Need yixing recommendation help

[pess]

Hi,
I've been reading most of the discussions related to yixing for the past 2 weeks during my holidays and I still haven't been able to make a clear decision so I decided to register and seek some help from veteran yixing user here.

I'm looking for a yixing pot replacement for my father who had his old pot broken when a thief broke in and stormed the place.
I'm not sure what kind of clay pot the old pot was made, I only know the old pot was bought in 1979 when he married and my mother brought it from China to Canada when she immigrated.

Here's my father's tea drinking habit and taste:
- Most of his tea's are Menghai ripe pu-erh tea cake from either friends brought back from Hong Kong(HK)/China or mailed by his cousin(now dead) in China
- He buys sometime loose ripe pu-erh in small quantity(100g) from the local tea stores too but he said he's going to stick with tea cake from now on as he complained the last batch he got sold at $30CAD/Lb last year was flat and tasteless; I just think the store overpriced their stuff as they sell the same teochew pot as my friend bought for a bit less than $20CAD in HK 2009 for over 3 times my friend's price
- The age of the ripe pu-erh he drinks varies from 0-3 years(0=2010 & 3=2007 as the 2011 tea are not out yet)
- He drinks a total of 700ml to 1L of ripe pu-erh at 1pm, 5pm and 8pm every day
- He likes his tea strong; I think it's more like kung fu style but my mom thinks it's not because the teochew kung fu style tea she tried(over 30 years ago and based from memory) was stronger and she thinks kung fu style is too "sheuk wei"<-Sorry, I don't know how to say it in english nor in mandarin, the quote is pronounced in cantonese
- He only buys ripe pu-erh because he doesn't like the "cheng" taste from raw pu-erh and can't afford to drink 5+ years old good raw regularly
- My mom likes her tea more sweet & fragrant(not sure if I'm using the right term, maybe i should use the term flavor instead) and she doesn't like the woody after taste too much; got to include her taste too because my father often makes tea for us

Please recommend me a seller with a specific pot model & size I should pick.
My budget is aprox. $100CAD/USD with 4 matching color small cups if possible, might consider going higher if justified.

Sorry for the long post, I thought the more specific I describe the better.
Thanks in advance for anyone who can help me.

[tingjunkie]

Sorry to hear about the broken pot. When you say your father drinks about a liter of tea 3 times a day, is he making one infusion in a large pot, or 6-7 infusions in a smaller pot? In other words, about what size was his old pot?

[wyardley]

Which part of Canada are you in? If you're in Vancouver / Richmond, I would strongly urge you to take advantage of some of the excellent local offerings for teaware shopping.

It would be helpful if you mention the approximate size of the old pot. I assume you mean that the old pot approximately fills the 3 small cups you mention?

I would personally suggest porcelain cups rather than matching cups, though of course it's a personal preference.

[pess]

Thanks for the replies.

Sorry, I forgot to mention the aproximate size of the old pot.
The old pot was estimated around 6oz from what my father said.

To Tingjunk...:
He was doing multiple infusions with the old pot but only whenever he wants to drink more to make sure the tea was still hot when he drinks it.

Right now, he's using an old porcelain pot which I estimate around 500-600ml, does 2 infusions per day with the porcelain pot but ends up throwing alot at the end of the day as he hates cold tea and constantly heated tea isn't the best.

And he liked to be able to changes to another pu-erh depending of his mood during the day without wasting too much as the old pot was small(uses less leaves).

Just to clarify and make sure there's no misunderstanding, it seems like you think my father drinks 3 times 1L = 3L every day.
I appologize if you do, I meant he drinks up to 1L of tea per day at 3 differents time.


To wyardley:
I wish I'm in those high chinese crowded areas or near them.
Nearest chinatown is in Montreal, Quebec.

The old pot had a set of 4 matching color cups when my mother brought them from China but the cups were broken since a long time ago(over 10 years).
Memory vaguely tells me the pot was able to fill all 4 cups with a bit of left over(less than another half cup) but the cups weren't full to avoid my fingers getting burned and break more cups later on.
I admit I broke 2 of the cups when I was a child.

I asked for matching color just for esthetics but if you also have some nice cup recommendation which goes well with the recommended pot please let me know.

[wyardley]

I wish I'm in those high chinese crowded areas or near them.
Nearest chinatown is in Montreal, Quebec.

Was the old pot very ornate, or a simple design? Personally, I would try to find an 80s or 90s shui ping (water level) style pot that's a traditional zisha / zini in terms of clay type. Duanni might also be a good clay for ripe puer. Maybe 120-130 ml or so. Even though you're not in Vancouver, you might call Michael at Best Tea House Vancouver. He's not cheap, but may have something close to your price range; he can send you photos via email. His shop's contact information is in some other threads on this site, which you should be able to search for. Something older in style will probably be the best replacement other than getting the original pot back. Aroma Teahouse in Vancouver has some pots which are reasonable in price, but less close to what you're looking for.

