Oscar Brekell on Teruyuki Isobe’s Teapots

When I first came in contact with Teruyuki Isobe’s teapots in 2014, I was not only amazed by their aesthetic qualities, but also impressed by how well they worked as tools for steeping great tasting tea. Made with great precision and care, they are always light and easy to both grip and to pour with.

Needless to say steeping tea also requires a lot of precision and care, and therefore the importance of the teapot as a tool cannot be stressed enough. A poor teapot can easily ruin a good tea but a well crafted one can on the other hand enhance both the taste and flavor. In this sense any teapot made by Isobe makes a reliable ally in the tea lovers quest for the perfect cup of tea. In my case, I even dare say that Isobe’s teapots made me in charge of my tea steeping in a way that I had never experienced so far in my life.

Perhaps it is his background as a practitioner of the art of Sencha that makes Teruyuki Isobe able to make teapots that embody both beauty and functionality at the same time. His devotion both as a potter and as an artist continues on to inspire and bring joy to tea lovers in Japan as well as overseas. Adding to that, since they are handcrafted every single teapot is unique, always making teatime a very special occasion.