Nosaka pairing

[saxon75]

I recently purchased a Nosaka pot from Hojo (N603 on this page), and I'm having an interesting experience figuring out how to pair it.

In my initial contact with Hojo, I had asked for his recommendations for a pot to use with young sheng. He recommended an oxidation-fired Nosaka pot, and that's what I ended up going with. Having purchased it now and used it a few times, I'm not sure quite what to make of it.

I think I've used it about four times now, and what I've found is that it significantly smooths out the flavor of the tea. Like, to the point where it almost doesn't taste like shengcha anymore--I'm used to young sheng having a bit of roughness to it, some bitterness and smoke and a medicinal quality. When I use this pot, I find that I can still get some of the other complexities out of the tea, but the edges are all rounded down. I'm not so sure I like it, to be honest. (My wife, on the other hand, seems to find sheng much more tolerable with this pot. But then, she prefers more mellow tea.)

I seem to recall someone saying that these teapots require a significant breaking-in period, so I wasn't sure whether I ought to keep going with the sheng and seeing where it goes, or whether I ought to consider trying it out with something else. Maybe switching it over to shoucha or perhaps a heavy-roast oolong. Not that I expect there's a "right" answer, here, but I figured I might as well see what other people thought.

When you're breaking in a new teapot, how do you go about it?

[Ambrose]

I've had many hojo pots and over time Ive let them go. Nosaka reduction is the most intense of them all. It does exactly as you mentioned to any tea you brew and imparts its mineral taste to it in the finish. I have never found it to break in much more than what it does within the first few brews. At first I found it very impressive and dramatic. I could never seem to pair anything with it that I felt was a great fit. However it was good with all teas yet it always took out more than I personally liked. In the long run I felt all the teas started to taste very boring, monotoned, and with no personality. I don't care for the aftertaste this particular clay leaves. On the other hand if you enjoy a rounded soft deep brew then you could love this pot. I used to follow the hojo god but now I see he is just a well spoken vendor and most of his scientific writing and experiments point back to what he sells. He does offer good tea, insight, and service. Within these past few years I feel he seems to have lost his sense of balance. He seems to seek the extremes looking for the deepest longest aftertaste with high minerals. Maybe soon he will sell rocks and sticks I can brew from a magic mountain that is "beyond the imagination" my fav hojo quote. If you don't enjoy the pot maybe gift it to your wife and it's a great excuse to buy another for yourself. Perhaps keep the pot in your rotation for the days you crave your brew to be deeper and smoother. In this case and with all things it is in the eye of the observer.

[solitude]

I was looking for a good clay pot for young shengs for quite some time but I had to always return to porcelain. Finally I pulled the trigger and bought a Nosaka reduction clay teapot which happen to have a significant positive effect on the tea right from the beginning. If the sheng is good the pot highlights mainly its thickens and aftertase, on the other hand if the tea has some lower quality plantation origin the pot can bring out its roughness. In that case I switch to yixing (or a different tea ).
Unfortunately I have no experience with the oxidation nosaka clay.

[Tead Off]

I recently purchased a Nosaka pot from Hojo (N603 on this page), and I'm having an interesting experience figuring out how to pair it.

In my initial contact with Hojo, I had asked for his recommendations for a pot to use with young sheng. He recommended an oxidation-fired Nosaka pot, and that's what I ended up going with. Having purchased it now and used it a few times, I'm not sure quite what to make of it.

I think I've used it about four times now, and what I've found is that it significantly smooths out the flavor of the tea. Like, to the point where it almost doesn't taste like shengcha anymore--I'm used to young sheng having a bit of roughness to it, some bitterness and smoke and a medicinal quality. When I use this pot, I find that I can still get some of the other complexities out of the tea, but the edges are all rounded down. I'm not so sure I like it, to be honest. (My wife, on the other hand, seems to find sheng much more tolerable with this pot. But then, she prefers more mellow tea.)

I seem to recall someone saying that these teapots require a significant breaking-in period, so I wasn't sure whether I ought to keep going with the sheng and seeing where it goes, or whether I ought to consider trying it out with something else. Maybe switching it over to shoucha or perhaps a heavy-roast oolong. Not that I expect there's a "right" answer, here, but I figured I might as well see what other people thought.

When you're breaking in a new teapot, how do you go about it?

I have no experience at all with Hojo teapots other than drinking out of them at his shop. I do have experience with many other teapots and I've come across this phenomenon of certain pots taking the edge or roughness out of a tea.

Regarding shengcha, I have a Yixing with hongni clay that I used to use for Yancha teas. I converted it saying a few magic words to drink rougher, or smoky, sheng Puerh tea. It really does mellow these out. But it also takes the high notes of the teas and makes them into something else. My wife also likes the teas out of this pot but I would never consider putting all kinds of sheng into it. The pot has a purpose and I have many other pots to put teas into. It sounds like the Nosaka pot you have is similar to this Yixing I am describing. Perhaps it is not a pot where many teas could be drunk out of. I could see where this would be disappointing.

All of us change over time so the direction that Hojo moves toward is understandable. It is hard to know how much he projects into the things he sells and how much fact there is. If you've got money to spare, it's always nice to experiment. Buying teaware has many purposes and levels. It's always best to listen to yourself and go with your own experience and needs.

[yalokinh]

I recently purchased a Nosaka pot from Hojo (N603 on this page), and I'm having an interesting experience figuring out how to pair it.

In my initial contact with Hojo, I had asked for his recommendations for a pot to use with young sheng. He recommended an oxidation-fired Nosaka pot, and that's what I ended up going with. Having purchased it now and used it a few times, I'm not sure quite what to make of it.

I think I've used it about four times now, and what I've found is that it significantly smooths out the flavor of the tea. Like, to the point where it almost doesn't taste like shengcha anymore--I'm used to young sheng having a bit of roughness to it, some bitterness and smoke and a medicinal quality. When I use this pot, I find that I can still get some of the other complexities out of the tea, but the edges are all rounded down. I'm not so sure I like it, to be honest. (My wife, on the other hand, seems to find sheng much more tolerable with this pot. But then, she prefers more mellow tea.)

I seem to recall someone saying that these teapots require a significant breaking-in period, so I wasn't sure whether I ought to keep going with the sheng and seeing where it goes, or whether I ought to consider trying it out with something else. Maybe switching it over to shoucha or perhaps a heavy-roast oolong. Not that I expect there's a "right" answer, here, but I figured I might as well see what other people thought.

When you're breaking in a new teapot, how do you go about it?

I just use it like crazy!!!