It’s here, we got it and have been drinking tea like there’s no tomorrow – Joey Roth’s Sorapot. How excited was I to open such a beautifully packaged teapot! It’s important to note all the packaging materials are 100% recycled. The Sorapot is a modern teapot, with its architectural shape and simple functionality designed to bring the quiet beauty of tea and brewing tea into focus. How well does it perform? Hit the jump for our review.
The Sorapot is made from 304 stainless steel and borosilicate glass (think Pyrex). Score 1 for Joey since any tea connoisseur knows loose leaf tea should ONLY be brewed in steel, ceramic, or glass. Cheap aluminum based brewers impart a nasty metallic taste, especially to more delicate white and green teas. The Sorapot is so handsome, so well made. It’s extremely robust but I couldn’t help from treating it like a fine piece of china. It’s hefty and makes enough tea for two 8 oz. cups.
There’s a central support rod that screws together to hold the top and bottom ends taught. The steel frame is jointed in the center along the handle. Unscrew to remove the steel frame from the glass cylinder. Place your loose leaf tea inside, then reassemble. Pour water thru the spout and voile!
What we liked
- Beautifully constructed steel, glass, and silicone. High grade materials. Hefty and solid.
- Steel is beautifully polished.
- Not made of cheap aluminum.
- The glass cylinder allows you to watch tea leaves unfurl. It’s like a little dance in there.
- All metal parts seem to have been treated. No rusting or corrision.
- Easy clean up. Just rinse out the cylinder and run water thru the spout to dislodge any tea leaves.
What could be improved
- I wish there was hinged cap on the spout – to keep all heat from escaping while brewing.
- The built-in sieve works perfectly fine for big loose leaf teas but doesn’t capture small leaf teas like roobis. Many of the tiny leaves passed thru into my cup. Maybe if the diameter of the sieve holes were a tad smaller, it would help without restricting water.
The Sorapot is $200 for the original brushed steel (the one in this review) and $250 for the very sought after mirror polished. I say without hesitation this is well worth the price if you’re a tea lover (I drink 4-6 cups a day). Sure you can find many cheaper stainless steel brewers but I challenge you to find one that looks as beautiful as the Sorapot. This is a teapot I don’t hide in the cupboards. It proudly sits on my kitchen counter strategically placed under cabinet lighting. Congrats to Joey for designing a such a lovely product.
Designer: Joey Roth [ Buy It Here ]