Tea of the week: Cecilia Stoop Teapot for Hoganas

This is my new favourite teapot.

I saw it in Skandium when I was shopping for a friend's birthday present. It is Swedish, designed by Cecilia Stoop for Hoganas. I let out a little gasp when I saw it, and then another when I saw it was £52, which is well over the limit of what I'm able to spend. So I took a photo on my mobile phone and sent it to him, with the suggestion that he chip in £30 towards it. The feedback was that he wanted one which was 'rounder and heavier, with a separate tea compartment', so I eliminated teapot off the potential present list due to his high specifications and got myself into an argument later when he worked out I was asking him to contribute over half of the cost.

Since then, I've come up with a much better idea; I'm going to put it on my own Christmas/birthday list, and I will be willing to contribute over half the cost, without haggling on % technicalities. It is available in a range of beautiful colours, including dark brown, olive green and grey, some of which you can see at the manufacturer's website here. Contrary to my friend's opinion, it is actually very heavy, and it does have a separate tea strainer just under the lid, which is wood, but seems to be laminated on the underside of the lid, so it shouldn't stain too much.

Photo via Hoganas.