Where to invest my money?

[BW85]

I would agree. Each yixing that I have definitely has its unique effect on the tea, but the yixing and other clay kettles that I use have a much more obvious effect when compared to basic stainless steel kettles. I don't own a tetsubin. Very happy with clay kettles, zisha in particular

i have 4 tetsubins now.. but my daily use remains a clay kettle (lin's ceramic non-purion normal clay kettle)...

Is that the sandy colored kettle? Are the black kettles purion?

[Chip]

I am reminded over and over on TeaChat of my own need to invest in a ... real kettle. I just have to stop "investing" in Kyusu!

[kyarazen]

the yen's at a super low to USD now.. good time to bite!

Yeah...... I'm watching a stack of Yen (in cash) depreciate badly.

best,

..................john

abenomics... but like morgan stanley would say.. its just another "fluctuation"... suggesting that in the very long run yen will rise again..

[JBaymore]

abenomics... but like morgan stanley would say.. its just another "fluctuation"... suggesting that in the very long run yen will rise again..

I believe the euphemism is "...we're undergoing a correction......"

best,

...............john

[kyarazen]

Is that the sandy colored kettle? Are the black kettles purion?

yep! the sandy colored kettle. not the purion one! its just sandy outside, but inside is the typical standard lin's ceramic clay that resembles some kind of aged duanni blend. the black kettles are black glaze on the outside but the interior's the same material as the sandy one.

i bought the largest one from malaysia since i had a 20% discount card.. i would say barely a hundred american dollars... and the best investment so far

[ryancha]

Thanks all for the input. It seems like the consensus is a kettle of some sort, whether clay or tetsubin, which follows my own intuition no the matter. Now to figure out which one to get...

Good luck on all your teaware "investments"!

[BW85]

Thanks all for the input. It seems like the consensus is a kettle of some sort, whether clay or tetsubin, which follows my own intuition no the matter. Now to figure out which one to get...

Good luck on all your teaware "investments"!

On clay vs iron kettle:
I mainly use a zisha kettle, it helps brew tea that is soft and smooth, flavors come out very integrated and refined. Other clay that I've used has similar effects. I drink a lot of sheng and yancha, with other roasted oolongs and aged teas thrown in the mix.
I know some people don't care as much for clay kettles paired with gaoshan oolongs or green teas, and prefer cast iron with these teas. But when I do drink these greener teas with a clay kettle I personally tend to be happy with the results.
Hopefully someone with a tetsubin will chime in an share what they like about cast iron

[BW85]

Is that the sandy colored kettle? Are the black kettles purion?

yep! the sandy colored kettle. not the purion one! its just sandy outside, but inside is the typical standard lin's ceramic clay that resembles some kind of aged duanni blend. the black kettles are black glaze on the outside but the interior's the same material as the sandy one.

i bought the largest one from malaysia since i had a 20% discount card.. i would say barely a hundred american dollars... and the best investment so far

I've been eyeing a few of their kettles... Might make a purchase soon. The little 600ml black glazed one looks cute

[JBaymore]

With Matcha... the iron kettle rules for heating the water.

best,

.............john

[ryancha]

Where do people suggest purchasing a clay kettle? It seems the options are pretty limited. EoT and Sample both have yixing kettles. Teahabitat has a CZ one as part of a stove set (and I definitely don't need the stove part). I don't think Hojo has any.

What/where am I missing? Opinions on what to look for would be very appreciated.

[BW85]

Where do people suggest purchasing a clay kettle? It seems the options are pretty limited. EoT and Sample both have yixing kettles. Teahabitat has a CZ one as part of a stove set (and I definitely don't need the stove part). I don't think Hojo has any.

What/where am I missing? Opinions on what to look for would be very appreciated.

You can find a Lin's ceramics dealer.
http://www.aurlia.com.tw/product.php?type=all?lang=en
You'll have to email for prices

[kyarazen]

Where do people suggest purchasing a clay kettle? It seems the options are pretty limited. EoT and Sample both have yixing kettles. Teahabitat has a CZ one as part of a stove set (and I definitely don't need the stove part). I don't think Hojo has any.

What/where am I missing? Opinions on what to look for would be very appreciated.

on taobao you can get some traditional chaozhou kettles from reliable brands, some of them are moving into making purion wares too.

or you can get the chaozhou one from chawangshop or somewhere similar.. the prices are very reasonable. i actually dont need the kettle but i want the stove part so that i can transplant a halogen heating unit inside...
unfortunately international shipping costs of such an object is much more expensive than me getting from china directly, or settling for something "loud" and red in color that i find off the shelf here.

lin's ceramics clay kettles are pretty good, i absolutely love this :
http://www.aurlia.com.tw/detail.php?id=70&proid=7
i had them in yellow and black. its brown clay inside, a material reminiscent of a duanni/qingshuini blend but of course its just taiwanese clay not yixing. they are pretty much my daily use kettles now, apart from my radical habits of boiling water in tea pots..

[ryancha]

I'm surprised--due to my own ignorance--to see recommendations for Lin's kettles, given that these are neither yixing or CZ clay. Is the point that basically any decent clay is better than stainless steel? That the benefits from yixing/CZ clay vs, say, whatever clay Lin's is using, is pretty small when it comes to the taste of water?

Thanks again for helping me figure all this out.

[BioHorn]

Thanks all for the input. It seems like the consensus is a kettle of some sort, whether clay or tetsubin, which follows my own intuition no the matter. Now to figure out which one to get...

Good luck on all your teaware "investments"!

On clay vs iron kettle:
I mainly use a zisha kettle, it helps brew tea that is soft and smooth, flavors come out very integrated and refined. Other clay that I've used has similar effects. I drink a lot of sheng and yancha, with other roasted oolongs and aged teas thrown in the mix.
I know some people don't care as much for clay kettles paired with gaoshan oolongs or green teas, and prefer cast iron with these teas. But when I do drink these greener teas with a clay kettle I personally tend to be happy with the results.
Hopefully someone with a tetsubin will chime in an share what they like about cast iron

Have been quite happy using tetsubin for puerh, yancha and matcha. It will last nearly forever and will not break like my clay kettles.

Clay (bofura) has worked splendidly for sencha and phoenix DC with charcoal heat. Be aware each different clay will make varying degrees of difference in flavor and feel of water. Some can be quite pronounced! One of my bofura makes the water perfumed to strong floral/earthy. The other makes it rounder. I like the ChaWang CZ kettle (red one?). It holds quite a nice amount of water, pours decently and smooths out the water without getting too much in the way.

A glass kettle (Yama Kettle $25 from Amazon) can be great for comparison.

[ryancha]

Thanks again for all the suggestions. I think I may be getting one of the Lin's kettles as I may have found one in the SF Bay Area where I live.

Does anyone have any suggestions for buying a new tetsubin besides Hojo and AN? I've seen links to Tokyo stores in another thread, but the language barrier seems insurmountable.