Frequently Asked Questions

Granny's team packs every order within 1 to 3 business days after your payment clears. Business days are Monday through Friday, excluding federal holidays. Orders placed over a weekend start moving the next business day.

All major credit and debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover), plus PayPal. Your card details are handled directly by our payment processor and never touch our servers.

Yes. The whole store runs on encrypted HTTPS and payments are processed by PCI-compliant providers. We never see or store your full card number.

Email teatime@luluteapot.com as fast as you can. If the parcel has not left our warehouse we will happily change the address, swap an item, or cancel it. Once it ships we cannot redirect it.

Check your spam and promotions folders first, as confirmations sometimes land there. If it is nowhere to be found, write to teatime@luluteapot.com with the name and address you used, and we will resend it.

Sales tax is calculated at checkout when it applies to your shipping state. The exact amount always shows before you pay, with no surprises afterward.

We take orders through the website only, which keeps your payment details safe. If something blocks you at checkout, email us and we will sort it out with you.

Yes. For tea rooms, offices, wedding favors or any order above ten pieces, email teatime@luluteapot.com with what you have in mind and we will send you a quote.

Two options at checkout: Standard Shipping arrives in 5 to 10 business days and is free on every US order, and Premium Express arrives in 3 to 7 business days for $9.95. Both times start after the 1 to 3 day processing window.

Standard Shipping is free on every US order, with no minimum to reach. Premium Express is the only paid option for US orders, at a flat $9.95 no matter how much you buy. International Standard Shipping is $9.90, free on orders of $59 or more.

Yes. Granny Lulu ships internationally, with tracking on every order. International Standard Shipping takes 7 to 14 business days after processing and costs $9.90, free on orders of $59 or more. Customs duties or import taxes, where they apply, are paid by the recipient. If you are in France or Europe, our French store la-theiere-de-lulu.com also ships locally.

Yes to all fifty states including Alaska and Hawaii, and yes to PO boxes and APO/FPO military addresses. Remote destinations can add a few days to the standard window.

As soon as your parcel leaves, you get an email with a tracking link. Give the carrier 24 to 48 hours to register the first scan before worrying about a quiet tracking page.

Tracking often sits still while a parcel travels between sorting centers, especially over weekends. If nothing has changed after 5 business days, email us and we will open an investigation with the carrier.

No. The price you see at checkout is the final price: shipping is included and you will never be asked for extra fees on delivery.

Choose Premium Express and order early: for a birthday or a holiday we recommend ordering at least two weeks ahead. If it is truly urgent, email us before ordering and we will tell you honestly whether it can make it.

Sometimes, when items come from different warehouses. You are never charged extra for it, and each parcel gets its own tracking link.

Yes, within 30 days of delivery. The item must come back unused, in its original packaging, with all tags and accessories. Write to teatime@luluteapot.com and we send you the return instructions.

Return postage is on you for a change of mind, and entirely on us when the item arrived damaged, faulty, or simply is not what you ordered.

None. What you paid for the item comes back to you in full.

Once your return reaches us and passes a quick check, the refund goes out within 10 business days to the original payment method. Your bank can take a few extra days to display it.

Take photos of the item and the box, then email them to teatime@luluteapot.com within 48 hours of delivery. We ship a replacement or refund you in full, and you pay nothing extra.

Send us a photo and your order number. We cover the return label and get the right piece to you as fast as possible.

Anything used, washed, or altered, plus gift cards and clearance items marked final sale. A seasoned cast iron or clay teapot has absorbed tea oils, so it cannot go back either.

Every piece is covered for 30 days against manufacturing defects, on top of your legal rights. Normal wear, accidental drops, and rust from leaving water inside a cast iron pot are not covered.

Yes. The simplest way is to return the original for a refund and place a new order, so you are not waiting on stock. Tell us and we will guide you through it.

