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Apr 5th, '13, 18:49
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Re: Official/Different Yixing Show Off Topic!

by Muadeeb » Apr 5th, '13, 18:49

I took advantage of a recent teapot sale here on TC and picked a couple pots from Thomas. One is this 150ml beauty seasoned for young Sheng.
Tea © Michael Klayman-001.jpg
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Thomas said it is a 1992 zhuni from YS. As soon as I opened the box, I was impressed with its yellow flecks and feel in the hand. It has a much higher pitched sound to it than any of my other pots.

Even with the ball filter, it pours quickly with vigor and with no leaks. It has a surprising number of chops, 7 in all.
Tea © Michael Klayman-005.jpg
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Tea © Michael Klayman-004.jpg
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I brought it to Taylor at Mad Monk Tea for some advice on picking a proper Pu'er for it, and he set me up with a 50g brick of a 2004 YiWu Sheng. We brewed a couple different teas in it to try them out, and Taylor said it was as good as any of his $200 pots, although he thinks it is Hong Ni clay. I paid $13. :mrgreen:

I told myself that I wasn't going to explore the World of Pu for a while yet, but this pot is just too nice to not use. Further down the rabbit hole I go....

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Re: Official/Different Yixing Show Off Topic!

by bagua7 » Apr 6th, '13, 21:04

Hong ni it is. Very similar to this other one of zen8tea.

Good pot for a bargain. Enjoy!

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Apr 8th, '13, 10:14
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Re: Official/Different Yixing Show Off Topic!

by needaTEAcher » Apr 8th, '13, 10:14

Down the rabbit hole!

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Re: Official/Different Yixing Show Off Topic!

by yalokinh » Apr 19th, '13, 01:30

futurebird wrote:Image

:D :D :D

My order from sampletea.com came today. I'm very impressed with their samples, they are carefully wrapped and include a photo what the whole bing looks like so if you want to hunt it down later you can. Also, the teacups and pots were packed with great care. I bought this teapot:

http://www.sampletea.com/product/1980s- ... -cups-40ml

Some of the pots I bought before said that were 40ml, but this one is much smaller! (maybe the ebay sellers don't fill their pots to the brim when the measure them?) Still, I like it. I always wonder if I paid too much, but it's a color and size that I don't have in my collection yet and it has no issues-- the walls are thicker than I thought they would be, but this isn't such a bad thing. Small pots can be tough to keep warm.

I wonder if this other pot from them which is 5 times the price is fives times as good?

http://www.sampletea.com/product/1980s- ... eapot-40ml

I'm almost tempted to find out... like I said, they did such a good job packing everything (each item in it's own little hard plastic box or metal tin) and labeling everything... (I have perfect labels to paste in to my tea-journal, see the sample box in the photo) -- that it inspires some confidence. I like this company.

The workmanship on the more expensive pot looks finer for certain. Hmmmmmm...but is it worth it??

Now for the cups:

http://www.sampletea.com/product/1970s- ... eacup-60ml

The walls of this cup were thicker than I'd hoped. But, it will get lots of use since it's a nice color and vintage. Don't know if I'd buy more at this price.

http://www.sampletea.com/product/1970s- ... eacup-30ml

This cup is very delicate and almost looks hand-painted. It's a steal at $3. perfect for tastings. (shown in the photo filled with tea)

The tea in the photo is great, by the way. An aged puerh with a very "old" taste.

I got this pot in the mail today, its 30ml not 40 like it says. Its so cute!
Brewed puer in this 3 times today, im all puer'd out

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Apr 21st, '13, 14:46
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Re: Official/Different Yixing Show Off Topic!

by futurebird » Apr 21st, '13, 14:46

Sadly I've been having issues with that little black pot. :evil: It has a faint clay-smell that I thought I'd gotten rid of... but... no...it's back. It's not a strong one at all, and I can't taste it's impact on the tea. But, I'm glad that I hav another option for my aged puerh (also bought from sample tea, you get what you pay for there. The $40 little black pot it's worth just that much and no more-- my more expensive $120 pot from them, however, is perfect. In fact, I'm buying a 2nd one in a larger size.)

In other news... After doing all this research on the history of the tree-stump yixing (see this thread: http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=18526) I really wanted to own one so I searched high and low for a nice small one and this is what I found:

Image

It's about 90ml, and very simple. Today I stumbled on to another fact about this history of this style. During worlds fairs early in the 20th century tree-stump yixings were a staple item at the "China" pavilion.

But to make them appeal to western sensibilities glaze was added.

Image

In my previous thread I said that this was a a trait of exports to the British, but the world's fair connection (starting with paris) makes it all make more sense.

It also explains why if you look at your grandma's house she might have one of these even if she's never been to China!

I'm now doing research in the older style "gong chun" -- I find these histories fascinating. How a simple household item can hold so much meaning.

Also, for the collectors and lovers of shui ping I'm starting to suspect that contemporary potters shun this style because it reminds them of the Cultural Revolution when creativity was really shut down at the yixing factory 1. To us it's a simple functional style, but maybe it means something more-- I have a poster of "100 contemporary Yixing Teapots" and among them there is so much diversity, but old styles are there too: tree stump, and simple styles like "dragon's egg" and "flat" -- but not one of the pots on the poster is shui ping hu. Coincidence?

