Yixing or Zhuni (or other unglazed pot) for Black Teas?

[fire_snake]

Yixing or Zhuni (or other unglazed pot) for Black Teas?

by fire_snake » Nov 16th, '12, 11:50

Is this possible? More to the point, is this advisable?

Seems a bit daft at first blush - at least to me. But that's probably because I rarely see anyone talk about it.

Cheers,

Christian.

[AdamMY]

Re: Yixing or Zhuni (or other unglazed pot) for Black Teas?

by AdamMY » Nov 16th, '12, 22:59

It is quite advisable. In fact the black tea, yixing red was historically used to season Yixing pots. I am not sure how Darjeeling or other Indian black teas would do, but Chinese ones are definitely fair game.

[Tead Off]

Re: Yixing or Zhuni (or other unglazed pot) for Black Teas?

by Tead Off » Nov 17th, '12, 00:06

Is this possible? More to the point, is this advisable?

Seems a bit daft at first blush - at least to me. But that's probably because I rarely see anyone talk about it.

Cheers,

Christian.

I use mostly unglazed porcelain or Yixing red clay pots. I have used Japanese unglazed pots, too with good success for Darjeelings.

[MIKE_B]

Re: Yixing or Zhuni (or other unglazed pot) for Black Teas?

by MIKE_B » Nov 17th, '12, 00:14

I've been using the same cheap "yixing" pot for Chinese red tea for ever.

[fire_snake]

Re: Yixing or Zhuni (or other unglazed pot) for Black Teas?

by fire_snake » Nov 18th, '12, 18:06

Thank you everyone for the kind replies.

I tried some in one of my Zhunis that hasn't seen much use. The flavour was blunted, unfortunately. So I think some experimentation is in order.

[Tead Off]

Re: Yixing or Zhuni (or other unglazed pot) for Black Teas?

by Tead Off » Nov 19th, '12, 23:50

Thank you everyone for the kind replies.

I tried some in one of my Zhunis that hasn't seen much use. The flavour was blunted, unfortunately. So I think some experimentation is in order.

Some pots do blunt the tea. These are the ones you don't want to use for the specific tea you are trying to make. You have to experiment. Yixing will not automatically brew everything wonderfully. For me, unglazed porcelain is tops for most red/black teas. Glazed porcelain is fine, too. With unglazed purple and red clays, it is hit and miss for me.