I like drinking loose leaf tea but cleaning the teapot afterward is a real chore. The only method I know is:
Is there an obvious / ingenious method that I am missing?
Put the leaves in an infuser or a straining basket inside the pot. Then you won’t have to spend time trying to get all the leaves out of the tea pot. They’re not hard to find. I get the baskets at the grocery store.
Some Chinese teapots have built in strainers near the spout, but I never rely on that.
OR you can purchase (they are inexpensive) an over-the-cup tea strainer which will catch
the loose tea leaf bits for you. I have a couple of them. You can buy these things at any kitchenware store or, failing that, at those specialty stores where you buy unusual tea / coffee blends.
an seanchai
I’ve never had any problem getting the loose tea out of the pot. That’s easy, one rinse does it. My problem is the staining on the inside of the pot.
Pour the tapwater in through the spout. If the leaves are still logged in there, put your lips around the spout and blow. Hard. This is oddly statisfying. 
Me, I just put the loose leaves in my glass or cup. They rinse out of that a lot easier.
Chlorine is very efficient at removing tea stains from all surfaces.
You’re not meant to remove the staining from the inside of the pot. Traditionally you don’t wash the inside of the pot at all, you just rinse out the old leaves. I remember when I was just old enough to be doing the washing up, getting yelped at by my dad because he saw me about to soap out the inside of the teapot. Kind of like scrubbing a seasoned pan, I suppose.
Yeah, but a seasoned cast iron pan performs better than an unseasoned one (I have an 8" cast iron pan that is a thing of carbonized beauty).
Other than not being yelled at by your dad, what reason is there for me to leave the stains in the pot?
My Nana told me that the build up of tannins improves the flavour of future cups of tea and one should therefore NEVER wash the inside of the teapot. She claimed that it could take up to two years after buying a new teapot to get the taste ‘right’.
Might be a dodgy old-wives tale, or there might be some grain of truth to it…I’ve never been game enough to try washing the teapot to find out!
Well now, when I said “kind of like scrubbing a seasoned pan, I suppose”, that was meant to be a clue. As you so perspicaciously point out, seasoned things can perform better. I have no idea whether tannins building up on the inside of the teapot improve the taste of tea, but since everyone I know (and I now find Kambuckta’s Nana as well) agrees with it, I just thought I’d pass it on. No need to be sarky.
A straining basket might be just the ticket. Thanks! I’ll look for one. I’ve already tried an infuser, but it was way too small and as a result the tea did not brew well.
Yes, actually I already do use a strainer over top of the teacup. That is the first line of defense, but 95% of the leaves remain in the teapot and need to be dealt with later.
Sounds fun, but I take it you only need to do this once or twice? I’d need to do this like a dozen times because the leaves just refuse to come out through the spout. They also get stuck around the rim where the lid goes.
Like others, I was also trained not to use anything but water and to embrace the staining.
How about getting a brush that you only use for the teapot? I’d say a bottle brush would probably work well. Although a strainer thingo seems like easiest all around.
Vinegar does as well.
This is only true with reference to a yixing or unglazed earthenware teapot. Indeed, you’re not supposed to clean tea stains out of those, both because the porous surface is meant to build up the stains, but also because the taste of the detergent will linger instead if you try it.
Glazed (common western-style) teapots should be cleaned and rinsed normally.
When I clean out my good tea-pot, the one that can’t go in the dishwasher, I like to make a baking soda and vinegar “volcano” inside it. Not only fun to do, but it loosens up the built-up stain so I can rinse and wipe it out easily. Also use a little more baking soda to take any stains off the spout or base on the outside. Then fill it with fresh water and let it sit for awhile before another rinse to make sure all the soda and vinegar are gone before using it for more tea.
I am firmly of the belief that tea leaves should be allowed to swim free, unfettered by bags, balls, or infusers whenever possible. I will rinse from the top, then by shooting water in through the spout to get the all leaves out afterwards. If any of stubborn stragglers hang on after that, it is okay to stick your hand inside the pot to go after them.
Why would anyone want to clean the inside of teapot? There’s no dirt, no grease, just some harmless staining, which no one ever sees. Unless there’s some sort of sinister government tannin removal agency that I’m unaware of.
I do this in my sink every few weeks when the disposal starts to smell a little. For… science. Yeah, science.
Also, I’ve got a rockin’ 70s teapot in rockin’ 70s brown. Handy thing about a brown teapot - I’ve never noticed stains in it. They might be there, for all I know, but since they’re the same color as the pot, it just doesn’t matter.
You need a strongish current of water - enough to agitate the leaves loose.
Put open teapot under tap with strong flowing water, let it fill, invert and empty, and refill and repeat until there are no more leaves.
I use a french press for my tea, because I alternate between regular tea and some more delicate greens and stronger chai. It seems to work very well for me.