What do you think of this zhuni pot?

[Maxwell2079]

Thanks for your feedback ImmortaliTEA. Yixing world is a crazy one. What tea did you try it with? Gaoshan from Taiwan?

I also love the helmet style lid too.

[ImmortaliTEA]

Thanks for your feedback ImmortaliTEA. Yixing world is a crazy one. What tea did you try it with? Gaoshan from Taiwan?

I also love the helmet style lid too.

I tried it with a Wuyi Shui Xian (light roasted), a high grade green TGY, and a roasted Li Shan (1995 from RB). I'd have to say that this pot doesn't do much for rounding charcoal notes but personally the Yan Cha still came out great. I haven't been able to find a single picture of a less than high fired Zhu Ni teapot on the Internet so difficult to compare to anything!

[Maxwell2079]

I tried it with a Wuyi Shui Xian (light roasted), a high grade green TGY, and a roasted Li Shan (1995 from RB). I'd have to say that this pot doesn't do much for rounding charcoal notes but personally the Yan Cha still came out great. I haven't been able to find a single picture of a less than high fired Zhu Ni teapot on the Internet so difficult to compare to anything!

Sounds good!
Haven't seen a zhuni that is less than high fire either!

What is the source of the Li shan you´ve mentioned if I may ask? REd blossoms?

[ImmortaliTEA]

I tried it with a Wuyi Shui Xian (light roasted), a high grade green TGY, and a roasted Li Shan (1995 from RB). I'd have to say that this pot doesn't do much for rounding charcoal notes but personally the Yan Cha still came out great. I haven't been able to find a single picture of a less than high fired Zhu Ni teapot on the Internet so difficult to compare to anything!

Sounds good!
Haven't seen a zhuni that is less than high fire either!

What is the source of the Li shan you´ve mentioned if I may ask? REd blossoms?

Yes from Red Blossom but unfortunately they are sold out, however, if you like aged oolongs I do also recommend the 80's Baozhong not anything near Tim's 60's Shui Xian but still good for more of an every day type aged oolong!

[gasninja]

Maxwell did you get one of the cheap hei ni pots? I have been eyeing the 40 ml for the same reason does the clay seem alright.

[ImmortaliTEA]

Maxwell did you get one of the cheap hei ni pots? I have been eyeing the 40 ml for the same reason does the clay seem alright.

I have the 70 & 100 ml versions and I personally like the clay a lot and it does seem like genuine Hei Ni, however, be warned that it can be a bit of an eraser (hence the low-medium firing) as I know some people dislike this characteristic. Good for very strong teas to round the sharp notes (especially younger Sheng).

Also,
If you aren't really about the eraser type clays but you still want a great small teapot around 40 ml, I do highly recommend the Qing Duan Ni teapots sold on Dragon Tea House as the clay brews wonderful greener oolongs (but will probably brew any tea great I just have only tried it with lighter teas because it is medium-high to high fired and I usually like those for preserving Aroma, however, this Qing Duan Ni preserves aroma, concentrates flavor, and thickens mouthfeel slightly all at once so I'm pretty certain it will brew stronger teas just as well). Thanks!

[Maxwell2079]

Maxwell did you get one of the cheap hei ni pots? I have been eyeing the 40 ml for the same reason does the clay seem alright.

Yes, the cheap hei ni. Mine was 100 ml. The other in the site are smaller I think.

Good for very strong teas to round the sharp notes (especially younger Sheng).

Crazy ,because I felt exactly the opposite. I tried it with a 2 years Sheng pu , I felt the clay increased aroma and flavor (in all cases I did blind tasting so my mind didn't play games , and did a mark at the bottom of the tea cup that contained the tea from pot, so I knew which was which at the end). I also tried with monkey picked TGY and very high roasted TGY from Taiwan. In all the cases I felt the same. The only thing it improved was the mouth feel. But the bitterness was stronger in the pot when I drank sheng.
In the case of the oolongs I kind of felt the tea from pot was less acid/sour. But very very subtle and I felt that only with the monkey picked. I brewed the teas even stronger to make the test more obvious.
I compared the tea brew in the pot against a gaiwan.
However, my gaiwan has a little more capacity than the pot. But it has an imperfection that at the level of 100 ml. So I tried to fill it exactly up to that mark.
Just to make sure I will give it another shot with a Gaiwan of the same capacity.

Did you feel that the hei ni smoothed the bitterness or what kind of sharp note did you feel rounded in the case of sheng pu?

By the way, I have been really tempted to get Tim's teas/teapots. I will probably end up doing so

[ImmortaliTEA]

Maxwell did you get one of the cheap hei ni pots? I have been eyeing the 40 ml for the same reason does the clay seem alright.

Yes, the cheap hei ni. Mine was 100 ml. The other in the site are smaller I think.

Good for very strong teas to round the sharp notes (especially younger Sheng).

Crazy ,because I felt exactly the opposite. I tried it with a 2 years Sheng pu , I felt the clay increased aroma and flavor (in all cases I did blind tasting so my mind didn't play games , and did a mark at the bottom of the tea cup that contained the tea from pot, so I knew which was which at the end). I also tried with monkey picked TGY and very high roasted TGY from Taiwan. In all the cases I felt the same. The only thing it improved was the mouth feel. But the bitterness was stronger in the pot when I drank sheng.
In the case of the oolongs I kind of felt the tea from pot was less acid/sour. But very very subtle and I felt that only with the monkey picked. I brewed the teas even stronger to make the test more obvious.
I compared the tea brew in the pot against a gaiwan.
However, my gaiwan has a little more capacity than the pot. But it has an imperfection that at the level of 100 ml. So I tried to fill it exactly up to that mark.
Just to make sure I will give it another shot with a Gaiwan of the same capacity.

