Teapot's size for oolong

[lamppost]

Hi Guys,

I am looking for a yixing teapot that I can use either for wuyi oolong or for high mountain oolong. Do you guy have any suggestion on what size of a teapot that I should get? I usually drink tea alone and I am not sure if I need a small teapot for oolong. I am afraid that a small teapot cannot not keep the heat very well.

Here are my current teapots.

130 ml
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RjHPbIOPmac/R ... +Hu-03.jpg


140 ml
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RjHPbIOPmac/S ... 160582.jpg

180 ml
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RjHPbIOPmac/S ... 160640.jpg

100 ml
http://www.sunsingtea.com/chi/gallery.php?id=246

200 ml
http://www.houdeasianart.com/index.php? ... ge&pID=106

Thanks in advance.

[chrl42]

Size really matters to your preference, generally Chinese Gong Fu pots were around 120~150 ml.

Telling my opinion, 140ml one looks not so bad..

[lamppost]

thanks chrl42,

I guess that I just need a bigger cup.

[beecrofter]

Cool down? pour hot water over it if that is a concern.
I agree that the 140 ml pot is pretty close to ideal from what I have tried to date.
My infusions generally use just enough tea to cover the bottom of a shui ping and just barely stop before moving the lid once exanded.
On good days and leaves the successive infusions probably make a liter of tea.

[wyardley]

I think heat retention should be better, if anything, with a small pot. Plus, if you're brewing for a small number of people, a small pot will stay hotter because you'll probably be waiting less time between infusions.

For one person, I'd look for something in the 70-110 ml range. In terms of getting a bigger cup, I personally find I prefer to drink tea in small cups still; if I make more tea than one cup when I'm drinking alone, I'll either brew a cup for the pot, or use a fair cup to pour the pot into, then pour into the cup.

People seem to use all kinds of different pots for Wuyi. The only thing I can say is not to be completely tied in to a short, wide pot... the shi piao you picture in the first one should work pretty well for yancha, but experiment and see what works for you. It's not going to ruin any of your pots to brew other teas in them a few times to see what works well.

What I've always heard you want for high mountain oolong (if you're using a Yixing pot) would probably be a fairly dense red clay with a tall ball or pear shape.

[gingkoseto]

For heat retention, some people would use a towel soaked with hot water to wrap up the teapot through out the tea session. But I guess that's mainly what people did in old times, when there was no heater in winter.

[wyardley]

You can use a tea boat (without a stand) also to surround the pot with hot water during each infusion. But I think the main thing that will help is choosing a pot with good heat retention (probably thick walls).

[teacast]

Yeah, a small pot should work best, plus I think you'd finish a small pot faster, so you don't have a lot of tea sitting out in the cold, just my .02

[Eugene]

I use to make oolong tea in a small teapot, its called yixing teapot. The best method to make oolong tea is the gong fu method of brewing oolong tea in a small teapot. Small pots works better, so go for it. Yixing teapot cost around US$10 in Taiwan. I got mine from there.