's over a thousand. Thank you so much Jesse for showing us history and culture and these little gems. Making it easier for everyone to love just have good tea without shame for people saying we are stealing there culture. Thanks again at this point I'm close to being a Tea master on your website. Lol

[@jessesteahouse]

thanks for the support!! the silver serving baskets are excellent, you will definitely enjoy it! It's usable art

[@dm666master]

It would be amazing if you could collaborate for a small run of tea cups from them. A silver tea cup for sets would be a nice addition

[@mndlessdrwer]

That rabbit teapot would be perfect for the Qixi festival. I love the artistry that goes into these kinds of niche premium teaware. Because it's no longer about whether it is useful or if it can offer a benefit to the brewing process. It's all about whether it enhances the aesthetic and is beautiful enough to justify the expense. It's always interesting to do research and end up figuring out just how much of the cultural heritage of southeast Asia can be directly traced back to China, or at least the myriad tribes, clans, or states that would eventually merge to become China. Bonsai is actually one of these things. Curiously enough, there are some things which people assume are Chinese in origin which were actually from other places and were simply adapted and adopted into the culture. Like cloisonné enamelwork or carved glaze (multi-layered carved glass). China did invent a lot of things, but it also simply adopted and personalized a lot of other cultures' things. It's always lovely to see a group of people who value their own culture, but don't necessarily feel that it is an insult to them if they learn from other cultures. Take pinyin for example. It's a simplified phonetic writing system for Chinese which was back-fed to China and inspired by modern Korean and Japanese hiragana and katakana written language development. Which is quite significant, considering both Korea and Japan originally used the traditional Chinese character system of writing (Kanji is still based loosely on this set of characters and you'll still need to know them if you want to read historical texts in Korea).

[@Quinn_is_Calling]

So cool that you will have some pots for sale! I would love to get my hands on a pair of silver tea cups.

[@jessesteahouse]

Yes they’re all on the site on the JTH x Master Hong collab page: jessesteahouse.com/products/jth-x-master-hong-pure-silver-teaware-collaboration

[@dannenoob]

@@jessesteahouseFYI I had quite some trouble finding that page. Thought I would find it under "tea equipment". It could just be me of course but might be an indication. Thanks for the link!

[@charlesperez9976]

I own a little silver teapot,it is i embellished,it is maybe 100ml. I cherish it,and when I aquire a new tea,I always use it to taste the tea for the first time. From there,I go to clay teapots.

[@coldfire4423]

Happy Holidays Jesse! (sorry, I know Hanuka passed)

[@jessesteahouse]

Hannukah actually starts on Christmas Day this year!

[@s_damen]

I love this kind of stuff and it makes me sad to know so little about it or other places like it, it's one of the best things about traveling when I am able to do so as such artisanal products that carry such history will always be so much more beautiful than anything that can be mass marketed, sadly if any of it ever makes it out to me it is always marked up in price so much by the people doing the import that it becomes unpayable.

[@AnthonyTheFallen5189]

Cant decide on a pot or gong dao bei!

[@cityofthesynths5129]

Are the pots you'll be selling made to order? I really want one and am deciding between 2 designs I really like but I'll need to save up for at least a few months to afford it.

[@jessesteahouse]

They’re all fully handmade, we started with designs that they have 5 or so already in stock already made but if they run out of those they would just make more if we need them

[@cityofthesynths5129]

@jessesteahouse Thank you for the info Jesse. This is really cool!

[@littlewigglemonster7691]

Do you have a site or discord that has information on teas? I got gifted many cash this year i would really love to buy a few different teas along with my first proper traditional tea set. But im not sure where to start

[@jessesteahouse]

Yes i have both! Website is www.jessesteahouse.com and the discord is discord.gg/jessesteahouse

[@littlewigglemonster7691]

@@jessesteahouse thanks

[@PigSCo]

Allow me to add one point when u mentioned about the reason why the handicraft isn’t being replaced by machines. I was surprised to hear u say that since you have been in China for awhile now and still not knowing certain local aspects. I can’t say I know this with no errors however, the point of making money is important, but taking care of people who will have jobs and have a place in the society is very important if not equally important. No everything is about efficiency and monetary gain, per se. That’s why art schools exist. As well as heritage skills, farm to table… small business owners are being taken care of.

[@Herr_Vorragender]

If I had the money, I'd have a pot made of silver. But if I had a silver pot, I'd be hesitant using it for boiling water. I just wouldn't want to make a single dent or scratch on it. I guess there are people who are loaded enough to not care if the pot gets a couple of dents.

[@IvoCournaneWard-gl1tr]

!!!!

[@NoBody-ie4lz]

Very interested in purchasing one of the tea pots i have sent an email inquiring about more details of the pot im interested in

[@NoBody-ie4lz]

After getting an email response with the information.I was looking for about the pot.I was interested in.I ended up making the purchase yesterday.I cannot wait to start using it and experiencing the enjoyment of silver teaWare

[@PigSCo]

Oh no how come u didn’t know about the spout… so people do check the water flow of the teapot for quality of it

[@rubberducky5383]

Um Hong Laoshi’s dad kinda…. 😳

[@Ahda108]

I hate when people equate Chinese good with being cheap. There actually luxury items made in China are way out of most peoples League. But if you can afford them..there is a 99 dollar options in Jesse s store😂

[@jessesteahouse]

yeah I would be willing to be it will be hard to find better craftsmanship anywhere compared to this. But it definitely is a luxury and I definitely want to make sure most of the stuff on my shop is accessible so people can actually get into tea. These pots are for people who really are into it, or just have enough money they can spend a chunk on a new hobby