Just looking for a great Yixing pot, online

[TeaHeadBomb]

Hi,
I don't care about the design so much as getting a good pot with good clay. Spending up to a few hundred is OK, maybe more? But there are so many vendors and apparently so many fakes.

Can you give me links to good pots, from a reputable source?

Thanks!

PS By the way, I've checked the archives, but haven't found any good links so far, mostly general discussions about the pots.

[Proinsias]

I think Hou De Asian Art would be worth a look if you don't mind spending a few bucks.

It might be worth considering what tea you will be using it for. If you're wanting it to brew rolled oolong, for example, don't but a short, flat pot just because the clay is good as you'll end up up fighting to get the lid on the thing. If I was spending a few hundred on a pot I'd be damn sure I was buying something with a design I liked, great tea from a pot I didn't like the look of just wouldn't cut it for me and I probably wouldn't give it the care and attention it deserves.

[wyardley]

This thread from a while back has discussions of some vendors.
http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?t=6951

The places (at least the ones that are easy to order from in the West) I've been happiest with my pots from, in no particular order:
Hou De - http://houdeasianart.com/
Best Tea House (Canada branch) - http://besttea.com.hk/ (branch # 604-232-1681)
The Tea Gallery (NY) - http://theteagallery.com/
Jing Tea Shop (China) - http://jingteashop.com/ (mostly newer pots)

A lot of these vendors have access to pots they don't post on their sites (and some don't do online sales at all), but I think all will do mail order if you're really determined to do it that way. I make no pronouncements about the authenticity of the pots any of these vendors sell -- I will only say that overall, I've been pretty happy with the pots I've gotten from them in the price range you specify. I think it would help if you can come up with some examples (pictures) of pots you like, as well as an approximate size, and type(s) of tea you want to use the pot for (if you post some of that information here, I'm sure some folks would be happy to suggest a pot).

Overall, though, buying Yixing online is a little tricky, especially with more expensive pieces. So if you can find a good vendor that you can visit in person, that's definitely a big plus.

I would also recommend starting with a mid-priced pot or two (in the $40-80 price range) just to establish trust / rapport / etc. with the dealer and so they can start to get a sense of what sort of pots you like.

Some of the vendors are more willing to bargain than others, but don't be afraid to ask.

Further reading:
http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?t=7811 (yixing vendors in Vancouver area; all 3 vendors I mentioned here will do mail order, albeit not via their websites)
http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?p=9980 (general info online purchasing; not a lot of info in this thread tho)

[hop_goblin]

The vendors mentioned are great. However, I would really recommend Life of Tea. They can certainly find you something in your price range.

www.lifeoftea.com

I just purchased 2 cultural revolution pots that would of certainly would have costed me a couple of hundred more if it were dealing with someone from the states. If you are willing to spend hundreds, I am sure they can find you an Early Republic or even late Qing.

And as Wyardley as state, dont be afraid to haggle! I have never paid what any vendor is asking and this includes online vendors ! NEVER!

[TeaHeadBomb]

Thanks for the wonderful suggestions so far folks - thanks!

I'm looking for a couple of pots for Chinese greens and oolongs. In Greens I enjoy Dragonwell and Pi Lo Chun, pretty standard, and I'm just beginning with Oolongs. I'm coming from a Japanese green background, having traveled there a lot for business and falling in love with their tea.

For size I'm looking for small, one Gong-fu, and otherwise a one or two cup size, no bigger. For design I'm really not particular, I love all the weird designs I've seen so far.

I'd prefer a good pot less than $100, if that's possible. Know anything about

www.sensationalteas.com

? Too cheap, no good?

[Proinsias]

I would advise against a yixing pot for green, yellow or white teas. You certainly can use them for brewing these teas but most would recommend something glazed or something glass to get the best out of them. Yixing is great for keeping things hot and sucking up and dishing out flavour, greens tend to do better in something pristine clean and less restrictive.

Whilst yixing is great for oolong is I would think it might be worth taking the time to find out what kind off oolongs you prefer. Most would at least keep a pot for only light oolong or only dark oolong, others may have individual pots for specific varietals of oolong or ones which are aged/ not aged etc. If you go through a lot of dark wuyi oolong, for example, in a yixing and then start brewing some light, floral Taiwanese oolong in it there's a fair chance you're still going to be tasting the wuyi.

If you're not used to gong fu with oolong teas a small gaiwan would be the first thing to get along with a wide range of samples. From reading your posts I would suggest something closer to a 100ml gaiwan for a few dollars and the rest of the money spent on different oolongs before going for a yixing. Once you know what you like it will be easier to shop for yixing.

I have seven or eight yixings at the moment two of which I use for oolong, one for wuyi & one for dan cong, anything I don't have a pot dedicated to goes in a gaiwan. If I'm using the gaiwan a lot for one particular type of tea over a good few months then I know I need to start thinking about a yixing for that type of tea.

[TeaHeadBomb]

Wow - I guess I'm confused. I thought Yixings were best with greens, and by extension, whites. Chinese greens at least, I wouldn't want to try it with a Japanese.

So what are Yixings best with then, Oolongs and blacks? Or just Oolongs? If so that makes me happy, I'm a green fiend, and prefer porcelain anyhow, but I'm branching out into China more and thought Yixings were the bomb.

[Proinsias]

I don't know about Sensational Teas, I'm sure someone can chime in, but Yunnan Sourcing is a good place to look for something cheap and functional as is Fun Alliance.

[Proinsias]

They are great with oolong, black, pu'erh etc. I tend to think that the more the tea leaf has been through to make it to my tea tray the better suited it will be to yixing. If it has spent a few hours basking in the sun before being sealed and shipped I would avoid yixing and opt for glass or glaze. If it has been roasted, oxidized and spent 20 yrs waiting to get to my tea try it feels like a crime not to have a yixing for it.

