Official/Different Yixing Show Off Topic!

[needaTEAcher]

Ha! Cute pigs... I am guessing that the pigs are of the "peeing/spitting" variety? (i.e., soak em in water, then pour hot water on them and they'll spit?)

The feet are very neat... but is that a spider on them? Any ideas why a spider..??

Thanks! The pigs spit. As per the spider, it is supposed to do with luck or something?!

[needaTEAcher]

大茶树记 – 朱泥 – 梨形壶
dà chá shù jì – zhū ní – lí xíng hú

Capacity: 170ml
Clay: Modern Zhuni
Made in: Year 2011 (year written in chinese on the bottom)

Custom made teapot from a local teashop here. Slight modifications. Mold theirs. Same shape comes with 3 clays x30 units. Zhuni, Di Cao Qing, Huang Jin Duan.

Though all 3 clays used the same mold, but the shrinkage makes the teapot size different. Zhuni is the smallest (170ml), where the other 2 clays is 190ml to 200ml range (guestimate from comparing side by side)

This is the 2nd design out of 6 planned designs in total. 3rd design coming around Feb 2012. Looking fwd...












*ran out of coke

More photos: http://imageshack.us/g/339/image001zv.jpg/

His photos kick my photos butts, but these are the same pot, from the same vendor! Thanks auhckw! BTW, I am thinking I will pair it with Wuyi Oolongs, because the walls are thin. I haven't fully decided though.

I really, really like this pot. Maybe my #2 favorite pot.

[ImmortaliTEA]

160ml. Modern recipe sand mixture. A gift from the artist at her studio in Yixing. Medium high fired. Thick wall dedicated to 2006 spring harvested yiwu single mountain only.

What a wonderful pot Tim! I love the longer wall on the lid or flange I'm not really sure the name but I certainly prefer them as deep as possible. So will you continue to use the 2006 Yiwu for this teapot even when it gets to a certain age and drastically changes flavor profiles? I am very curious how a pot seasoned for a youngER puerh such as a 2006 would react to the changing flavors and nuances as the years go by!

[ImmortaliTEA]

160ml. Modern recipe sand mixture. A gift from the artist at her studio in Yixing. Medium high fired. Thick wall dedicated to 2006 spring harvested yiwu single mountain only.

By the way,
I just noticed those beautiful cups in the background! They seem very thin but can't tell for sure either way they are amazing!

[ImmortaliTEA]

Clay: Ben Shan Mou Lvni. Medium Coal Fired in Factory Kiln.
Size: 40 ml
Age/Year: 1980's.
Walls: Thick.
Pour: +/- 6 sec. No drips. 80's lid fit.
Source: Purchased from The Mandarin's Tea Room.
Tea Pairing: 1988 & prior Aged Sheng Puerh ONLY. Seasoned for quite a while on nothing but 1985 8582 (My favorite tea btw thank you so much Tim for aiding this tea and teapot in finding their way to me).
Info: I do realize that this teapot has probably been posted by numerous people on this thread, however, since it is my absolute #1 favorite teapot in my collection I was compelled to show mine off as well. Since mine has been seasoned with Aged Sheng Puerh only it can offer a patina comparison with his other brothers that are used solely for High Fire Tieguanyin. I was so confused when I first got this pot and started testing different teas in it because every single different kind of tea I put in it just happened to be the best tasting brew of that particular tea I had ever tried out of any vessel period. This posed a major problem in which category would be dedicated and and eventually seasoned into the clay. I eventually stuck with the 8582 because it was just a match made in heaven, for me it was simply the best tea out of the best teapot every time I brewed it in this blue beauty, especially in comparison with any of my other yixings. This pairing of tea and teapot symbolizes the essence of tea for me personally and is a delicious, exquisite, qi filled, meditative, peaceful, blissful, and euphoric reminder of how important tea is in my life (connections to Wing Chun Kung Fu, Meditation, QiGong, Yoga, and my spirituality/well being in general) and is a perfect example of why I started drinking tea in the first place!

[ImmortaliTEA]

160ml. Modern recipe sand mixture. A gift from the artist at her studio in Yixing. Medium high fired. Thick wall dedicated to 2006 spring harvested yiwu single mountain only.

What a wonderful pot Tim! I love the longer wall on the lid or flange I'm not really sure the name but I certainly prefer them as deep as possible. So will you continue to use the 2006 Yiwu for this teapot even when it gets to a certain age and drastically changes flavor profiles? I am very curious how a pot seasoned for a youngER puerh such as a 2006 would react to the changing flavors and nuances as the years go by!

