New Tea Pot

D and I have a new ritual.  In the evening after dinner, we have taken to having some hot tea.  Tea drinking isn't new to us as we both drink quite a bit of iced tea every day, but drinking it hot on a regular basis is, as I said, new.

Of course, I guess I should start out by defining "tea".  D is quite sensitive to caffeine, and I have difficulty with it after the noon hour.  Of course, I could accustom myself to afternoon caffeine, but I prefer not to.  I've tried many "herbal" teas over the years but very few appealed.  Recently I realized that many of those herbal teas contain hibiscus, and it is that that I do not care for.  So - no caffeine, almost no herbal teas in this house.  What's left?  Well, I'm sure many of you have figured it out: roiibus. The following is from Wikipedia:

Rooibos is becoming more popular in Western countries, particularly among health-conscious consumers, due to its high level of antioxidants such as aspalathin^[2] and nothofagin, its lack of caffeine, and its low tannin levels compared to fully oxidized black tea or unoxidized green tea leaves.^[3] Rooibos also contains a number of phenolic compounds, including flavanols, flavones, flavanones, and dihydrochalcones.^[4]
Rooibos is purported to assist with nervous tension, allergies and digestive problems.

Granted, that is probably far more than you wish to know, but if you have a sensitivity to caffeine and are looking for something warming to drink, this may be your answer.

All this simply to talk about our evening pot of tea.  And it isn't even the tea about which I wished to talk; it's the tea pot!  We were looking for a larger pot than the two we have, and in our travels we fell in love with an old pot that holds a little more than the one we were using.  It could have been exactly the same, and I would have bought it anyway.

Side one (from the perspective of a right-handed pourer):

Side two (left handed pourer side)

Close ups which show that while charming, the painting is not top drawer.  Charmingly primitive - an Asian folk art look.

And we know nothing about the year made or the maker as there is only a red rectangle on the bottom.  What may seem to be a "chop" with writing is only where the red paint seeped into the crazing (cracked-looking lines in the glaze).

The pottery itself is thicker than it would be in fine china, but that keeps the tea warm without using a tea cozy.  I could make one for the pot, but I don't want to cover it up.

And this ritual makes an excuse for a weekly indulgence in homemade biscotti.  Sounds reasonable to me!