For a first proper teapot, glass with a built-in infuser is the easiest: you see the leaves open, it suits every kind of tea, and it goes straight in the dishwasher. Cast iron is the choice when you want heat retention and a piece that lasts decades.

Count roughly 8 oz (240 ml) per cup. Around 12 to 16 oz for one person, 24 to 34 oz for two or three, and 40 oz or more for a table full of guests. A teapot brews best when it is close to full, so do not oversize it.

Glass shows off the leaves and never keeps flavors. Ceramic and porcelain are neutral and gentle for delicate teas. Cast iron holds heat the longest. Clay, like Yixing, seasons over time and deepens one specific tea. Stainless steel is the most travel-proof.

Cast iron keeps tea hot far longer and is nearly unbreakable, but it needs drying after each use and never goes in the dishwasher. Ceramic is lighter, dishwasher safe, and easier to live with day to day.

If you drink loose leaf, yes: it saves you buying a separate strainer and makes pouring cleaner. Look for a wide, deep basket, since a cramped one stops the leaves from unfurling and flattens the taste.

A kettle heats the water, on a stove or electrically. A teapot brews the leaves in that hot water. Some cast iron pots do both, but most teapots must never sit on a flame.

A gaiwan is a Chinese lidded bowl for short, repeated infusions. It is the traditional way to taste oolong and pu-erh, letting you follow how a tea changes over ten steeps. It is a lovely second piece, rarely a first one.

Yixing pots are made from unglazed purple clay from Jiangsu, China. The porous clay slowly absorbs the oils of the tea you brew, so the pot develops its own character. That is also why you dedicate one Yixing pot to one type of tea.

Only pots and kettles with a magnetic base, so cast iron and most stainless steel. Glass, ceramic, porcelain and clay do not work on induction. Our Induction Kettles collection gathers the compatible pieces.

Only if it is explicitly sold as stovetop safe. A regular ceramic, porcelain or glass teapot will crack on direct heat. Boil your water in a kettle, then pour it into the teapot.

If you mostly brew for yourself, absolutely. A small 12 to 16 oz pot gets the ratio right, keeps the tea from stewing, and heats up faster than a big pot you never fill.

Real Yixing clay comes from one small area near Jiangsu and the good pots are still shaped by hand, often by named artisans. You are paying for genuine zisha clay and for craft, which is also why the market is full of cheap imitations.

Real zisha is unglazed and slightly grainy to the touch, it smells faintly of earth when rinsed with hot water, and it never looks glossy or perfectly uniform. A suspiciously cheap, shiny, flawless pot is usually coated clay.

Neither wins outright. Cast iron holds heat far longer and lasts a lifetime, ceramic is lighter, dishwasher safe and gentler on delicate teas. Choose cast iron for long tea sessions, ceramic for everyday ease.

Less well than cast iron, honestly. Double-wall glass helps, and a tea cozy or a warmer with a tealight keeps a glass pot hot far longer if you linger over your tea.

Porcelain is a ceramic, fired hotter and finer, so it is thinner, whiter and slightly translucent at the edge. Stoneware ceramic is thicker and holds heat a bit better. Both are neutral in taste.

Rinse it with hot water only, never soap, then dry it right away inside and out, and leave the lid off so the last drops evaporate. Water left standing overnight is the one thing that causes rust.

Fill it with hot water and let it sit for a few minutes, empty it, then brew a first pot of tea you do not intend to drink. Repeat two or three times and a protective tea film builds up inside.

Almost never. Boil water with a spoonful of used tea leaves inside for a few minutes: the tannins react with the rust and neutralize it. Rinse, dry thoroughly, and go back to drying it after every use. An enamel-lined pot cannot rust inside at all.

Glass, porcelain and most ceramic pots handle it fine. Never put cast iron, clay or Yixing, or anything with a wooden handle in the dishwasher. When in doubt, the product page says so.

Make a paste of baking soda and a little water, rub it gently with a soft sponge, then rinse well. For glass, white vinegar diluted in hot water lifts the brown film. Skip abrasive pads, they scratch.

