A kyusu teapot is a traditional Japanese teapot designed for brewing loose-leaf green tea, featuring a side handle, wide base, and built-in filter that allow precise control over extraction.
The kyusu meaning is simply "teapot" in Japanese, though the word has come to describe a very specific clay pot with a side handle, a wide base, and a built-in filter. The kyusu pronunciation is straightforward: three syllables, kyu-su, with the first rhyming with "queue".
Most Japanese households keep one alongside the kettle. It is built specifically for sencha, gyokuro, and other loose-leaf Japanese green teas.
Understanding the different types, which clay and filter to choose, and how to brew with one properly makes a real difference in the cup.
This guide covers everything: colors, filters, glazes, sizes, history, and step-by-step brewing instructions. Read on to find the right pot for the way you drink tea.
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Kyusu Teapot: A Traditional Japanese Teapot for Green Tea
A kyusu teapot is a traditional Japanese clay teapot designed specifically for green tea, combining a side handle, wide brewing space, and a built-in filter to improve leaf expansion, pouring control, and overall extraction. The most common style has a side handle at a 90-degree angle to the spout, a wide base that gives the leaves room to open fully, and a built-in filter that automatically sieves out the leaves as you pour.
The Japanese kyusu teapot differs from Western teapots in almost every dimension that matters for green tea: it is smaller, more precise, and built around the principle of full decanting after each steep. The pot is usually clay, available in red or black, with either a clay or metal filter depending on the model.
Types of Kyusu Teapots: Differences in Shape, Clay, and Filter
The Japanese kyusu comes in several distinct configurations: side-handle (yokode), back-handle (ushirode), and top-handle (uwade). Each style suits a different brewing context and a different type of tea. Knowing which one fits your habits is the most useful first decision to make.
If you are researching which Japanese teapot kyusu to start with, the yokode side-handle style is the standard choice for sencha and gyokuro. It gives you the most control over the pour and is what most Japanese households reach for daily.
Kyusu Teapot Colors
Red Kyusu Teapots
Red kyusu teapots are made from unoxidized Tokoname clay, sourced from a town in Aichi Prefecture near Nagoya. This clay is dense enough to hold liquid without glazing, and because it is less porous than other clays, it absorbs minimal flavor from the tea. The result is a cleaner, slightly milder cup, which is why Tokoname clay is among the most respected in Japan.
Red pots require two firings and are generally more affordable than the black version. They are an excellent starting point for anyone new to Japanese tea.
Black Kyusu Teapot
The black kyusu teapot is made from the same Tokoname clay but fired a third time in an oxygen-rich environment. The oxidation process turns the surface a deep, sleek black. This extra firing adds cost but also density: black pots are more expensive than red ones, and many experienced brewers prefer them for high-grade teas where the additional refinement in the clay matters.
Kyusu Pot Filters
Metal Filter in a Kyusu Pot
The metal filter is the right choice for most beginners and works reliably across a wide range of tea types. It is especially useful for Fukamushi senchas, which are deep-steamed and have smaller, broken leaf particles that clog ceramic filters easily. The circular metal mesh allows water to flow through cleanly even as the leaves break down during steeping.
The one trade-off is flavor. Some drinkers prefer clay filters for a more traditional brewing experience. Whereas for everyday brewing, the metal filter is practical and performs well.
Clay Filter in a Kyusu Pot
A clay filter is hand-carved directly into the pot during production, which makes it more labor-intensive and more expensive. The benefit is that the tea comes into contact with nothing but clay and water throughout the brew. This matters most with sencha and gyokuro, where the absence of any metal influence allows the full amino acid character of the leaf to come through cleanly.
Kyusu Teapot Glazes
Unglazed Kyusu Teapots
An unglazed pot puts the tea in direct contact with the raw clay. Over time, the clay absorbs the tannins and oils from repeated brewing, building up a thin seasoned layer that many experienced drinkers say enhances the flavor. This effect is most noticeable with gyokuro, where a deeper, more savory character develops with continued use of the same pot.
The key rule with unglazed clay: dedicate it to one tea type. Because the clay absorbs flavor, switching between a roasted hojicha and a delicate gyokuro in the same pot will cause the flavors to interfere with each other.
Glazed Kyusu Teapot
A glazed interior prevents the clay from absorbing anything from the tea, making the pot completely neutral and far more versatile. You can move from hojicha to sencha with just a hot water rinse in between, and the flavors stay entirely separate.
