Hario ChaCha Kyusu "Maru" Tea Pot, 450ml

It was a gift to my aunt, they love how convenience is it to pour tea without having to worry the leafs came out. Also I got them the small size so the leafs don't have to soak in the water too long. Add more when needed.

I usually don't leave reviews for products. Almost never. Actually this might be my first. This should tell you something - to ignore my spelling mistakes and other signs of general illiteracy.But this teapot is fantastic. Some demographic info: I'm a 21 year old man, freshly adult, and recently turned tea snob. So naturally I need a teapot to accompany, nay supplement my loose leaf, nose upturned, calling-tea-color-liqueur lifestyle. Previously I had been brewing my tea in a thermos with a little mesh insert, a practice that if employed by anyone else I would surely mock brazenly.First impressions - I had read almost all of the reviews and some of them had mentioned that this teapot is rather small. When I opened it, I thought to myself "this teapot is rather small". But once I stilled my beating heart and actually made some tea I realized that it's pretty much the perfect size. Filling it close to the top, with a comfortable margin, I get enough tea for two very full mugs, and in my frugally heated apartment the pot keeps the tea piping hot for the second mugful.The basket is nice and large. I've heard others say that this is necessary for the leaves to swim, luxuriate, mingle, copulate, bask in their collective consciousness. Shoot me if I ever anthropomorphise tea leaves like that. But it is nice to have a big basket so that the water actual reaches the center leaves. To that end, it would've been nice if they included a diving board so that the leaves could indulge their inner child (or bud, if you will), but now I'm splitting hairs.It's made of glass, so it's breakable. I haven't broken mine yet, but I reserve the right to in the future, hopefully during the height of an argument. I think it'll shatter very well, but that's just speculation at this point.Only complaint (very minor) is that the handle is kind of hard to grip when the pot is full of hot tea. My hand has a tendency to slip down and touch the hot pot. But I just changed the way I held it, and that's been working well. I'm actually glad, I was getting a little set in my ways.Bottom line - buy it. It's not a samovar, but for one or two people (I can dream, can't I?) it's perfect. Very aesthetically pleasing, functional, the mesh is plenty fine, even rooibos can't sneak through, and I've had almost no stems get stuck. It's top rated for a reason.

****UPDATED REVIEW****We like the small teapot so much we returned to purchase the largest version. I had a chance to use it today while at my desk all day. The fat, round base allows heating on a plate warmer easily. The size is perfect for one person for all day. Now my favorite pots (smallest & largest versions).***ORIGINAL REVIEW****I've spent YEARS trying out different teapots and dislike most. This one is very nicely built and small enough for a personal pot of tea. The included basket is big enough for a personal-sized tablespoon of tea to expand while brewing. The handle is a delight--sturdy but big enough to fit two or three fingers through for stable tilting. One of my biggest pet peeves with teapots is the spout. I despise dribbling because I'm usually using the pot at my desk while I work and don't need important papers wet by dripping pots. So far, I haven't found any dribbling pouring tea from this pot's spout. And an added, unexpected bonus: unlike the similarly shaped pot from a rival company this is replacing whose lid was so flimsy I was always afraid it would break, THIS pot's lid is thick and heavy, with built-in gas exchange rivets so you could pour while the cover is on. I wouldn't recommend that, though, since the lid could slide off and break.I like this pot so much I may replace my other 4-cup glass pot with the large version of this. My present large pot has a little spout that's a mess to clean. This pot's style is VERY easy to clean. Another bonus.

I have bought this exact teapot four times now. TL;DR This is absolutely the best glass teapot I know of.Once as a gift, and three times for myself, this teapot is my favorite. I first bought it back in 2018 as my first tea pot. I did a lot of searching to make sure I got something that would work right, and I nailed it. My subsequent purchases have been from unfortunate breaks (my fault), the most recent being a few days ago. Let me break it down for you:Quality: This teapot is nice, made in Japan, durable, and has a clean, well finished look. It does NOT smell like a factory, and feels very sturdy.Design: This pot is short, and holds 700ml (About 3 cups worth). Plenty for a small group or a nice pot for yourself. The pour is nice and easy to control (no fancy spout needed), and the handle does well enough (never had a problem, even with big hands). The best part? The wide mouthed mesh basket is fantastic, and the reason this pot originally caught my eye.Having a large, roomy basket allows the leaves to spread out and steep more evenly, which will always make better tea; this also means its easier to clean out the leaves and pot when finished. It baffles me that those hard, skinny infusers are now the norm for pots, they are simply awful and a huge pain to clean, not to mention it constricts your leaves. This pot has none of those issues, which is alone worth some huge points.Value: When I broke my pot the other day, after lamenting my own stupidity, my first thought was "I'm going to have to wait a few days to make another pot", I wasn't even considering the cost. Originally ~16 USD when I bought it, it seems to float between ~19-24 USD now, (probably due to the high inflation), but that price easily worth it many times over. Sure you could get some poorly designed, glass pot from China and save a few bucks, but why?Cons: There are a few criticisms I have. First, the mesh basket is, for whatever reason, made in China. I have no clue why this is, but I would definitely appreciate if this was a fully Japanese made pot from, start to finish, even if the price was slightly higher. Secondly, The mesh basket is the only part that seems to age. After around 3 years my original basket was looking rough and warped (though still functional). I'm not the best at knowing how to treat certain materials, so maybe cleaning it a certain way could have helped? Not sure, but eventually the basket will start to age if you use it the way I have.Final thoughts: Buying this pot again was a no-brainer. After four years, this pot continually serves me well and remains my daily driver. Whether you are a new drinker or veteran, this will NOT let you down. Despite my small complaints, I think this deserves five stars, especially compared against the competition.