Not on cast iron or unglazed clay: soap strips the seasoning and leaves a taste. Hot water and a soft brush are enough. Glass, porcelain and glazed ceramic tolerate a mild soap.

Rinse it with boiling water before first use, then brew only one family of tea in it. Clean it with hot water alone, never soap, and let it air dry uncovered. Over the years it develops a patina that makes the tea rounder.

Fill it with equal parts white vinegar and water, bring it to a boil, then let it sit for an hour before rinsing several times. Once a month is plenty in hard water areas.

Empty the leaves right away and rinse under hot water: dried tannins are what clog the mesh. Once a month, soak it in warm water with baking soda and brush it gently.

Soak the tines in warm water for a minute before whisking so they soften. After use, rinse with water only, never soap, and dry it on a whisk stand so the prongs keep their shape.

A well-treated cast iron or clay teapot outlives its owner. Glass and porcelain last for years as long as you avoid thermal shocks. The pieces that fail early are almost always the ones scrubbed with abrasives or run through the dishwasher when they should not be.

Usually the pour is too slow and hesitant: tip decisively and the stream stays clean. A spout with a sharp lower edge pours better, and wiping the spout dry after each pour stops the drip from staining the body.

Because it was put away damp. Bamboo holds water between the prongs, so rinse it, shake it out, and let it dry prongs-up on a whisk stand in open air, never in a closed drawer or a sealed box.

Three to six months with daily use. The tines eventually thin out and break, and that is normal wear, not a defect. A whisk stand noticeably extends its life by keeping the shape.

Yes, and it smells far better than vinegar. Dissolve a tablespoon of citric acid in a liter of water, boil, leave 20 minutes, then rinse two or three times.

Only if it is pure borosilicate with no metal parts at all. A stainless steel infuser or a metal lid ring means it must never go in the microwave.

Around 175°F for green and white tea, 195°F for oolong, and a full boil at 212°F for black, pu-erh and herbal infusions. Boiling water on green tea is the classic way to make it bitter.

Roughly 2 to 3 minutes for green, 3 to 5 for black, 4 to 7 for oolong depending on style, and 5 minutes or more for herbal blends. Taste as you go, then note what you liked.

One rounded teaspoon, about 2 to 3 grams, per 8 oz cup. Bulky leaves such as white tea or big oolong balls take a little more since they take up more room.

Three usual suspects: water too hot, steeped too long, or too many leaves. Change one thing at a time. Green tea in particular hates boiling water.

Good loose leaf is made for it. Oolong and pu-erh give three to six infusions, each one different, and green tea usually gives two. Add a few seconds to each new steep.

It takes ten seconds and it genuinely helps. Swirl hot water inside, tip it out, then brew: the pot does not steal heat from your water and the temperature stays stable.

Loose leaf uses whole leaves that can unfurl, which gives more aroma and lets you re-steep. Bags usually hold broken pieces that brew fast and flat. A pot with a wide infuser is what makes loose leaf effortless.

Cold brew is the easiest: leaves in cold water, in the fridge, 8 to 12 hours, then strain. It never turns bitter and never goes cloudy the way hot tea poured on ice does.

A small jar with a lid does a decent job: sift the matcha, add a splash of 175°F water, shake hard, then top up with water or milk. A bamboo chasen still gives a finer foam.

Airtight, away from light, heat, moisture and strong smells. A sealed tea canister in a cupboard is ideal. Not in the fridge, and never in a clear jar on a sunny shelf.

Roughly 40 to 70 mg per cup for black tea, 25 to 45 for green, 30 to 50 for oolong, and 60 to 70 for matcha since you drink the whole leaf. Herbal infusions such as chamomile or rooibos have none.

Up to a point, then it just makes it bitter. Past the recommended time you extract tannins rather than aroma. To get a stronger cup, add more leaves instead of more minutes.

