• Little Crocodile Tea Pet sitting upright, pale clay belly and dark hand-coloured back
  • Side view of the Little Crocodile tea pet showing dark scales along the back
  • Back view of the crocodile tea pet showing the hand-coloured scale pattern
  • Little Crocodile tea pet sitting in an open palm for scale
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Little Crocodile Tea Pet

Little Crocodile Tea Pet

$35.00
$35.00
Sale Sold out
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What a tea pet is

A tea pet is a small clay figure that lives on the tea tray. Between infusions you pour the leftover tea or rinse water over it. Do that for a few months and the clay darkens and takes on a soft sheen, so your tea pet slowly becomes a record of the tea you've drunk. It's a small, slightly silly tradition, and most people who try it get attached.

This one

A crocodile sitting up on his tail, belly out, front claws resting on his stomach, snout tipped up as if he's waiting for the next pour. He's palm sized, about 5 cm long and 4 cm tall, and weighs around 50 g.

The body is Yixing clay, the same family of clay as Yixing teapots. This one is a pale, sandy clay called baiyu duanni, white jade duan clay. The scales along the back and head are coloured by hand in a dark glossy brown, while the belly, legs and face are left as bare clay with a fine grain you can feel.

Feeding him

Bare duan clay is porous, which is the point. Pour tea over him and the pale clay drinks it in. Over time the belly and face shift from cream toward amber and the surface takes on a gentle polish. Darker teas like ripe pu-erh and black tea do this fastest. Give him a wipe with a soft cloth now and then so the colour builds evenly.

Specifications

  • Length: 5.2 cm
  • Height: 4.0 cm
  • Width: 3.2 cm
  • Weight: about 50 g
  • Material: Yixing baiyu duanni clay, hand-coloured back
  • Origin: Yixing, Jiangsu, China

Care

Tea and water only. No soap, no oils, no polish. Skip the dishwasher.

Each crocodile is made and coloured by hand. Expect small differences in the shade of the back, and now and then a tiny bump or dark iron speck in the clay from firing. Sizes can vary by a few millimetres.

Related

Tea Pet · Tea Wares · Tea Gifts

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About A Moment of Tea

Visit Our Hobart Tea Bar: Find us at Salamanca Art Centre where we've been sharing tea culture since 2022.

Tea Experience: Joanne has spent over 10 years learning tea traditions - from Chinese gongfu brewing in Beijing to Japanese matcha ceremonies here in Hobart.

Local Recognition: Featured in The Mercury, ABC, SBS Chinese, and Tasmanian community publications for bringing authentic tea culture to our community.

Carefully Selected Teas & Teaware: We select Chinese, Japanese and Tasmanian teas, plus teaware that we personally use and enjoy.

Easy Returns: Something not quite right? Email us within 7 days and we'll make it right.

Our Refund Policy

Let customers speak for us

from 149 reviews
Lovely tea and service

A Moment of Tea have been wonderfully helpful educating me on the finer points of tea, and are supplying me with a lovely Ripe Puerh tea which I adore. Highly recommended, A Moment of Tea is my go to for fine tea.

Daniel Aaron Dienes
"Sweet Stock" Ripe Pu-erh Brick 2021 Huang Pian
Beautiful and complex!

My absolute favourite tea—so beautiful, with such complex and rich flavours. For the second infusion, I’ve begun to cold brew it over night in the fridge and that brings out a lot of the more floral notes- i highly recommend, to make the most of this tea!!

arya beltaine
Tasmanian Lavender Puerh
Great shop

Great shop, excellent products and staff are fantastic

.
A Moment of Tea
Perfect

A truly lovely cup of tea

Bethy
Silver Needles White Tea
Perhaps Starter Pack.

A lovely selection of teas. I have enjoyed them.
Good to start with if you haven't tried Puerh teas before.
Thank you.

Kaye Mawhinney
Puerh Starter Pack

Free Tea Samples

Lisa A Brown
Free Tea Samples
Awesome

Love the tea❤️ 🫖

Allie Way
Jasmine Dragon Pearls / Buddhas Tears
Love the variety

Ooh ! I am excited to try a range of new teas from the variety of starter packs I ordered. A great way to try new teas before buying bigger tins. Love, love a moment of tea. Beautiful teas for all occasions.

Racheal JOYCE
Puerh Starter Pack
Evening Sample Pack

Each tea has been a revelation. Such inspiring company for work days. Thank-you.

Alicia H
Evening Tea Sampler Pack
Cute tea pets

Highly recommended cute tea pets! Puppy and kitty love them toooooooo!!!

Jan W
Little Mouse Tea Pet

Aged White Tea 2012 (Lao Bai Cha)

Andrew Jenner
Aged White Tea 2012 (Lao Bai Cha)
Good value quality chen pi

A good quality chen pi at a great price. Much better than the chen pi found in supermarkets.

Andy
Aged Mandarin Peel 2016/Chen Pi/ Dried Tangerine Peels
Enjoying this very much

I’m really enjoying this tea. Very smooth, an incredible tea to taste. Highly recommend. Will definitely repurchase and continue to try other teas you recommend. Thankyou

Julie Richards
"Sweet Stock" Ripe Pu-erh Brick 2021 Huang Pian
Beautiful Tea

This is seriously a lovely tea. Smooth flavour and no bitterness at all. I usually like milk with my tea but no problems without milk at all. Will definitely purchase again. Thanks

Julie Richards
Tasmanian Lavender Puerh
Handy flask

This is a really handy little flask. Just the right size and the temp gauge is a great addition so you know how hot the contents are . Not too big or small just right😄

Julie Richards
Insulated Tea Flask with Infuser & Temperature Gauge - 820ml Thermal Thermos-White Color