I'm not so sure this was the most well thought out question. I suppose you would just continue using the next year's batch of Yiwu puerh so the seasoning would stay constant. However, I hope my previous question wasn't too naive because I still wonder how the pot would react if raised slowly and gradually every year brewing the same Yiwu 2006 in it even as it aged and became overwhelmed with wonderful aspergillus, penicillium, and yeasts.

[TIM]

I'm not so sure this was the most well thought out question. I suppose you would just continue using the next year's batch of Yiwu puerh so the seasoning would stay constant. However, I hope my previous question wasn't too naive because I still wonder how the pot would react if raised slowly and gradually every year brewing the same Yiwu 2006 in it even as it aged and became overwhelmed with wonderful aspergillus, penicillium, and yeasts.

Thank you for your kind words Immortalitea. This pot is dedicated to only the 2006 Yiwu. A single batch, to see how it will 'grow' and age with the tea. So far, an interesting observation is the color of body start to match the color of the brew. It also took on a unique aroma of the Yiwu terroir.

The little blue friend turns out to have a wonderful sheen/patina of the 8582 I'm so glad that it's soak in loving care. Cheers ~ T

[needaTEAcher]

That really seems like a reasonable question to me. I might just have to find a nice pot and a nice tea that I have a lot of, and see what happens! Tim, do answer!

[Istari]

Clay Zini Med-High Fired 1180oC
Size 150ml
Age/Year Modern (Early 2010's)
Walls Medium (I believe)
Source Essence of Tea
Tea Pairing Taiwanese Oolongs
Info This teapot really helps evolve the flavors of the tea. I have tested it out with young and old puerh, yancha, and of course many Taiwanese oolongs. I don't feel like it goes well with puerh, but it did do well with the Yancha. It has a higher profile which allows most Taiwanese balled oolongs to fully expand. According to EoT this was made by one of Master Zhou's apprentices. It is nice clay, and very well built.

[David R.]

Hi and welcome !

Beautiful pot. How would you say it evolves with time after using it with the same type of tea for a long time, if it's your case ?

[Istari]

Hello David,

It is a new teapot. I have been trying different teas in it to try and pinpoint what works best. Maybe in a year of constant drinking from it I could tell you more about how the teapot is changing the tea with age, but right now i'm starting at the reference point. Thanks for the kind post!

[David R.]

You're welcome ! I was asking cause I have a similar pot, a shui ping with the same clay. I am not using it right now, not a lot anyway, but still I am curious about how it performs in the long run.

[Istari]

Ah David...have you posted any pictures on this forum of that teapot?

Since it is zini clay I assume it will season quicker than a less absorptive clay like Hongni. It is also med-high fired instead of high fired so that may help as well. These are mere speculations. I suppose we can never actually predict how any one pot will season 20-30 years from now.

[ImmortaliTEA]

Ah David...have you posted any pictures on this forum of that teapot?

Since it is zini clay I assume it will season quicker than a less absorptive clay like Hongni. It is also med-high fired instead of high fired so that may help as well. These are mere speculations. I suppose we can never actually predict how any one pot will season 20-30 years from now.

One would think that Hong Ni would be part of the "more porous/absorptive" category of clay types considering that it has a lower minimum firing temperature of 1100 degrees when compared with zini which is 1180 degrees. I have tried to find this out online but can't find a definitive answer although almost everyone online says that they think Hong Ni is a much less porous clay type. Obviously firing has much more to do with porosity than clay itself but I'm just talking about the clay qualities if fired similarly. If someone could post a list of the most commonly used clays for yixing teapots in order of porosity I would love to see it because based on all the Hong Ni teapots I have used it seems to be more porous than people are making it out to be!

[Istari]

Ah David...have you posted any pictures on this forum of that teapot?

Since it is zini clay I assume it will season quicker than a less absorptive clay like Hongni. It is also med-high fired instead of high fired so that may help as well. These are mere speculations. I suppose we can never actually predict how any one pot will season 20-30 years from now.

One would think that Hong Ni would be part of the "more porous/absorptive" category of clay types considering that it has a lower minimum firing temperature of 1100 degrees when compared with zini which is 1180 degrees. I have tried to find this out online but can't find a definitive answer although almost everyone online says that they think Hong Ni is a much less porous clay type. Obviously firing has much more to do with porosity than clay itself but I'm just talking about the clay qualities if fired similarly. If someone could post a list of the most commonly used clays for yixing teapots in order of porosity I would love to see it because based on all the Hong Ni teapots I have used it seems to be more porous than people are making it out to be!

In the past I have heard people speak of how they like to buy hongni teapots for lighter more floral oolongs. I assumed this is because they are less porous and would absorb less of the subtle flavors.