Taste it. Set a timer for the low end of the range, sip, and pour it off the moment it tastes right to you. Leaving the leaves in the pot means it keeps brewing in your cup.

An electric kettle is faster and more energy efficient, and a variable temperature model lets you hit 175°F for green tea exactly. A stovetop kettle is the better looking object and works during a power cut.

If you brew gongfu style, matcha or delicate greens, yes: the narrow spout gives you control over where and how fast the water lands. For a big pot of black tea, an ordinary kettle is perfectly fine.

Yes. Everything we sell is intended for food contact: food-grade silicone, 304 or 316 stainless steel, borosilicate glass, and lead-free glazes on ceramic and porcelain.

It is made for it. Borosilicate handles sudden temperature changes far better than ordinary glass, which is exactly why it is the standard for teapots. Still avoid pouring boiling water into a pot straight out of the fridge.

An enamel-lined pot, which is what most Japanese tetsubin-style teapots use, puts no iron in your tea at all. Bare cast iron releases a trace amount, harmless and even considered a small benefit by some.

Yes, all our silicone infusers are food-grade and BPA free, and they hold up to boiling water without releasing taste or odor.

Borosilicate is resistant but not indestructible. Avoid extreme thermal shocks, such as cold water into a very hot pot, and never place it on a direct flame unless the page says stovetop safe.

Yes. Every electric item we sell in the United States is supplied for the US market with a standard 110-120V plug.

A chip on the outside is only cosmetic. If the inner lining chips, stop brewing in it: the bare metal underneath can rust and alter the taste. Contact us if that happens on a recent order.

Yes. The Japanese-style pots we sell are enamel-lined inside, so your tea only ever touches vitreous enamel, not bare metal. The enamel we source is lead free and rated for food contact.

Genuine unglazed zisha clay is safe and has been used for tea for five centuries. The risk lies with fake pots finished with cheap coatings, which is why sourcing matters more than price on this category.

Yes, provided the silicone is food grade, which is the only kind we stock. It stays stable well beyond water's boiling point and does not leach taste or odor into your tea.

Where a Prop 65 warning applies, it appears on the product page. Prop 65 is a Californian labeling law with very low thresholds, so a warning flags a disclosure requirement rather than a proven danger.

A matched teapot and cups set never misses. For someone who already owns a pot, a gongfu tray, a matcha set or a nomadic infuser bottle brings something genuinely new. Our Gift Finder walks you through it by recipient.

Not yet, though it is high on Granny's list. Orders ship in neutral packaging, and the invoice never shows prices when you tell us it is a gift, just ask in the order notes.

Yes. Digital gift cards arrive by email within minutes, never expire, and can be used on anything in the store.

Of course. Enter their address as the shipping address at checkout and yours for billing. They receive the parcel, never the receipt.

A porcelain or glass set with cups looks generous and suits every taste. Cast iron is the choice for someone who already loves tea and will appreciate a piece that lasts a lifetime.

Granny Lulu is the spirit behind the shop: the grandmother whose kitchen always had a pot on the table. The store is run by a small team who picks every teapot by hand, and it is operated by Yavok LLC in Sheridan, Wyoming.

Granny Lulu is operated by Yavok LLC, 30 N Gould St, Ste N, Sheridan, WY 82801, United States. Depending on the item, your order ships from one of our partner warehouses, which is why two pieces ordered together sometimes arrive separately.

Each piece is chosen for the tradition it comes from: Japanese cast iron tetsubin, Chinese Yixing clay, Moroccan and Turkish styles, English porcelain. We describe honestly what a piece is and where its style comes from.

Email teatime@luluteapot.com or use the contact page. A real person answers within 1 to 2 business days, weekends aside.

Not at the moment. Everything happens online, which is what lets us keep the range this wide and the prices reasonable.

Not yet. Granny Lulu focuses on teapots, kettles and accessories, and her own loose leaf blends are in the works. Our Find Your Tea guide meanwhile tells you which tea suits you and which gear brews it best.