Taiwanese Fragrance Cup Set

Fragrance cup sets are popular in Taiwan, where they are much loved by oolong drinkers who want to enjoy the fragrance of their tea in a fun way.

Freshly brewed tea is first poured into the tall cup, then covered with the small cup and inverted. When the tall cup is removed, the fragrance of the tea, which rises along with the steam, is now trapped inside the tall cup. You can then smell the inside of the fragrance cup to enjoy the rich, clean fragrance of the tea before drinking your brew.

You can watch a video of Jesse in Taiwan showing a fragrance cup set in use here!

Jesse Says:

Good fragrance is one of the top things I look for when enjoying my tea.

In Taiwan, where the fragrance of oolong tea is much prized, they often use these cup sets to isolate the fragrance. Using a fragrance cup is not only fun, but also makes it easier to smell the fragrance, since your nose is not being blasted by the heat of a hot teacup or teapot, and can focus more on the volatile fragrance compounds naturally emerging from the tea.

We designed this fragrance cup set from scratch and it is unique to Jesse's Teahouse. It uses the art we commissioned for the Taiwanese Oolong Sampler Box, including the charcoal-and-kettle imagery, as well as mountain motifs inspired by Dong Ding Shan, and the traditional-character calligraphy with the characters "Jesse's Teahouse" on the base.

A highlight of the set is a beautiful porcelain base. When I looked at different fragrance cup set options, I found they always came with cheaper bamboo bases that seemed to diminish the porcelain. Why make a good cup set and have a substandard base? We made a custom mold so we could include a base tray of the same high quality Dehua white porcelain that the cups are made of.

Consider getting the two or four-pack of these so that all your guests can enjoy! It's a fun way of involving others in the tea-making process without them needing to know how to brew tea, and we also have a pretty good discount on the two and four packs.

Each set includes:

A fragrance cup set includes:

• One tall aroma cup;
• One low teacup;
• One tea set base.

The set is made from Dehua white porcelain from Dehua, Fujian, China.