[wyardley]

I'm looking for a couple of pots for Chinese greens and oolongs. In Greens I enjoy Dragonwell and Pi Lo Chun, pretty standard, and I'm just beginning with Oolongs. I'm coming from a Japanese green background, having traveled there a lot for business and falling in love with their tea.

While some might argue that you /can/ make green teas in a Yixing pot, I think most would argue that you'll get better, or at least as good, results with a good quality thin gaiwan. You can get a very nice plain white one with a good quality thin porcelain at The Tea Gallery for less than $40 (depending on the size you pick). You could use a small porcelain teapot as well.

If you really want to make Chinese green tea in a stoneware pot, you could try Japanese teapots.

For oolong teas, the type of pot you choose will depend on the type of oolong you want to brew in it (in terms of more / less oxidized, more / less roasted). If you're not sure, get a suggestion from the vendor and / or brew your teas in a gaiwan until you figure out which teas you like enough to dedicate a Yixing pot to them.

For size I'm looking for small, one Gong-fu, and otherwise a one or two cup size, no bigger.

What is your idea of a "cup"?

Generally, a "cup" in gong fu terminology is 10-30 ml, so a "2 cup" pot is going to be at most 40-60 ml (a couple of oz). For me, the perfect size of pot for 1-3 people is about 60-100ml.

[bi lew chun]

You can get a very nice plain white one with a good quality thin porcelain at The Tea Gallery for less than $40 (depending on the size you pick). You could use a small porcelain teapot as well.

The Tea Gallery's gaiwans are a very nice option. I recently received the 60 mL and the porcelain is indeed quite thin. The size is also great for experimentation--I'm finding myself breaking out old teas to see what new tricks they can do.

[Tead Off]

Wow - I guess I'm confused. I thought Yixings were best with greens, and by extension, whites. Chinese greens at least, I wouldn't want to try it with a Japanese.

So what are Yixings best with then, Oolongs and blacks? Or just Oolongs? If so that makes me happy, I'm a green fiend, and prefer porcelain anyhow, but I'm branching out into China more and thought Yixings were the bomb.

TeaHead,

Confused? You should be because tea drinking is a subject that goes deeper, way deeper, than sticking a tea bag in a cup and pouring hot water into it. It's literally a culture that takes time to understand and sort out the facts from the fiction.

Yixing is a place in China where they produce teapots. The clay is not all the same. They have different colors of clay and when made into teapots, some colors are better than others with different types of tea. For simplicity sake, the red is best with Oolongs, and, the purple best with green tea and puerh. If you just concern yourself with these 2 colors, you will be ahead of the game. Why are these colors best with the teas I mentioned? Probably the minerals that are in the clay have a positive reaction with the water and tea put inside them. But, green tea will not be as good put into a red pot and vice versa for oolong. This is the common wisdom of tea drinkers over time.

The trick is to find natural red clay or natural purple clay that is pure, not fortified with oxides or anything else to 'enhance' them. Red clay is no longer mined in Yixing and red clay pots (Zhu Ni) are costly. Most of the 'yixing pots' are not even made out of real yixing clay. I am not making this up.

From what I've read and heard from knowledgeable tea drinkers, for reasonably priced natural red clay and purple clay pots, you have to find a source other than yixing unless you want to pay very high prices ($1000 and up). You might stumble upon some older pots but will you know what they really are and how the clay was processed? Few people do.

One of the few honest vendors I've come across who really knows what is going on and can steer you in the right direction is hojotea.com The owner is a fanatical tea drinker who has a command of the business and the materials used in this field. I would give serious thought to spending some bucks on the Sado red clay teapots and the Banko purple teapots that he features. While he says that Yixing Zhu Ni clay is best for oolongs, Sado red clay pots are 2nd best and a heck of a lot cheaper. He also told me that the Banko clay is also a pure clay that is processed and fired to give great results with green tea, unlike his other product offering, the tokoname pots, which uses artificial clay, not natural clay like the Banko, and, is fired differently.

It is also possible that there are other clays in the world that will give great results with the type of teas you want to brew, but, these are the tried and true over time so why not start here in your quest for that great cuppa tea

[britt]

Wow - I guess I'm confused. I thought Yixings were best with greens, and by extension, whites. Chinese greens at least, I wouldn't want to try it with a Japanese.

So what are Yixings best with then, Oolongs and blacks? Or just Oolongs? If so that makes me happy, I'm a green fiend, and prefer porcelain anyhow, but I'm branching out into China more and thought Yixings were the bomb.

I have found it is much easier to get good results from the darker teas. There are still noticeable differences between pots, but these teas are more forgiving.

The lighter teas can be much more difficult when matching to an Yixing. It's much easier to get good results with greens and whites in thin, light porcelain than in Yixings. However, after much trying and a significant expendature, I now have three Yixings that do an excellent job brewing greens, whites, and Taiwanese high mountain oolongs ("green" oolongs).

I have found the most important qualities for brewing greens and whites in an Yixing to be:

1. Thin walls

2. Very light weight

3. Pot mounted on feet- this isn't necessary, but can help because it increases air circulation around the pot, allowing better heat release. On most pots, the bottom is flat and sits directly on the counter or table, therefore restricting cooling.

4. The three Yixings I have that work well with the lighter teas are made of Zhuni, Modern Zhuni, and Duan Ni. I prefer the Duan Ni for whites and the other two for greens and high mountains, but all three Yixings will brew any of these three teas with very good results. They ranged in price from $70 for the Duan Ni to $160 for the Zhuni and Modern Zhuni. They were purchased from Shan Shui Teas and Jing Tea Shop.