Being the birthplace of tea consumption, China has had a big influence over what we make tea in. There are a few different styles of teapot in China, but we can separate them into the traditional style, where the teapots are small and made from clay, which is usually unglazed, and the more contemporary teapot which is far larger and very close in resemblance to most other teapots in the west.

The traditional style of teapot in China is a small, usually clay pot that typically but certainly not always holds somewhere between 70 and 250ml of water. Although there are many styles and materials used for making these pots, some of the most sought after and revered are Yixing Zisha teapots. Other common materials include porcelain and celadon. Mostly used for brewing Gong Fu, although can also be used to brew in a more western style.

The more contemporary style usually consists of pots that are larger than the traditional style. Most often these pots are made of glazed ceramics, porcelain, celadon, as well as metals. Typically, these larger pots would be made to accompany meals, especially family style where the capacity would be needed. Because the tea made by these are often consumed with food, they will be brewed stronger and allowed to steep for long periods of time.

Most inspired by the larger and more contemporary Chinese style, this is what most people in the US will think of as a teapot. Pear shaped and made from ceramic, decorative porcelain, or maybe stainless steel; they often feature floral or other ornamental decoration. Water is heated separately and then added to the tea in this vessel, then brewed to desired strength or stronger if planning to add milk and sugar.

India has a few of its own tea pot designs, despite a widespread tea culture not dating back as far as China. Some are like the larger Chinese pots, while others are far more ornamental giving the pots large necks and spouts. They are made of a variety of materials: clay, porcelain, glass, brass, among others. Since the way the Indians brew their tea, or Chai as they call it, usually involves directly heating the brewing vessel, often the more fragile teapots are ornamental and used only for pouring instead of steeping.

This style is mostly like Indian style, although they are almost always built very sturdy for being able to boil. With styling to match its environment, these pots are often a very ornamental stainless steel. Tea is typically boiled directly in the pot, most often gunpowder green tea, and usually complemented by herbs and spices that are common in these regions, one of the most popular being mint. Add sugar either with the pot or on the side to add as you drink.

Turkey has a rather unique form of a teapot that they use called a Caydanlik. In essence it is quite like other teapots except they stack two on top of each other. The bottom pot is used to boil the water, while the top one gets warmed up. Once the water is at the right temperature, you fill up the top pot with leaves and fill it halfway with the hot water. They then let is steep for a long period of time, far longer than the brewing that we typically recommend, to give it a very strong base brew. Once it has reached its desired strength, dilute the potent brew with the rest of the hot water and you have a Turkish cup of tea.

Russia uses a standard european style teapot, but like the Turkish they stick it on top of a large vat of water called a Samovar. Traditionally, this would be heated with wood giving a smokiness to the water, which they used for brewing. Russian like to brew extremely strong and concentrated tea, which they dilute down with hot water from the Samovar.