If you are investing in a single pot to cover multiple types of Japanese tea, a glazed version is the more practical choice. It is easier to clean and better suited to anyone who has not yet settled on a favourite tea.
Kyusu Teapot Sizes
Large Kyusu Teapots
Large pots hold around 400 ml of water, which is still compact by Western standards but gives enough capacity to brew for two or three people comfortably. When serving a group, use slightly more water and a proportionally larger amount of leaves to maintain flavor concentration.
Even at the larger size, the kyusu functions very differently from a Western teapot. You still brew in short, concentrated batches and pour everything out completely at the end of each steep to stop extraction at the right moment.
Small Kyusu Teapots
A small pot holds around 200 ml of water. For premium Japanese green teas like gyokuro or first-harvest sencha, this size is ideal. The smaller volume concentrates the flavor into fewer cups, which is exactly how these teas are meant to be enjoyed.
The compact size also makes the pot lighter and easier to handle single-handed, which makes the wrist-rotation pour more precise. If you brew alone most of the time, this is the size to choose.
What Is the History of the Kyusu Teapot
The kyusu pot originated in China before making its way to Japan, where it was adapted for a new style of tea entirely. At the time, tea in Japan was consumed mainly in powdered form, a primitive version of matcha prepared as part of the formal tea ceremony.
In the 18th century, a farmer named Nagatani Soen developed a different production method. By steaming, rolling, and drying the tea leaves, he found that the flavor could be preserved for much longer. The resulting infused tea became known as sencha. It was simpler to prepare than matcha and required no ceremony, and it called for a different vessel: the kyusu tea pot.
Sencha spread quickly across Japan and the clay teapot became the standard tool for preparing it at home. Today it remains the vessel of choice in tea shops and households across the country, used daily for green teas of all grades.
What Are the Benefits of a Kyusu Teapot
The side handle is the most immediately useful feature. It is hollow, which means it does not conduct heat the way a solid handle would. Even with very hot water inside the pot, the handle stays cool enough to grip immediately, and a simple turn of the wrist is all it takes to pour a clean, controlled stream of tea.
The wide, flat base is the second critical advantage. When tea leaves are crammed into a basket infuser or teabag, they cannot fully expand. The generous base of the teapot gives them the full width to open up, which means more surface area in contact with the water and a more complete, even extraction.
The built-in filter does its job automatically as you pour. The leaves stay behind without any additional strainer, and because you empty the pot completely at the end of each steep, extraction stops immediately. This is what makes reliable multiple re-steeps possible.
How to Use a Japanese Kyusu Teapot
Whether you are brewing kyusu tea for the first time or refining an existing routine, these four steps cover everything you need to know.
Step 1: Add 5 grams of leaves to the base of your pot. If you do not have a scale, one heaping tablespoon is a reasonable approximation.
Step 2: Add 150 ml of warm water. For gyokuro and sweeter senchas, use water at 60 degrees Celsius. For most other Japanese green teas, 70 degrees Celsius is the right temperature.
Step 3: Place the lid on and let the tea steep for 1 minute. Gyokuro may need up to 2 minutes, as the tightly rolled needle leaves take longer to open. Fukamushi sencha, with its smaller particles, often needs only 45 seconds.
Step 4: Pour every last drop into the cups. The built-in filter sieves out the leaves automatically as you pour. If you are serving multiple people, alternate between cups as you pour so the most concentrated tea at the end is distributed evenly between guests.
What Do You Need in a Kyusu Teapot Set
A kyusu set sometimes includes small clay cups called yunomi. These are a natural pairing with a clay pot, and some people prefer the visual consistency of matching teaware. They are not essential.
Rather than purchasing a full set from the start, invest in the teapot first and use whatever cups you already have. The performance of the pot is what matters. Once you have settled on a tea and a brewing style, adding yunomi that complement the clay is a natural next step.
Where Can You Buy a Kyusu Teapot
You can find the full range on the Nio Teas website. We carry the red Tokoname kyusu, the black Tokoname kyusu, and the Fukamushi teapot. The red and Fukamushi models have a metal filter, making them the easier starting point. The black Tokoname has a clay filter and suits more experienced green tea drinkers who want full clay contact during brewing.
If you would like a free kyusu pot, we include one with every signup to the monthly tea club. Members receive two packs of tea every month at a 16% discount. It is a good way to explore different Japanese teas while keeping the cost down.