Maybe Orguz or Heavydoom can suggest some places in Montereal / Toronto if they're still reading.

For more modern pots, I think Jing Teashop has some really nice stuff
http://www.jingteashop.com/
They can often find something if you give them an idea of what you're looking for, and you can look through their gallery of sold pots to give an idea of what kind of stuff they offer.

A pot with a filter of some sort might be helpful - not sure how important that is to your dad.

I asked for matching color just for esthetics but if you also have some nice cup recommendation which goes well with the recommended pot please let me know.

Also very personal, I guess, but if it were me, I would go for a good quality plain white porcelain. For puer, a slightly larger cup that's bowl shaped would probably be appropriate - maybe 40-50 ml of actual tea volume? The feel is very important - you don't want the cheapest cups, but you don't want something crazy expensive either. I have a few that I could suggest, but they would be kind of difficult to order / obtain.

[tingjunkie]

I'd second the recommendation for Jing. Check their under $150 section for something nice in the 150-180ml range.

[pess]

Thanks wyardley for the seller recommendation.

To answer your questions, the old pot was very plain looking without ornament.
Probably a mid-low quality pot as my mom said it was the cheapest one sold at the "yau yi seung dim"(friendly store).
I'm not trying to get the original pot back as I'm aware they're long gone and I don't want to pay a crazy price to an antique dealer or collector.
I'm just looking for a good pot at a reasonable price suited to the kind of tea we already have.
To us, the future new pot will be considered as kitchenware and not a collectible so we don't need anything fancy on the pretty side nor bulky.
It can be in any kind of clay, age, etc. as long as it makes the tea taste great(as defined in my 1st post) is fine but of course at a reasonable/justified price.

Thanks for advising about the filter.
Yes, it'll be important to have a filter because my father pours the tea straight into the cup(s) and is too lazy to use a strainer.

I took a look at jing's store and I see he recommends most of their pots for pu-erh, not sure which one is best for the kind we have at home.
Alot of their pots seem to be on the fancy side(looks more like collectibles) or looks bulky and the available pots are quite limited if we remove the sold pots.

You said to give jing an idea of what I'm looking for.
Should I send them an email retelling the whole story or should I be more direct and specify the kind of clay, age, size, shape, filter, etc. I want?
They also have 2 contacts emails, which should I use or should I just email them both?

[wyardley]

To us, the future new pot will be considered as kitchenware and not a collectible so we don't need anything fancy on the pretty side nor bulky.
It can be in any kind of clay, age, etc. as long as it makes the tea taste great(as defined in my 1st post) is fine but of course at a reasonable/justified price.

In that case, maybe also try http://aromateahouse.com/ as mentioned before. I think they have some stuff that's fairly priced, and the woman there doesn't try to make exaggerated claims about the pots' provenance. Most of the ones I've seen from them are hongni, and might not be best suited to shu, but they may have some other pots also.

You said to give jing an idea of what I'm looking for.
Should I send them an email retelling the whole story or should I be more direct and specify the kind of clay, age, size, shape, filter, etc. I want?
They also have 2 contacts emails, which should I use or should I just email them both?

I think both emails go to the same place, and I would just give them a general idea.

The good thing about a newer pot is that the pour, filter should be a little better than many older pots. For me, the clay of a lot of older pots is still nicer, though.

[pess]

...hongni, and might not be best suited to shu, ...

Thanks again.
I'll keep in mind to not trust any seller too much if he/she tries to sell me a hongni pot for ripe pu-erh.

Just sent an email to jing.
I hope to get a reply soon.

[wyardley]

I'll keep in mind to not trust any seller too much if he/she tries to sell me a hongni pot for ripe pu-erh.

Hey - it's just a thought. It might well work, and someone else might know better than I.

[pess]

Hey - it's just a thought. It might well work,...

Sorry, I thought you really meant it.
My tea knowledge is still at noob level.
I tend to trust and believe easily what I don't know at all from people who are much more knowledgeable than myself.

...someone else might know better than I.

Is there anyone willing to answer what kind of clay would be best for ripe pu-erh?

[tingjunkie]

Is there anyone willing to answer what kind of clay would be best for ripe pu-erh?

No, and if someone gives you a universal answer to that question, then that's the person you shouldn't trust. Many clays can be suitable for cooked puerh. The level of firing and the shape play important roles too. This is why I recommend Jing however- I think their pots are priced fairly, they are well selected, and their pairing suggestions are clearly well thought out seem to be derived from good experience and knowledge.