Do we have to use one tea pot for one tea?

[auhckw]

Interesting way of explaining...

Do we have to use one tea pot for one tea?
http://hojotea.com/article_e/mineral.htm

It often comes to the discussion whether or not we should use one teapot for one tea. I would like to share some facts based on my first hands experience.

1. Flavor of tea comes from organic substance. When we brew tea using a clay tea pot, its flavour may remain for short period of time. Once organic substance is oxidized, flavor will then disappear from the clay. In other words, organic substance present in tea is not our main concern.

2. Minerals contribute to after taste. Mineral is very stable. For example, the salt found in the rocky mountain remains unchanged and never deteriorated even if it is kept for thousands of year.

Therefore, we need to pay attention to minerals and not the flavour of tea. When we brew tea in a teapot, both tea and water also supply minerals. As such, I determine three sources of minerals as follow:-

A. Tea
B. Water
C. Clay

There are 3 different ways to experience more "after taste" than that of water by itself.

a: B + A
b: B + C
c: B + A + C

The combination of clay + water gives stronger after taste than just water by itself. This is due to the interaction of minerals with water molecules. If a teapot is only used with water over and over again for many months, minerals from water will accumulate on the surface of clay and form a layer of "scale". Scale consists of not only calcium, but also various kinds of trace minerals such as iron, magnesium, zinc and etc. Each type of water used contributes to the mineral composition of the scale. In a long run, minerals accumulate on the surface of clay and form a solid layer. At this stage, if we taste the water from the clay tea pot, it is definitely different compare to the taste of water from a new tea pot of the same clay. The clay that has been treated with water for many months gives stronger after taste than new clay. This fact implies that it is very important to stick to the same type of water when brewing tea.

Parenthetically, the after taste of (b) must be stronger than B. If the combination between clay and water is not correct, the after taste on B is stronger than (b). This could be happened if the quality of clay is very poor or in other case the minerals in water is not suitable for that particular clay. Hence, before start brewing tea, please conduct the following experiment and make sure that the intensity of after taste is stronger than control.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... XPVtmW3ENY

The intensity of the after taste on (c) is supposed to be the strongest if the tea matches well with the clay and water. The difference of after taste between (b) and (c) is the equal to the addition of minerals from A, as shown in the following formula:-

(c) – (b) = A

Tea is the additional source of minerals besides water. If we keep brewing the same tea using the same water and clay, a complex of minerals will be formed on the surface of clay. The minerals come from both water and tea leaves. If teapot is used for only one type of tea, it will consistently build-up the complex of minerals. Later on the intensity of after taste on (b) becomes equal to (c). If you just run through water in your teapot, you will enjoy the same intensity of after taste as when tea is brewed because of teapot is coated with the solid layer of minerals supplied from both water and tea leaves. At this point, if you brew tea using this tea pot, the intensity of after taste is supposed to be even stronger than (c). This is the theory of how the performance of teapot is improved.
After all, it is very ideal to stick to one teapot for one type of tea. However, most importantly you must stick to the same type of water. I usually drink more than 100 types of tea in a month. Should I use more than 100 teapots? It seems not very practical for me.

As a conclusion, for each type of clay teapot, I will only use it for the type of tea which gives a stronger after taste when it is combined with the clay. If I keep changing the type of tea to brew in one teapot, the performance of clay may not be upgraded much, although the performance of clay can be improved thanks to the minerals from the water. If you wish to share the same teapot for a few different types of tea, please select based on the same origin and not the category of tea. Tea should be grouped based on its source, such as "Phoenix tea", "Wuyi tea", "Taiwan Oolong", "Sencha from yabukita", "Sencha from zairai", "Yunnan tea" and etc.

[fracol]

Wow, my head is still spinning.

[tortoise]

food for thought!

[tingjunkie]

The water experiment depicted in Hojo's video is very useful for testing out teapots, however I have to say I don't understand why he fires through tasting the 5 samples at break neck speed!

"Hence, before start brewing tea, please conduct the following experiment and make sure that the intensity of after taste is stronger than control."

How the hell are you getting a feel for "after taste" if you are drinking the next sample half a second after you swallow the first? Doesn't the term after taste refer to the taste left over in your mouth for a while after you swallow? Same thing in his tea testing video. Is he just speeding up the process for the purpose of making the video shorter?

[chamomileteaguy]

Very interesting, thanks for posting that. I never really put any thought into the tea vessel, just the tea.

[edkrueger]

Once organic substance is oxidized, flavor will then disappear...

This is false. Counterexamples: Lactic Acid, Ethanol. Both are results of a full oxidization process. Further, I think it is highly unlikely that all of the residual tea solids will become fully oxidized.

[gingkoseto]

Another factor to consider is, some people have sharper senses (smell, taste, etc.) than others. So the clay and water test should be a blind test. The testee should write down what he thinks on a piece of paper before being showed answers. Anyone who fails the test should be banned for a year from buying new teapots with the excuse that he needs another pot for another tea. But probably we should be so kind and still allow him to buy a new teapot if he can't have a good sleep without it.

[gingkoseto]

Once organic substance is oxidized, flavor will then disappear...

This is false. Counterexamples: Lactic Acid, Ethanol. Both are results of a full oxidization process. Further, I think it is highly unlikely that all of the residual tea solids will become fully oxidized.

I think you are both right to certain degree. Lactic acid and ethanol are examples of fermentation, which is considered incomplete oxidation. Any complete oxidation will leave nothing but water and carbon dioxide, both tasteless. Although oxidation can cause production of flavorful substances, when oxidation passes certain level, flavor will start to disappear.

