Talking about "tea"

[Rachel Adams]

Hello.

Do both sentences sound natural?
"I use my teapot to make tea every morning." Or "I make tea in my teapot every morning."

 

[Skrej]

Yes, they're fine. They're not necessarily saying exactly the same thing, but both are natural.

 

[Rachel Adams]

Yes, they're fine. They're not necessarily saying exactly the same thing, but both are natural.

The meanings are not the same?

 

[Skrej]

They could be, but it depends on how you make your tea.


I use my teapot to make tea every morning.
This means you use your teapot to boil the water, but you may or may not actually brew the tea itself in the teapot. You might just boil the water in the teapot and steep your tea in a cup or other container.

I make tea in my teapot every morning.
This means you're brewing the tea in the teapot itself.

 

[Rachel Adams]

They could be, but it depends on how you make your tea.


I use my teapot to make tea every morning.
This means you use your teapot to boil the water, but you may or may not actually brew the tea itself in the teapot. You might just boil the water in the teapot and steep your tea in a cup or other container.

I make tea in my teapot every morning.
This means you're brewing the tea in the teapot itself.

I understand. Can I use "every morning" at the beginning of my sentence?

 

[emsr2d2]

I use my teapot to make tea every morning.
This means you use your teapot to boil the water, but you may or may not actually brew the tea itself in the teapot. You might just boil the water in the teapot and steep your tea in a cup or other container.

You can't use a teapot to boil water. Teapots are made of china or some other kind of ceramic so they can't be put on a hot surface to boil water, nor can they be plugged in. They are used only to brew tea. You put either tea leaves or teabags in the teapot, add boiling water, and then pour the tea into a cup after it's brewed for as long as you want it to.

I saw something the other day that suggested that what we just call a kettle in the UK is sometimes called a tea kettle in the US, but that's not the same as a teapot.

 

[Rachel Adams]

You can't use a teapot to boil water. Teapots are made of china or some other kind of ceramic so they can't be put on a hot surface to boil water, nor can they be plugged in. They are used only to brew tea. You put either tea leaves or teabags in the teapot, add boiling water, and then pour the tea into a cup after it's brewed for as long as you want it to.

I saw something the other day that suggested that what we just call a kettle in the UK is sometimes called a tea kettle in the US, but that's not the same as a teapot.

It's not the same because you boil water in a kettle.

 

[emsr2d2]

It's not the same because you boil water in a kettle.

Yes, I know that. I wondered if Skrej was mixing up the terms "teapot" and "tea kettle".

 

[Rachel Adams]

Yes, I know that. I wondered if Skrej was mixing up the terms "teapot" and "tea kettle".

Oh, I know you know that. Sorry. I forgot to put "right?" It's unnecessary now. I understand. But regarding "every morning". It isn't wrong to use it at the beginning of my sentence, is it?

 

[emsr2d2]

If you start with "Every morning", you need a comma after it.

I make tea in my teapot every morning.
Every morning, I make tea in my teapot.

 

[Skrej]

You can't use a teapot to boil water. Teapots are made of china or some other kind of ceramic so they can't be put on a hot surface to boil water, nor can they be plugged in. They are used only to brew tea. You put either tea leaves or teabags in the teapot, add boiling water, and then pour the tea into a cup after it's brewed for as long as you want it to.

I saw something the other day that suggested that what we just call a kettle in the UK is sometimes called a tea kettle in the US, but that's not the same as a teapot.

I debated that after I posted, but decided it ultimately didn't matter. There are a few glass teapots (I think they're some kind of borosilicate) and other ceramics that can take direct heat so they're some kind of teapot/tea kettle mashup where you can boil and brew in the same vessel. China (which is just porcelain) can't handle the thermal shock, but there are clay bodies (stoneware) that can. I suppose that's kind of a moot point though, in regards to the sentences.

I think my larger point about there being a potential difference in the sentences still stands - you might brew the tea in the teapot (i.e. make an entire pot of tea), which is what Rachel's second sentence suggests, or just use the teapot as to distribute the hot water (however it was boiled) into cups where you steep individual servings of tea. That's what her first sentence allows for, although it doesn't preclude brewing in the pot either.

 

[emsr2d2]

That's true but using a teapot just to hold hot water would be very unusual! If you're going to put teabags/tea leaves in individual cups, you would just pour the boiling water straight onto them from the kettle or the pan you used to boil the water. With the exception of matcha tea, all tea should be brewed using boiling water. If you pour the boiling water into the empty teapot and then, after whatever period of time, pour the water from the teapot into the cups, you wouldn't be using boiling water so you would end up with inferior cups of tea!

 

[GoesStation]

That's true but using a teapot just to hold hot water would be very unusual!

I had a very enjoyable tea-tasting at a traditional Chinese tea house in Santa Monica. The shop kept small bronze tea kettles in a very hot oven. They'd fill one with hot water and bring it to the table, where the customers would make green tea in small individual teapots sitting on a slotted bamboo tray to drain the large quantities of overflow.

 

[emsr2d2]

That might well have been matcha green tea, which does not require boiling water to be added directly to the leaves. I believe the optimum temperature is somewhere around 84 degrees.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

They could be, but it depends on how you make your tea.


I use my teapot to make tea every morning.
This means you use your teapot to boil the water, but you may or may not actually brew the tea itself in the teapot. You might just boil the water in the teapot and steep your tea in a cup or other container.

I make tea in my teapot every morning.
This means you're brewing the tea in the teapot itself.

I boil water in a kettle and pour the boiling water into a teapot to brew tea.

That's a pretty standard way to make tea. So both of Rachel's sentences mean the same thing to me.

 

[GoesStation]

That might well have been matcha green tea, which does not require boiling water to be added directly to the leaves. I believe the optimum temperature is somewhere around 84 degrees.

It wasn't matcha, which is Japanese powdered green tea. All green teas should be brewed with water well below boiling. The ideal temperature varies quite a lot.

This was a Chinese tea shop that offers tea tastings.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

If you start with "Every morning", you need a comma after it. . . .
Every morning, I make tea in my teapot.

And a capital E.

 

[Tdol]

I make a pot of tea every morning.