This has been said before, but the first picture looks like a very common clay pot produced in Taiwan. I wanted to add that in all examples I have seen, the outside is brown and the inside is more reddish, exactly as seen in your picture.
There is a Shui Pin - ish shape that I believe may be mass produced in the same factory. Over the years I have seen it sold by many reputable tea vendors, some as their only gong fu pot. My first pot was one of these from Rishi tea, was also sold by Andao very recently. They have both dropped it, or moved on. I gave mine to another tea lover who was new to gong fu brewing.
Here is an example. A price of $25 in a US based boutique would indicate a fairly low price in Taiwan, when you consider shipping and markup at a few stages.
http://www.thefragrantleaf.com/clayteapot.html
I wouldn't guess that your first pot is unsafe, but it isn't comparable to a yixing of decent clay IMO.
I am sort of with Marshal here, these pots are new and relatively cheap, I don't see why someone would make one with matching inner clay and then cover it in shoe polish. I don't see color coming off the pot itself in your picture, give it a thorough cleaning, soak, boil, something, and see what happens.
Here on TeaChat we love experiments and lessons on teaware, would love to see what happens to the brown pot either way. Thanks.
There is a Shui Pin - ish shape that I believe may be mass produced in the same factory. Over the years I have seen it sold by many reputable tea vendors, some as their only gong fu pot. My first pot was one of these from Rishi tea, was also sold by Andao very recently. They have both dropped it, or moved on. I gave mine to another tea lover who was new to gong fu brewing.
Here is an example. A price of $25 in a US based boutique would indicate a fairly low price in Taiwan, when you consider shipping and markup at a few stages.
http://www.thefragrantleaf.com/clayteapot.html
I wouldn't guess that your first pot is unsafe, but it isn't comparable to a yixing of decent clay IMO.
I am sort of with Marshal here, these pots are new and relatively cheap, I don't see why someone would make one with matching inner clay and then cover it in shoe polish. I don't see color coming off the pot itself in your picture, give it a thorough cleaning, soak, boil, something, and see what happens.
Here on TeaChat we love experiments and lessons on teaware, would love to see what happens to the brown pot either way. Thanks.
Your second (red) pot looks the oddest. The brown pot really doesn't look anything out of the ordinary -- a typical Taiwanese pot. The third one too. The second, however, looks odd. Don't know what exactly it is, but it doesn't feel quite right.
Have you tried rubbing with your fingers? Does the colour come off then? How about when you soak it in hot water?
Have you tried rubbing with your fingers? Does the colour come off then? How about when you soak it in hot water?
thanks for everybody's replies.
not to worry, odarwin, i enjoy people speaking their mind. that is what is great about forums.
i want everybody to know that i was never told that the clay is yixing nor did i expect it to be yixing. i just liked the colour and style. all i know is that they were made in taiwan when i bought them.
anyway, i went back and, as marshalN said, it was because they are old and have been sitting for awhile. she cleaned one with a toothbrush and some kind of a toothpaste and sure enough the colour would no longer come off. i guess washing with a cloth is not considered cleaning.
what did concern me was that when they were explaining why there was a difference in colour from the inside and the outside, it was because there was an oil sprayed on! haha. not to worry, it is safe as i was told. almost all teapots are sprayed to make it more appealing to the customers. hmmm.
most likely because of the language barrier, i am unsure if the colour was sprayed on too! which only pertains to the brown one because it is certainly a different colour than the clay, as per brandon's example. at one point i think it was explained to me that there are two different layers.
in the end she said that i can exchange them if i wanted to.
they are so cheap that i was thinking about holding onto them. maybe even taste test the differences between a better clay pot too. i never really did care much about chemicals and such, but it seems like a big deal in this forum... so it made me worry. though i really like these blue pots i see and i wonder what is in the clay to make that colour.
marshalN, about the red pot. yes, i actually do not really like the shape at all since it does look out of proportion but it poured perfectly, i found the clay very interesting, it has a very nice ball filter, and the walls were quite thin so i figured that it might produce good results for other teas. to answer your questions, before today's cleaning, the colour only came off when soaked for awhile in hot water and using a cloth. i could not rub it off with my fingers because i think my finger is not rough enough.
oh yes, about the "china" stamp. she said that they were made back in the day when taiwanese pots were not wanted so they were "fake stamped" to be from china. hahaha! i actually laughed out loud when she told me that.
not to worry, odarwin, i enjoy people speaking their mind. that is what is great about forums.
i want everybody to know that i was never told that the clay is yixing nor did i expect it to be yixing. i just liked the colour and style. all i know is that they were made in taiwan when i bought them.
anyway, i went back and, as marshalN said, it was because they are old and have been sitting for awhile. she cleaned one with a toothbrush and some kind of a toothpaste and sure enough the colour would no longer come off. i guess washing with a cloth is not considered cleaning.
what did concern me was that when they were explaining why there was a difference in colour from the inside and the outside, it was because there was an oil sprayed on! haha. not to worry, it is safe as i was told. almost all teapots are sprayed to make it more appealing to the customers. hmmm.
most likely because of the language barrier, i am unsure if the colour was sprayed on too! which only pertains to the brown one because it is certainly a different colour than the clay, as per brandon's example. at one point i think it was explained to me that there are two different layers.
in the end she said that i can exchange them if i wanted to.
they are so cheap that i was thinking about holding onto them. maybe even taste test the differences between a better clay pot too. i never really did care much about chemicals and such, but it seems like a big deal in this forum... so it made me worry. though i really like these blue pots i see and i wonder what is in the clay to make that colour.
marshalN, about the red pot. yes, i actually do not really like the shape at all since it does look out of proportion but it poured perfectly, i found the clay very interesting, it has a very nice ball filter, and the walls were quite thin so i figured that it might produce good results for other teas. to answer your questions, before today's cleaning, the colour only came off when soaked for awhile in hot water and using a cloth. i could not rub it off with my fingers because i think my finger is not rough enough.
oh yes, about the "china" stamp. she said that they were made back in the day when taiwanese pots were not wanted so they were "fake stamped" to be from china. hahaha! i actually laughed out loud when she told me that.
sorry for the double post.
after wandering the shop for awhile and chatting it up with the shopkeeper i finally decided to return all three of the teapots. i was a tad sad to return them but you guys brought up some good points, plus what i traded them for is something that i really wanted. in fact, i originally was going to build this tea table because i thought the idea would be so cool to have. it goes without saying, every concept i have ever had in my life has already been done. sure enough hiding beneath a bunch of boxes of teacups my idea was already constructed! considering she gave me a straight trade i was very happy.
thanks everyone. i kind of owe this find to everybody who told me to take the pots back.
i would never had searched so thoroughly if i did not have to spend money.
perhaps, i might get that brown one back next week... ahha 300NT is really nothing!
after wandering the shop for awhile and chatting it up with the shopkeeper i finally decided to return all three of the teapots. i was a tad sad to return them but you guys brought up some good points, plus what i traded them for is something that i really wanted. in fact, i originally was going to build this tea table because i thought the idea would be so cool to have. it goes without saying, every concept i have ever had in my life has already been done. sure enough hiding beneath a bunch of boxes of teacups my idea was already constructed! considering she gave me a straight trade i was very happy.
thanks everyone. i kind of owe this find to everybody who told me to take the pots back.
i would never had searched so thoroughly if i did not have to spend money.perhaps, i might get that brown one back next week... ahha 300NT is really nothing!