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Re: Official/Different Yixing Show Off Topic!

by futurebird » Apr 21st, '13, 14:56

Muadeeb wrote: I brought it to Taylor at Mad Monk Tea for some advice on picking a proper Pu'er for it, and he set me up with a 50g brick of a 2004 YiWu Sheng. We brewed a couple different teas in it to try them out, and Taylor said it was as good as any of his $200 pots, although he thinks it is Hong Ni clay. I paid $13. :mrgreen:

I told myself that I wasn't going to explore the World of Pu for a while yet, but this pot is just too nice to not use. Further down the rabbit hole I go....
Wow what a nice catch... I'm always suspicious of pots with the bumpy surface look. Never seen on in person. Good to know they can work out well.

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Re: Official/Different Yixing Show Off Topic!

by yalokinh » Apr 22nd, '13, 16:22

futurebird wrote:Sadly I've been having issues with that little black pot. :evil: It has a faint clay-smell that I thought I'd gotten rid of... but... no...it's back. It's not a strong one at all, and I can't taste it's impact on the tea. But, I'm glad that I hav another option for my aged puerh (also bought from sample tea, you get what you pay for there. The $40 little black pot it's worth just that much and no more-- my more expensive $120 pot from them, however, is perfect. In fact, I'm buying a 2nd one in a larger size.)

In other news... After doing all this research on the history of the tree-stump yixing (see this thread: http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=18526) I really wanted to own one so I searched high and low for a nice small one and this is what I found:

Image

It's about 90ml, and very simple. Today I stumbled on to another fact about this history of this style. During worlds fairs early in the 20th century tree-stump yixings were a staple item at the "China" pavilion.

But to make them appeal to western sensibilities glaze was added.

Image

In my previous thread I said that this was a a trait of exports to the British, but the world's fair connection (starting with paris) makes it all make more sense.

It also explains why if you look at your grandma's house she might have one of these even if she's never been to China!

I'm now doing research in the older style "gong chun" -- I find these histories fascinating. How a simple household item can hold so much meaning.

Also, for the collectors and lovers of shui ping I'm starting to suspect that contemporary potters shun this style because it reminds them of the Cultural Revolution when creativity was really shut down at the yixing factory 1. To us it's a simple functional style, but maybe it means something more-- I have a poster of "100 contemporary Yixing Teapots" and among them there is so much diversity, but old styles are there too: tree stump, and simple styles like "dragon's egg" and "flat" -- but not one of the pots on the poster is shui ping hu. Coincidence?

I never had the clay taste from the little pot, i've been using it about 2-3 times a day for the past week and haven't experienced any sort of clay taste, I didn't season it either, just used it out of the box.
could it be inconsistencies in clay or make?

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Apr 22nd, '13, 19:38
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Re: Official/Different Yixing Show Off Topic!

by futurebird » Apr 22nd, '13, 19:38

It's not so much a taste as it is a smell, when it's just been washed with hot water.

I don't think it's horrible. Just not as good as others.

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Re: Official/Different Yixing Show Off Topic!

by javi_sanchez » Apr 22nd, '13, 20:14

I got a tiny duan ni from Jing Teashop a few weeks ago. I am planning to pair it with some cooked pu'er but the opening is so small.
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Re: Official/Different Yixing Show Off Topic!

by Poohblah » Apr 23rd, '13, 00:08

Oh, very nice. It says "yin cha" ("drink tea"). Makes me think of the "please drink Chinese Oolong" pots :D

I would think that pot would darken very quickly when paired with shu pu.

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Re: Official/Different Yixing Show Off Topic!

by amaranto » Apr 23rd, '13, 00:14

I got a tiny duan ni from Jing Teashop a few weeks ago.
I had been eyeing that pot. It's quite a looker, IMHO.

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Re: Official/Different Yixing Show Off Topic!

by javi_sanchez » Apr 23rd, '13, 07:53

Poohblah wrote:Oh, very nice. It says "yin cha" ("drink tea"). Makes me think of the "please drink Chinese Oolong" pots :D

I would think that pot would darken very quickly when paired with shu pu.
Yes I am looking forward to seeing the tea residue build up in the characters and making them more pronounced!
amaranto wrote:
I got a tiny duan ni from Jing Teashop a few weeks ago.
I had been eyeing that pot. It's quite a looker, IMHO.
Thanks. I did get this one just because it looked really cute to me. A fool and his money are soon parted I guess :)

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Apr 23rd, '13, 13:53
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Re: Official/Different Yixing Show Off Topic!

by amaranto » Apr 23rd, '13, 13:53

A fool and his money are soon parted I guess
I hear ya.

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Re: Official/Different Yixing Show Off Topic!

by bagua7 » Apr 24th, '13, 18:18

javi_sanchez wrote:I got a tiny duan ni from Jing Teashop a few weeks ago.
So it is you who ended up buying it? :) I was after that pot as well, but you were first. Good quality aged duan ni. Enjoy it!

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Re: Official/Different Yixing Show Off Topic!

by javi_sanchez » Apr 24th, '13, 23:33

bagua7 wrote:
javi_sanchez wrote:I got a tiny duan ni from Jing Teashop a few weeks ago.
So it is you who ended up buying it? :) I was after that pot as well, but you were first. Good quality aged duan ni. Enjoy it!
Thanks ;) Already have! I wanted something small to brew some shu pu'er so I can actually exhaust the leaves without drinking 5L of tea. Also, I liked the designs and see how prominent they can get with tea residue. The little tag that came with it says it was fired 1160C-1180C but it mentions zhu ni sha so I don't know if it is a generic tag or not. If so, this would make it high fired no?

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