70mL Shui Ping

[theredbaron]

Only for Japanese greens i find multihole filters useful, if they are well made (but not mesh or ball filters - mesh is a real pain to get clean, and ball filters will always leave that bit too much liquid in the pot). Actually - the first Japanese pot i have found that i am really happy to use without any reservations at all is the small Shimizu Ken pot i recently bought from Hojo.

I am sorry to reply to this, off topic and a tad late, but it has bugged me since I read it.

Of course we can all have preferences. However in Japanese teapots, mesh and ball screen filters when well made and well installed should drain the pot fully. However some care/practice may be needed in pouring in order to fully drain the pot.

And I do not seem to have any problem fully cleaning my mesh screen pots ...

Well, that's you.
I found the Shimizu Ken pot i recently bought the best made Japanese teapot i have ever used.

No, I am stating fact. And I am not doubting that your new pot is the best pot you ever used. You did not mention the type of screen, but I am assuming it is direct wall type. They are very functional ... when made properly.

However, you paint with a very broad stroke at times and state things seemingly as fact when they are subjective opinions.

A lot has to do with how the screen is made and how it is attached. Done correctly there should be little problem as long as the brewer pours correctly. Perhaps something is "wrong" with your other pots' screens or your methods of pouring.

IMHO

I don't want to get into another argument.
I have been drinking Japanese tea since 20 years, and have used countless pots with any imaginable filter, of many price grades and makers, from factory produced to artist pots. I have a dozen or so pots in my cabinet here, and quite a few more in my storage in Europe.
I am not an expert in Japanese tea - i know more about Chinese teas, but that is my comparison.
I state here *my* subjective opinion, the same way anybody here does. And it is *my* opinion that the Shimizu Ken pot is the best Japanese pot for practical tea drinking i have ever used - clay, size, and making. And yes, it has a direct wall filter.

Have you used one of the Shimizu Ken pots? What is your thoughts on them?

[Chip]

Have you used one of the Shimizu Ken pots? What is your thoughts on them?

I'll take 10.

I have shopped the Hojo site likely a few hundred times. Not sure which prevented me from buying. Analysis Paralysis most likely. Too many choices. Though prices likely played a part as well.

I have however purchased several direct wall screened kyusu from other artisan with so far all positive experiences. My experience with just about all types of screens, there are good and bad examples. With direct wall, some I have seen online are simply too small and/or too few holes for the size of the pot and destined for problems.

[theredbaron]

Have you used one of the Shimizu Ken pots? What is your thoughts on them?

I'll take 10.

I have shopped the Hojo site likely a few hundred times. Not sure which prevented me from buying. Analysis Paralysis most likely. Too many choices. Though prices likely played a part as well.

I have however purchased several direct wall screened kyusu from other artisan with so far all positive experiences. My experience with just about all types of screens, there are good and bad examples. With direct wall, some I have seen online are simply too small and/or too few holes for the size of the pot and destined for problems.

True.
I have one direct wall filter pot, for example, with lots of tiny holes, which are a major pain to clean.
I have done quite a bit of window shopping at Hojo as well before overcoming my inner Scot, and bought the tiny flat 90 ml pot you can see at the available page in the 'Nosaka side handle without Namamigaki' column.
I love it, it's awesome, the engineering is perfect, the clay is incredibly calming to touch...

Now there is only one more teapot for me to buy - the same in slightly larger, maybe 160 ml to 200 ml, for every day Senchas and Karigane, or when i am serving tea to guests. And then i will be content.

I have reached that level of contentedness with my Chinese teapots maybe 7 or 8 years ago, never bought any since. The only Yixing pots i would still be interested would be so far above my means (and skill, i guess), that i don't even dream of them.