Japanese Sado red clay for sheng cha

[David R.]

Hi everybody,

I am now thinking about replacing my teapot dedicated to sheng cha. It is a good low price teapot but as I appreciate a lot young puerh (between 2 and 10 years old, the ones I can afford) I would like an upgrade.

I have read a lot of things on the matter and I have one question : does anyone of you have tried brewing sheng cha with a japanese red clay teapot such as the Watanabe Tozo's sold by Akira Hojo ?

I happen to have a Shimizu Ken kyusu which is a red clay one. But it is a little to big for gong fu cha (20cl.) Yet, I have tried brewing young puerh in it. As for green tea, it tends to sweeten the tea also making it more detailed, but this kyusu is the only "good" teapot I have and so I cannot compare to anything else.

So, before buying, I would like to know if anyone of you have done this kind of comparison before.

Thanks in advance and a great teatime to you all !

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[tingjunkie]

According to Hojo, the Sado clay is better for oolong teas. Apparently it preserves flavor and aroma. I'm not sure this would be my first choice for young sheng, as most that I've had could stand a little "taming" or "rounding" of the flavors.

I am about to do a few experiments using a 4oz tokoname kyusu for young sheng. I tried it for oolongs, and it took away too many of the higher notes, and rounded the flavor too much. These qualities may make it work great for feisty pu though. We'll see.

In short, I wouldn't recommend spending the silly Sado prices to get a pot for young sheng that may not work too great anyway. If you want to go out on a limb and try something other than yixing, perhaps try a much cheaper (but better made, from what I've heard) banko kyusu. Banko's supposed qualities (making green tea "sweeter" and removing some of the fishy aromas) could be better suited for green sheng anyway.

Just my 2c. Good luck.

[David R.]

Thanks for your opinion.

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