Hi, as I said on another thread, I am in China for 2 months to study Go. I want to buy lots of tea stuff here as I am just getting into oolongs and want to try pu. I went to a place the other day that was filled with tea shops. There were about 3 floors of just tea shops. I bought some TGY which I am happy about, but I want to try a different oolong. I have tried the adagio oolong sampler and found all the teas nice. So anything interenting will do.
Another thing is I want to buy my tea gear. First, a yixing teapot. As I cannot understand much Chinese, anyone have any tips to look out for when buying a yixing from an unknown scource?
Jul 21st, '09, 00:28
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Maitre_Tea
Just curious, but you are in Shanghai? I ask because I frequented a three-story tea mall when I studied abroad there.
Try some Wuyi Oolong, also known as Yancha. There are four main types, or Sidamingcha. These are: Da Hong Pao (which is what you might find the most easily.), Shui Jin Gui, Tie Luo Han, and Bai Ji Guan. About buying an yixing teapot in China, I would be very wary. If there's one thing I learned in China, I learned to almost never trust things at first sight. Obviously there will be nice people who are decent vendors, but more times than not they're going to try to swindle you. Especially if you're a foreigner. Even if you're Chinese, they will probably try to scam you too.
There are some common things you can look for in yixing teapots, like the size of the teapot (I prefer smaller sizes), how fast it pours (which is important), and hot snug the lid fits. There are many other ways to superficially tell if a teapot is good, but I'll leave it up to the real pros. The hardest thing to confirm will be clay quality, and here's where the vendor is most likely to swindle you, since it takes years of practice to determine if a clay is authentic or not.
Try some Wuyi Oolong, also known as Yancha. There are four main types, or Sidamingcha. These are: Da Hong Pao (which is what you might find the most easily.), Shui Jin Gui, Tie Luo Han, and Bai Ji Guan. About buying an yixing teapot in China, I would be very wary. If there's one thing I learned in China, I learned to almost never trust things at first sight. Obviously there will be nice people who are decent vendors, but more times than not they're going to try to swindle you. Especially if you're a foreigner. Even if you're Chinese, they will probably try to scam you too.
There are some common things you can look for in yixing teapots, like the size of the teapot (I prefer smaller sizes), how fast it pours (which is important), and hot snug the lid fits. There are many other ways to superficially tell if a teapot is good, but I'll leave it up to the real pros. The hardest thing to confirm will be clay quality, and here's where the vendor is most likely to swindle you, since it takes years of practice to determine if a clay is authentic or not.
Jul 21st, '09, 02:00
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Maitre_Tea
Unfortunately the only way to find out how well it pours is to ask the owner to let you try it out. Especially if you're in a tea store in China, they might cater to this odd request (they'll do anything to make the sale). This is a really informative, if not exhausting guide on Yixing which is probably one of the best out there:
http://www.terebess.hu/english/yixing1.html
Here is a small excerpt from it which directly answers your questions:
1. Well Crafted
All parts of the teapot should not only look in proportion to each other so that in whole, gives a sense of beauty. Since we all have different perceptions as to what beauty is and different purposes in collecting teapots, so long as you like the teapot, there is nothing wrong in collecting it. Afterall, you will be the one using or appreciating it from now on and not someone else.
2. Easy to hold
The curvature of the handle of a teapot is control by the size of the teapot. Where to place the handle will affect the centre of gravity of the teapot when it is filled with water during brewing of tea. If it results in gravity being off centre, then the teapot will be difficult to hold and pour. Therefore, a good teapot should been designed such that it allows one to hold the teapot comfortably.
3. Smooth water flow
How the tea flows out of the tea spout will affect the quality of the tea. Tea should flow out fast, straight and smooth instead of dripping. If the flow is too slow, the tea leaves would have been steep for too long. The spout should enable all the tea to flow completely out of the teapot instead of leaving a residue amount. According to an expert, tea poured from a teapot with straight spout would have a higher fragrance than from one with a curving spout. But it is exactly the reverse when it comes to after taste in the throat. How much truth are there in these statement? Try it out and tell me!
