it is very interesting... clean look. Since it only holds 11 ounces, perhaps you wouldn't have to worry so much about leaves being left in the water if you poured for two? If the water was left in, that could be a problem...

It's a nice modern look.

Thanks for these thorough crits. They're very helpful to me at this point and I appreciate the time you all took to go over my design.

Andy, I'm so glad you like Sorapot's design. Although it's hard to tell in the photos, Sorapot is quite small and is meant to be used like a gaiwan or yixing pot: multiple infusions that are poured into cups after not much time. This gives you precise control over how long the water is in contact with the leaves and makes a basket unnecessary. One of my design goals for Sorapot was to allow the leaves to circulate freely throughout the entire vessel, so I didn't want to use the kind of overly restrictive mesh basket that's found in a lot of other teapots

Sandi, no need to worry about spilling hot water! You actually would put the dry leaves into the glass tube, then load the tube into the arch and close it. You'd then pour the water in through the spout, which I designed to be "funnel-like" enough that pouring won't need to be that precise. You can then pour the tea out from the spout when it's done steeping and pour more water in for subsequent infusions. You won't have to open the arch and remove the tube until you're done and ready to clean the pot. Because there's no lid, it's actually much harder to spill hot liquid on yourself with the Sorapot than with a traditional teapot.

The modernness of Sorapot's design is actually something I'm a bit concerned about. I want it to look minimal and sleek, but not “technological”, if that makes sense. I'm definitely going for a timeless look, free of embellishment and anything that would distract from the appreciation of tea. I'd love to hear if you think I achieve this, and if you have any suggestions for how I could move my design more in this direction.

Thank you again,
Joey

OK. I get it now. I looked more carefully at the picture. The arch is flexible. The tube is more of a drinking glass. You put tube on a table, drop in leaves, pour in water. Then you pick up the arch unflex it and fit it over the glass. The glass will be hot (scalding) so you have to be careful here. You need to unflex the arch with your free hand somehow. When the glass is fit back in the arch, there is some sort of rubber seal that ensures no leaks. There is a mesh at the spout end of the arch so the leaves will not spill into the teacup.

If I got it right then its use seems a little tricky to me. Sort of like, it would work better with another person helping you.

I'd still buy it...

Elisabeth, it's great that you mention one of those plunger-style electric kettles. I had originally designed the Sorapot with a traditional lid cut into the tube, as you can see here: www.joeyroth.com/soraschema.jpg

Then I took a mind-expanding trip to Japan and found that every home I visited had one of these counter top electric boilers. There was no way to get the water from one of these into the old Sorapot design because the handle blocked the opening. This led to the current water-through-the-spout design.

It does look small in the renderings, but I've prototyped the spout and it's really easy to pour into. The natural slope of the arch actually leads into the spout at that point, so you have a pretty wide area for pouring.

Vacation!Artwit (wonderful name)- the Jena is an inspiration, and you're right- time has a way of removing the makeup of “newness” and separating the really worthwhile designs from the trendy. My hope is that Sorapot will fall into the first category :)

I meant "Yours may look ultramodern." Antecedent unclear.

can you post a front elevation, looking at the spout head on?

I think it looks good and isn't too big of a change in look from the version you initially posted. Yeah, drippage is one of my peeves when pouring tea. Is it already in production? I hope it turns out well! How exciting!