Building a Yixing Collection for Oolong

[David R.]

Re: Building a Yixing Collection for Oolong

by David R. » Nov 17th, '10, 21:05

That is amazing how much difference there is between tea lovers. That is great actually. So many different things to taste yet using the same leaves...

I have tried recently using very few leaves for much longer brews. Results are very interesting. Something like 3-4g for 12cl for 4 min for light and medium roasted oolongs for the first brew. Some teas perform really great like this, better than more "gong fu" brewing for me.

That is my advice was to turn to medium large pots rather than tiny ones. But ultimately, it depends on your taste.

[Tead Off]

Re: Building a Yixing Collection for Oolong

by Tead Off » Nov 18th, '10, 01:23

Packing the pot can be a nightmare with many teas as both the jolt and the bitterness will often be inflated.

Now who's being too "girlie?" I have several female friends who not only fill up their pots with Wuyi and high fire TGY, but they also crush up some leaf to fit more in too! Man up and put 9g of Classic Roast in a 40ml pot Tead Off!

Haha. You've got me there! My taste buds are still alive.

[brandon]

Re: Building a Yixing Collection for Oolong

by brandon » Nov 18th, '10, 10:08

Packing the pot can be a nightmare with many teas as both the jolt and the bitterness will often be inflated.

Now who's being too "girlie?" I have several female friends who not only fill up their pots with Wuyi and high fire TGY, but they also crush up some leaf to fit more in too! Man up and put 9g of Classic Roast in a 40ml pot Tead Off!

Haha. You've got me there! My taste buds are still alive.

Maybe they are just using better teas than you.

[Tead Off]

Re: Building a Yixing Collection for Oolong

by Tead Off » Nov 18th, '10, 13:09

Packing the pot can be a nightmare with many teas as both the jolt and the bitterness will often be inflated.

Now who's being too "girlie?" I have several female friends who not only fill up their pots with Wuyi and high fire TGY, but they also crush up some leaf to fit more in too! Man up and put 9g of Classic Roast in a 40ml pot Tead Off!

Haha. You've got me there! My taste buds are still alive.

Maybe they are just using better teas than you.

Right.

[edkrueger]

Re: Building a Yixing Collection for Oolong

by edkrueger » Nov 18th, '10, 13:10

Packing the pot can be a nightmare with many teas as both the jolt and the bitterness will often be inflated.

Now who's being too "girlie?" I have several female friends who not only fill up their pots with Wuyi and high fire TGY, but they also crush up some leaf to fit more in too! Man up and put 9g of Classic Roast in a 40ml pot Tead Off!

Haha. You've got me there! My taste buds are still alive.

Maybe they are just using better teas than you.

Right.

Probably.

[teaisme]

Re: Building a Yixing Collection for Oolong

by teaisme » Nov 22nd, '10, 17:33

Wow bunch of meanies

Ultimately, I think a pot has to be tested and paired with a tea based on the owner's own preferences.

+1
Yeah that magic formula for pairing a tea to a teapot without even touching it is just too complicated and iffy, with variables fluctuating too much from person to person, thing to thing

[bagua7]

Re: Building a Yixing Collection for Oolong

by bagua7 » Nov 23rd, '10, 20:37

This is an art. I don't recall "cha dao" being shaped by derivatives and integers.

[fracol]

Re: Building a Yixing Collection for Oolong

by fracol » Nov 28th, '10, 18:14

Well no offence or anything, but im only 15 so their is no way I can buy all these teapots for a decent yixing collection. Its interesting info though. Just wish I could fund such an endevor

[edkrueger]

Re: Building a Yixing Collection for Oolong

by edkrueger » Nov 28th, '10, 20:30

This is an art. I don't recall "cha dao" being shaped by derivatives and integers.

Every art has mathematical properties.

[the_economist]

Re: Building a Yixing Collection for Oolong

by the_economist » Nov 29th, '10, 02:17

This is an art. I don't recall "cha dao" being shaped by derivatives and integers.

Every art has mathematical properties.

hear hear!

[Poohblah]

Re: Building a Yixing Collection for Oolong

by Poohblah » Jan 10th, '11, 00:14

Well no offence or anything, but im only 15 so their is no way I can buy all these teapots for a decent yixing collection. Its interesting info though. Just wish I could fund such an endevor

You have plenty of time to build your collection. The important thing is that you find a way to enjoy your teas. It is not too difficult or expensive to brew oolongs in an acceptable manner. Yixings are not required to enjoy tea.

[Herb_Master]

Re: Building a Yixing Collection for Oolong

by Herb_Master » Feb 27th, '11, 07:00

Very informative thread

How is your collection growing

Did you take note of information from this and other Teachat threads, or base your purchases mainly on the advice and suggestions of the shops where you bought them?

[auhckw]

Re: Building a Yixing Collection for Oolong

by auhckw » Feb 27th, '11, 07:10

Very informative thread

How is your collection growing

Did you take note of information from this and other Teachat threads, or base your purchases mainly on the advice and suggestions of the shops where you bought them?

Yes, I have taken notes on all the information you guys gave.

Didn't purchase much teapots yet cause haven't really come across any that catches my eyes much. One of the shop I frequently visit has made some custom order and is going to bring in some time around May/June. Will wait till then to see...

[David R.]

Re: Building a Yixing Collection for Oolong

by David R. » Feb 27th, '11, 08:56

These days, I've been comparing the results of my pots the way it is shown in Hojo's video, which was also already explained by Brandon in his blog. It is really very interesting.

But what was even more interesting was to have a friend mix the cups for me to try to find out which cup came from which pot.

I mostly had difficulties admitting the best cup was not always coming from my dedicated teapot... But sometimes "best" is somewhat relative, "different" would be much more accurate.

Attachments

Here an attempt on a yan cha

IMG_7603a.JPG (103.13 KiB) Viewed 559 times

[Herb_Master]

Re: Building a Yixing Collection for Oolong

by Herb_Master » Feb 27th, '11, 10:30

David (and Brandon) I envy those of you with palates so fine that the differences are immediate and obvious.

I tried the Hojo water test in the shop with Hui in September and again with Natalie in January - my ability to detect the difference was marginal at best. So much so that when I met Hojo (having had a report from Natalie about me ) he dispensed with teaware testing altogether and started introducing me to tea straight away. It is a pre-requisite of Hojo that EVERY new customer must be given the water test before they are allowed to taste any teas.

However I can taste the difference between Yan Cha and Dan Cong brewed in Gaiwan and Yixing or Chao Zhou
AND
I can tell the difference in Dan Cong brewed with a high mineral bottled water or a sterile bottle water/filtered tap water- so I am not completely a lost cause!