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Dec 30th, '07, 01:20
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by Salsero » Dec 30th, '07, 01:20

I suspect that the pot in question has a flat filter, that is to say, a built-in series of holes between the interior of the pot and the spout. The ball filter is a bulbous version of the flat clay screen. The idea of the ball is to expose more surface area with holes on the inside of the pot hopefully to increase pour rate by not getting as easily clogged up with leaves. I have not had a problem with the flat filters. They seem to work just as well and are slightly easier to clean and dry.

The best thing is to send your question to Scott at Yunnan Sourcing and get an answer from him.

By the way, like Fukamushi Dynasty, I use an additional filter as I pour from the pot to the cup or serving pitcher. Scott also carries those little metal filters. He used to provide one free with each pot, but I see no mention of a free filter on the page for this pot.

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Dec 30th, '07, 12:26
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by Toomes » Dec 30th, '07, 12:26

You are correct Salsero. I emailed Scott and he said it was a flat filter.

Has anyone ever bought a yixing pot from Rishi?

There's one that looks very similar to the one I'm thinking about getting from Yunnan Sourcing.

Yunnan
Rishi

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Dec 30th, '07, 12:30
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by Space Samurai » Dec 30th, '07, 12:30

Wow, its exactly the same design.

I have not purchased any of thieir yixing, but their Tokoname and other tea wares are superb, so I would imagine they are good quality.

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Dec 30th, '07, 13:25
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by Toomes » Dec 30th, '07, 13:25

Space Samurai wrote:I have not purchased any of thieir yixing, but their Tokoname and other tea wares are superb, so I would imagine they are good quality.
That's what I figured. I bought the Fukugata from them a month ago and I love it.

I'm tempted to give Rishi Yixing a shot since it's a little smaller and the shipping will be cheaper and faster.

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Dec 31st, '07, 01:43
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Yo Yo Yo Yo....

by Ian » Dec 31st, '07, 01:43

What-up teafreaks!?

Hey, I'm curious about the new Rishi Yixing as well. I want to gets me one a dem dandies, but should I be worried about lead in the clay?

Oh, and what type of clay should I be rocking out with for me TGY? Purple? Shpeckled? Does it matter at all? I love you.
I probably just said something...how do you say.....hmmm, what's the opposite of "groundbreaking"?

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Dec 31st, '07, 01:46
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by Ian » Dec 31st, '07, 01:46

Oh and Space, your blog rocks! Keep up the fantastic bloggery.
I probably just said something...how do you say.....hmmm, what's the opposite of "groundbreaking"?

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Dec 31st, '07, 02:24
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by Space Samurai » Dec 31st, '07, 02:24

:D Thanks, Ian.

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Dec 31st, '07, 12:07
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by Toomes » Dec 31st, '07, 12:07

I ran across this thread at a different forum, which has a ton of good info.

Here's part of a post about the color of clay that might help Ian.
Bill Lee wrote:Since we can't completely rely on the sound, we must also use our
eyes. What we see begins with color. Zisha is directly translated as
purple sand. The "purple" part comes from the fact it is the most
common raw material color that is harvested. The raw purple color will
typically turn to shades of brown after firing. In addition to purple,
the other common colors are red (zhuni), green (luni), yellow (duanni),
and turquoise (qingni).

There are many common conceptions passed around about the character of
each of the colors-and then there is more. Let's begin with some
common ideas.

Red clay:
Red is an auspicious color in Chinese culture and therefore many
artworks and products are made in red-including teapots. Since tea
is the national drink of China, the market for teapots has always been
huge. However, not everyone is sophisticated enough or willing to pay
for zisha teapots; nor can Yixing meet the demands of the entire
country. So, teapots have been manufactured in many provinces of
China, with many regional types of clay.

What has this got to do with the red color? Well, every province will
make a lot of teapots in red color, because red is popular with the
people. However, many red teapots will not be made of porous zisha
clay. These non-porous teapots will maximize the aroma and brightness
of tea, but will over emphasize the astringency and bitterness as well.
Therefore, the idea about red colored teapots being suitable only for
particular tea styles developed and became a generalization.

This concept about red clay was compounded by the fact that from the
early 1980's iron was frequently blended in zisha clays to create a
rich and attractive red color. The extra iron made the zisha very
dense, and was mostly suitable for light aromatic teas.

The truth about red clay:
Red clays of pure zisha are suitable for many tea styles. The natural
red color of zisha ranges between burnt sienna or red ocher, and
displays tones of orange and brown.
Red clays can be either dense or porous, without significant
correlation to its color. Naturally vivid red teapots of cinnabar and
scarlet--though highly demanded--are very rare. These clays were
mainly harvested during the Qing dynasty and are very scarce today. If
you see a bright scarlet red teapot, it is either a rare find, or it
has been created artificially. (I have only ever seen one example, and
it was a broken--but treasured--antique).

Yellow Clay:
Zisha translates to purple sand-meaning it is sandy and granular.
Yellow clays typically have the most large and coarse granules amongst
the different clay colors. This has led many to believe that all
yellow clays are hard and not very porous-good mainly for gentle
aromatic teas, or mellow teas like cooked pu'er.

This is not entirely false. The majority of yellow clays on the market
is very dense, and will lead people to believe that this logic is true.
However, fine quality yellow clays will enhance the aroma, while
pleasantly lighten a teas weight, smooth its body, and concentrate its
flavor. It sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? Even though
yellow clays are often composed of very coarse granules, the granules
themselves can be very porous. So, yellow clays can infact be used for
many different tea styles.
Watch out for yellow clays that are not fired at adequate temperatures.
Yellow clays are most prone to developing black spots and stains from
use when they are produced from low temperatures.

Purple, Green, Turquoise and other colors:
There are fewer generalizations about the effects of other clay colors.
Interestingly, because purple is common, and because other colors are
rare. Purple is the original and most common color of zisha, so people
do not need to replicate its color, and automatically consider it to
possess the standard qualities of zisha--even without testing. Green
and turquoise are not as common, but there is little demand for these
colors to be replicated, and equally little attention paid to them.
When rare colors such as black clay (heini), are artificially
replicated, they are made in such small quantities that they cannot
create any generalizations in the market.
There's even more info about shapes, types of clay and pour quality.

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Jan 1st, '08, 12:39
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by Toomes » Jan 1st, '08, 12:39

I'm taking one for the team by buying a Yixing pot off of Rishi. I bought the Yixing High Handle. I decided to go with it because from what I've researched rounder yixing pots are better for rolled oolongs, which is what I'll most likely be using the pot for. The classic tripod style that I was looking at before has a flatter wide bottom that is not conducive for rolled oolongs.

Anyway, this one is still small at 5oz and I like the style. So, I'll find out if these Rishi yixing pots are any good and I'll report back in a week or so.

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Jan 1st, '08, 12:51
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by Wesli » Jan 1st, '08, 12:51

Rishi's teaware has generally performed beautifully. Although, Rishi JUST got all their yixing ware, so we can just hope that they got it good the first time.

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Jan 1st, '08, 13:10
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by brandon » Jan 1st, '08, 13:10

I have a rishi duanni crown pearl pot, its not bad.
Most of the pots are a little larger than I'd like but I dont fill this one all the way.

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Jan 4th, '08, 23:49
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by Ian » Jan 4th, '08, 23:49

TOOMES! Thanks for posting that info about the clay!
I probably just said something...how do you say.....hmmm, what's the opposite of "groundbreaking"?

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