4.Tightness of cover
The teapot cover when covered should seal the teapot as tight as possible. This will enable all fragance of the tea leaves to remain in the teapot. One simple way to test is to fill the teapot with 2/3 full of water and invert the teapot, with your finger tightly sealing the opening of the spout. The teapot cover should not fall off, showing that it is tightly sealed.
5. Exterior appearance
The exterior of the teapot should be smooth and complete without any chipped or cracked showing. Old teapots usually chipped at the spout, the edge of the opening and cover. When buying a old teapot, lookout for any heavily stained parts as it concealed cracks which would otherwise go unnotice.
6. Quality of the clay
It is very difficult for a beginner to determine the quality of the clay without being exposed to all the different types of teapots and making an indepth study of it. Therefore, you will have to read more books, examined as many teapots as you can and soon you will be able to distinguish whether a teapot is of good quality clay and how old is the clay etc.
7. Smell of clay
New teapots usually have no smell, but some teapots do exhibit some unpleasant clay smell which if not properly treated will seriously affect the taste of your tea.
Even though the guide is really really detailed, there are some parts in there that are worth reading.
http://www.terebess.hu/english/yixing1.html
Here is a small excerpt from it which directly answers your questions:
1. Well Crafted
All parts of the teapot should not only look in proportion to each other so that in whole, gives a sense of beauty. Since we all have different perceptions as to what beauty is and different purposes in collecting teapots, so long as you like the teapot, there is nothing wrong in collecting it. Afterall, you will be the one using or appreciating it from now on and not someone else.
2. Easy to hold
The curvature of the handle of a teapot is control by the size of the teapot. Where to place the handle will affect the centre of gravity of the teapot when it is filled with water during brewing of tea. If it results in gravity being off centre, then the teapot will be difficult to hold and pour. Therefore, a good teapot should been designed such that it allows one to hold the teapot comfortably.
3. Smooth water flow
How the tea flows out of the tea spout will affect the quality of the tea. Tea should flow out fast, straight and smooth instead of dripping. If the flow is too slow, the tea leaves would have been steep for too long. The spout should enable all the tea to flow completely out of the teapot instead of leaving a residue amount. According to an expert, tea poured from a teapot with straight spout would have a higher fragrance than from one with a curving spout. But it is exactly the reverse when it comes to after taste in the throat. How much truth are there in these statement? Try it out and tell me!
4.Tightness of cover
The teapot cover when covered should seal the teapot as tight as possible. This will enable all fragance of the tea leaves to remain in the teapot. One simple way to test is to fill the teapot with 2/3 full of water and invert the teapot, with your finger tightly sealing the opening of the spout. The teapot cover should not fall off, showing that it is tightly sealed.
5. Exterior appearance
The exterior of the teapot should be smooth and complete without any chipped or cracked showing. Old teapots usually chipped at the spout, the edge of the opening and cover. When buying a old teapot, lookout for any heavily stained parts as it concealed cracks which would otherwise go unnotice.
6. Quality of the clay
It is very difficult for a beginner to determine the quality of the clay without being exposed to all the different types of teapots and making an indepth study of it. Therefore, you will have to read more books, examined as many teapots as you can and soon you will be able to distinguish whether a teapot is of good quality clay and how old is the clay etc.
7. Smell of clay
New teapots usually have no smell, but some teapots do exhibit some unpleasant clay smell which if not properly treated will seriously affect the taste of your tea.
Even though the guide is really really detailed, there are some parts in there that are worth reading.
I've never heard about freezing the teapot, but it is common practice to boil a new teapot in fresh water. Many people boil the pot in tea afterward, but I've heard concerns about that it might block the pores in the clay.GoTea wrote:wow long page. Realy helpfull thx. Im a bit confused about this pre- tratment thing. Is it realy necessery toboil then freeze then boil in tea?
Actually I've seen directions where you should brush your pot after boiling it with a toothbrush and toothpaste, prior to boiling it in tea.
Personally I just boil my pots in fresh water and brush them afterward with a toothbrush (no toothpaste). Then I make one or two rounds of strong tea where I pour boiling water in the pot (with tea in it) and let it stand for a few hours and clean it with fresh cold water.
Best of luck to you.
