If you go to certain Japanese or Asian-fusion restaurants in the U.S.—or travel to Japan—you may have come across tetsubins.

These small, charming cast-iron Japanese teapots are sometimes used to serve tea at restaurants in America—sometimes with matching cups. They can be purchased at some specialty tea shops and online.

But if you’re thinking of buying one for yourself or as a gift for a tea-loving friend, don’t plan on brewing tea in it.

Tetsubins are not meant to brew tea, and they are far from ideal brewing vessels.

That the pots are too heavy for many people to hold steadily with one hand is a minor problem.

But the major problem is that the iron reacts with the tannin in the tea, discoloring the brew and, worse, add hints of iron flavor.

So why are tetsubins made if you can’t brew tea in them?

The tea pots are collectibles and souvenirs—different designs are made in different regions.

So collect as many tetsubins as you like. Just brew your tea in a ceramic, glass, porcelain, stainless steel or other non-reactive pot.

Love tea? Learn more about it in our Tea Section.

These artisan coffee syrups are handmade to
order. Photo courtesy Java & Co.

Made to order, the syrups begin when Java & Co. freshly roasts the coffee beans, from which they brew fresh coffee. The flavors of the coffee are infused into cane sugar syrup. That’s how different these syrups are from those available in coffee shops and supermarkets, which typically use off-the-shelf extracts to flavor their syrups.

Add sweetness to your coffee, in five popular flavors:

 
More information or to purchase.
 
The coffee syrups can be used for more than just coffee. Use them:

Our friends at The Republic Of Tea have created this Christmas-red mulled apple-hibiscus cider, which gets its color from hibiscus tea. (You can buy The Republic Of Tea’s hibiscus tea online.)

Ingredients
For one large mug or two cups:

Individual-portion boxes of original Saratoga
Chips make great stocking stuffers and party
favors. Photo by Jaclyn Nussbaum | THE
NIBBLE.

Our second group of recommendations focuses on savory gifts: coffee and tea, condiments, cured meats, seafood and snacks—including the original potato chip recipe in a reproduction of the historic box in which it was sold, in 1853.

Prices start at $10.99, with most items under $40.00.

There’s still plenty of time to order gifts for Christmas delivery.

Take a look at the gourmet gifts.

See last week’s selection of sweet gourmet gifts.

Nothing picks up the flavor of a mousse recipe—be it chocolate, coffee, raspberry or other favorite—than a spirit or liqueur (liqueur is a spirit that has been sweetened with flavors, oils and/or extracts).

We always add a tablespoon of cherry, coffee or orange liqueur to chocolate mousse. In the recipe below, SKYY vodka replaces cherry liqueur with its cherry vodka.

You can try other flavor-infused vodkas with the recipe—orange or espresso, for example—but first try:

SKYY Infusions Cherry Vodka Chocolate Mousse

Kids might prefer a box of chocolate-covered cherries, but adults tend to favor cherry-vodka-spiked chocolate mousse. If you’re making dessert for both kids and adults, split the batch before you add the vodka.

And should you happen to have a box of chocolate-covered cherries, add one to each plate as “the cherry on the cake.”* Serve a shot of cherry vodka or cherry liqueur with the mousse.

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

1. Place the semisweet chocolate in a large bowl in the microwave. Microwave on high for 1 minute, give the chocolate a stir, then microwave for another 30 seconds until completely melted. Set aside.

2. In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer at high speed until it holds medium peaks. Set aside.

3. In a chilled clean bowl, beat the cream with an electric mixer at high speed until it holds medium peaks. Mix the yolks and vodka into the melted chocolate. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites to lighten the mixture; add the remaining 2/3 of the egg whites and fold gently to keep the air in the beaten egg whites.

4. Add the whipped cream and fold in gently, taking care not to over mix. Spoon the mousse into 4 martini glasses.

5. Using a vegetable peeler, shave chocolate on top of the mousse. Garnish with mint. Chill for at least 1 hour or up to a day ahead.

*An idiom for “something wonderful at the end of something good.” In French, it’s a direct translation, “la cerise sur le gâteau.”

More Mousse Recipes

Find more mousse recipes in our Desserts Section.