But isn't this too much to be considered relevant to tea

[TIM]

Still spinning....

If we start breaking things down without enough experience and understanding, its almost like this rookie's (FuzzyDunlop said...) comments on Mattcha's blog:

http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID ... 7185325427

What a waste of tea, or in this case, water....

[tortoise]

Another factor to consider is, some people have sharper senses (smell, taste, etc.) than others. So the clay and water test should be a blind test. The testee should write down what he thinks on a piece of paper before being showed answers. Anyone who fails the test should be banned for a year from buying new teapots with the excuse that he needs another pot for another tea. But probably we should be so kind and still allow him to buy a new teapot if he can't have a good sleep without it.

I am one of those who is sensitive enough to enjoy some fine things, but not so sensitive that I can follow Hojo's instructions and get the same results. I can't for the life of me make my banko yaki teapot improve the taste of tea, but then again, maybe it's the water...

[bagua7]

When I drink tea I follow the Qi/spirit and leave more analytical issues behind it.

I don't see the need of using one pot for one particular kind of tea. I follow the approach of one dedicated vessel for each tea category. For example for puerh tea I would use one pot and for Taiwanese High Mountain oolong a different one.

No need to buy 20 pots as a result...unless you fancy these things or are a collector...nothing wrong with that for sure.

Again, this is entirely my own opinion...so each to their own.

[Chasm]

I've given up following the "should"s on this one and I am simply in pursuit of what works best according to what I can taste and what I can't.

My palate is sensitive to delicate flavors and easily overwhelmed by very strong teas. Not being a sufficient expert on unglazed clays, I'll just comment for now on my experience with glazed porcelain and stoneware.

I can certainly taste it in the tea if *shudder* soap or detergent has been used on the surfaces the tea or water touches recently. So I don't want my teaware cleaned by anything but my fingers under warm water and boiling water rinses, with the occasional touch-up with a microfiber cloth.

Unfortunately, with something like a quality peppermint tisane (I have to tell you, the grower Teasource uses for peppermint is really something), there is no getting rid of all the peppermint oil on the glazed surface short of some sort of detergent. So I dedicated a pot to the peppermint, since I like to serve up peppermint tisane and chocolate to guests to watch their eyes bug out at the combination.

The jury is still out on whether the peppermint and the spearmint can share a pot or get separate ones.

The Chinese blacks I've had so far that really struck me (Bill Waddington at Teasource really has an eye for these and black teas in general) tend to have a noticeable oil sheen on the surface of the liquid. So we're back to oil residue again. The black tea I most often drink is a lighter one from Nepal which I brew under parameters to produce something quite light and delicate. (We're into colored water territory for those with more robust palates.) So to protect the flavor when I brew that tea and to save wear and tear on the surfaces of my teaware, that tea currently has a dedicated porcelain pot, a dedicated porcelain tea server (another pot), and a dedicated cup and saucer. I don't allow visible patina on the surfaces, but keep the cleaning to a minimum beyond that to save wear and tear on my teaware and hands. Short of soap or serious scrubbing, I would taste the residue if I brewed a Chinese black in that pot, though I don't know if anyone else would. *shrug*

So despite these all being glazed surfaces, a tea/tisane gets dedicated teaware for me if:

• [1]It's a delicate favorite I drink often that I don't want influenced, or
  [2]It's a regular (though possibly infrequent) that has the capability to leave oil residue I can taste in subsequent brews of different leaf in the same pot

Decent glazed pots can be gotten inexpensively at thrift stores, garage sales, and ebay with some patience. I think an experiment worth trying is whether two teas sharing the same glazed pot influence each other according to your palate. If they can, maybe they shouldn't share an unglazed pot.

[chrl42]

The combination of clay + water gives stronger after taste than just water by itself. This is due to the interaction of minerals with water molecules.

Thanks for such nice topic, although my head is still spinning.
It is said to be minerals in Yixing teapot break the water molecules into smaller ones, makes the 'light' water, functions as 'tea spoon'. I especially feel this when I use Zhaozhuang Zhuni, Henan Ru-kiln celadon or Fujian Tu Hao cup. A feel that is so united..like a well-stirred soup (I talk too abstract way ). It's a different meaning with low-fired porous clay wares..former are very high-fired.

[Chasm]

I wonder if that's a mistranslation for the effect of nucleation sites. It doesn't make sense that the clay would break down H2O molecules unless it's radioactive.

Nucleation sites are basically tiny surface irregularities, which contribute to more air remaining in the water after pouring, keeping it lighter and more lively to the taste. Unglazed ware would have more nucleation sites than glazed in most cases. So the right clay handled the right way would result in the water being more broken up, so to speak, but not the water molecules themselves.

This is my explanation for the reason I don't like to brew in glass. The real reason is that it "feels" wrong to me. My guess at why it feels wrong is that modern glass is so smooth that it is too lacking in nucleation sites, even compared to very fine porcelain glazes.

Trivia of the day: We're used to the freezing temperature of water at 1 earth standard atmosphere being 0C, but that is only true if there are some impurities in the water, such as dust particles, to provide nucleation sites around which crystallization can begin. For pure H20 liquid, the freezing temperature at 1 atmosphere is -42C.

[tingjunkie]

Great post Chasm! The more sound scientific theory we can infuse into Yixing conversation the better. I don't think I remember anyone throwing nucleation sites into the speculation before. It makes a lot of sense.