Jul 24th, '09, 06:48
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Re:
Please use ZHONGHUA brand toothpaste for all your Yixing needs.tsverrir wrote: ...Actually I've seen directions where you should brush your pot after boiling it with a toothbrush and toothpaste, prior to boiling it in tea. ...
(Yes, it is essential you use the 'Chinese medicine' flavour for your teapots.)
Re: Im in China. Help me chose tea.
Are you serious? Doesn't the pot absorb the flavour of the toothpaste?
Jul 24th, '09, 11:58
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Re: Im in China. Help me chose tea.
Not really.GoTea wrote:Are you serious?
Probably not too much. I wasn't brave enough to try it myself. This brand and flavour were actually specifically reccomended to me. I am not sure if it is really the same company, but they also have Zhonghua cigarettes, and I have a couple of Zhonghua puer cakes.GoTea wrote:Doesn't the pot absorb the flavour of the toothpaste?
In answer of how to buy tea in China, I would advise you to move slowly. Don't buy much stuff all at once. get yourself a small Gaiwan right away, so you can make tea in your own room and then don't be afraid to buy very small portions of the tea. You can take the business cards of the shops and make notes about the teas you like and then go back to buy the teas later after you have had some time to compare. You will get a feel for price and quality more quickly than you might think.
In terms of Yixing pots, they are hard to get a handle on. I have an Yixing pot which I bought wholesale with a friend in Yixing for exactly $10 US. I watched his wife retail one of these very same pots for nearly $100 dollars US. So be patient.
I would encourage you again to take your time. You will find yourself swamped with mediocre teas -- or just teas which aren't your favorite -- very quickly if you don't keep your wits about you in a 3 floor tea mall. If you find yourself unable to get good quality teas from people, you can buy a small amount of the type of tea which you enjoy, take it to another shop, ask them to reccomend a higher quality of the same type. You can repeat this process until you get tea of the quality you like. This is sometimes a useful ploy if you have trouble getting shopkeepers to take out their quality teas for you. They can make 3x profit on a 'commercial tea' and .5-1x profit on a 'high grade tea' (for example.)
Also, please visit Chadao.blogspot.com for useful tea shopping vocab! Since you are in China, you may have to use a proxy like http://www.ninjacloak.com
http://chadao.blogspot.com/2007/06/shop ... cs-of.html
If you really enjoy tea shopping and you print out this list, you will probably find you can learn tea Chinese vey quickly.
Jul 24th, '09, 15:39
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Maitre_Tea
Re: Im in China. Help me chose tea.
Also, in many Chinese Tea Shops you can sample the tea right then and there. I remember I was able to sample so many really nice teas because of that. Of course, you kinda have to buy some tea afterwards, otherwise you'd feel bad.
Re: Im in China. Help me chose tea.
Hi. Thanks for all the help. Here are the fruits of the trip( so far 
)
Here is my favorite pot. I am using for TGY.
Here is the pot I am using for Pu-er.
)Here is my favorite pot. I am using for TGY.
Here is the pot I am using for Pu-er.
Aug 21st, '09, 03:32
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Joined: Aug 21st, '09, 02:07
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eoolongcom
Re: Im in China. Help me chose tea.
For oolong main make from Fujian Province 86%,Others fromGuangdong and Taiwan. Fujian oolong main have two type: From South of Fujian and From North of Fujian. South Fujian havs the best oolong called Anxi tie guan yin. and the North Fujian havs the best oolong called Da Hong Pao.
You have tasted tie guan yin, so if you want try differenct type, then try Da Hong Pao. For me Da Hong Pao taste more like black tea.
For yixing teapot at least have the stamp made from Yixing at the bottom of the teapot. And should look at the color of the teapot like nature purple clay not manmade coloring. There are many fakes on the market say they are yixing made but real is not.
Sorry for my poor english,hope will help you something.
You have tasted tie guan yin, so if you want try differenct type, then try Da Hong Pao. For me Da Hong Pao taste more like black tea.
For yixing teapot at least have the stamp made from Yixing at the bottom of the teapot. And should look at the color of the teapot like nature purple clay not manmade coloring. There are many fakes on the market say they are yixing made but real is not.
Sorry for my poor english,hope will help you something.