Did you feel that the hei ni smoothed the bitterness or what kind of sharp note did you feel rounded in the case of sheng pu?

By the way, I have been really tempted to get Tim's teas/teapots. I will probably end up doing so

Oh I think I know why it seems we have different views on the clays brewing properties. I just realized that the characteristics I associated with these teapots was from my experimentation with the 70 ml Hei Ni (grey base color clay) and the vendor told me it was a different batch of Hei Ni with a grey base color (wherein the 100 & 40 ml versions have black base color clay) so I guess it makes sense that they could have different brewing characteristics. Since 100 ml is on the larger end of what I have been using lately I haven't even gotten around to experimenting with my 100 ml version. I will try some young Sheng and other roasted teas with this teapot so I can see if I agree with your analysis of the black base Hei Ni!

However, if I were to describe the characteristics of this grey base color Hei Ni (70 ml) I would say that yes the bitterness of young Sheng is not only rounded but severely rounded so much so that the bitterness is all but gone. The aroma is slightly suppressed but not to the point of low fired Qing Shui Ni or Duan Ni. The mouthfeel is thickened on all examples of Hei Ni I have ever used. I love Hei Ni and feel it can brew great tea if you enjoy your tea as I do(chewy mouthfeel & smooth taste).

[Maxwell2079]

Oh I think I know why it seems we have different views on the clays brewing properties. I just realized that the characteristics I associated with these teapots was from my experimentation with the 70 ml Hei Ni (grey base color clay) and the vendor told me it was a different batch of Hei Ni with a grey base color (wherein the 100 & 40 ml versions have black base color clay) so I guess it makes sense that they could have different brewing characteristics. Since 100 ml is on the larger end of what I have been using lately I haven't even gotten around to experimenting with my 100 ml version. I will try some young Sheng and other roasted teas with this teapot so I can see if I agree with your analysis of the black base Hei Ni!

Oh I see

I was exactly looking the result of your 2nd paragraph description:

However, if I were to describe the characteristics of this grey base color Hei Ni (70 ml) I would say that yes the bitterness of young Sheng is not only rounded but severely rounded so much so that the bitterness is all but gone. The aroma is slightly suppressed but not to the point of low fired Qing Shui Ni or Duan Ni. The mouthfeel is thickened on all examples of Hei Ni I have ever used. I love Hei Ni and feel it can brew great tea if you enjoy your tea as I do(chewy mouthfeel & smooth taste)

Please do and let me know if you have the time and feel like. I will love to hear your results.

Can I be so unlucky that a needed a very absorbent pot and I got the less absorbent of the two?

Damn my luck.

Take care

[ImmortaliTEA]

Oh I think I know why it seems we have different views on the clays brewing properties. I just realized that the characteristics I associated with these teapots was from my experimentation with the 70 ml Hei Ni (grey base color clay) and the vendor told me it was a different batch of Hei Ni with a grey base color (wherein the 100 & 40 ml versions have black base color clay) so I guess it makes sense that they could have different brewing characteristics. Since 100 ml is on the larger end of what I have been using lately I haven't even gotten around to experimenting with my 100 ml version. I will try some young Sheng and other roasted teas with this teapot so I can see if I agree with your analysis of the black base Hei Ni!

Oh I see

I was exactly looking the result of your 2nd paragraph description:

However, if I were to describe the characteristics of this grey base color Hei Ni (70 ml) I would say that yes the bitterness of young Sheng is not only rounded but severely rounded so much so that the bitterness is all but gone. The aroma is slightly suppressed but not to the point of low fired Qing Shui Ni or Duan Ni. The mouthfeel is thickened on all examples of Hei Ni I have ever used. I love Hei Ni and feel it can brew great tea if you enjoy your tea as I do(chewy mouthfeel & smooth taste)

Please do and let me know if you have the time and feel like. I will love to hear your results.

Can I be so unlucky that a needed a very absorbent pot and I got the less absorbent of the two?

Damn my luck.

Take care

Maxwell2079,
The answer to that question depends on if you were ever considering buying the 70 ml Hei Ni before you bought the 100 ml. I don't think my 100 ml will differ from yours because they came from the same batch and factory, however, the 70 ml has a completely different clay with a different seal and much better craftsmanship so all those factors come into play differentiating it from the black base Hei Ni. Did you have young Sheng in mind with this Hei Ni purchase or some other tea? I will experiment tomorrow with my 100 ml and see if the results are similar to my grey base 70 ml or similar to my black base 1980's 60 ml three legged shui ping from Daniel. Will keep you updated!

[Maxwell2079]

Maxwell2079,
The answer to that question depends on if you were ever considering buying the 70 ml Hei Ni before you bought the 100 ml. I don't think my 100 ml will differ from yours because they came from the same batch and factory, however, the 70 ml has a completely different clay with a different seal and much better craftsmanship so all those factors come into play differentiating it from the black base Hei Ni. Did you have young Sheng in mind with this Hei Ni purchase or some other tea? I will experiment tomorrow with my 100 ml and see if the results are similar to my grey base 70 ml or similar to my black base 1980's 60 ml three legged shui ping from Daniel. Will keep you updated!

Hey,

Honestly, I haven´t much choice at the moment I purchase the pot, since the 70 ml was out of stock and I figured the 40 ml was too small for sheng.

Yep, the 100 ml hei ni has terrible craftsmanship. The lid could dance a lovely reggae song if you let it.
Yes, I had in mind 5-10 years Sheng for the pot. But I will have to use it for oolong probably. Actually I got another zini too. I was thinking of devoting both for sheng. The zini also improves mouth feel a bit but didn´t tame sheng bitterness pretty well. So I´ll try it with roasted oolong too, but need more testing with this one before switching.

We Keep in touch!