Nope, can take one for you though. Pretty standard as far as interiors go?stevorama wrote:Looking good! I'm curious about the interior of the pots. You have pictures?
Re: Essence of Tea new yixing
Re: Essence of Tea new yixing
I'm mainly curious about the craftsmanship of the Factory 1 pots. I haven't seen a Factory 1 in person. These EOT pots went so fast! I've seen a number of pots from the 90's and from the 80's. Actually I recently got a Factory 2 90's zini shuiping. How's the symmetry of the pot? How's the finish of the interior?jayinhk wrote:Nope, can take one for you though. Pretty standard as far as interiors go?stevorama wrote:Looking good! I'm curious about the interior of the pots. You have pictures?
Re: Essence of Tea new yixing
Will take you some pics. I have some F2 and F5 pots. My 40ml pots are a little less symmetrical, but it's tough making those little pots!stevorama wrote:I'm mainly curious about the craftsmanship of the Factory 1 pots. I haven't seen a Factory 1 in person. These EOT pots went so fast! I've seen a number of pots from the 90's and from the 80's. Actually I recently got a Factory 2 90's zini shuiping. How's the symmetry of the pot? How's the finish of the interior?jayinhk wrote:Nope, can take one for you though. Pretty standard as far as interiors go?stevorama wrote:Looking good! I'm curious about the interior of the pots. You have pictures?
Re: Essence of Tea new yixing
Purely talking craftsmanship in the 90's, factory 5 wins hands down over F1. F5 clay from that period is also very decent in my opinion. (I feel like someone told me that during that time F1 started selling more of their clays to other factories. Can anyone confirm?)jayinhk wrote:Will take you some pics. I have some F2 and F5 pots. My 40ml pots are a little less symmetrical, but it's tough making those little pots!stevorama wrote:I'm mainly curious about the craftsmanship of the Factory 1 pots. I haven't seen a Factory 1 in person. These EOT pots went so fast! I've seen a number of pots from the 90's and from the 80's. Actually I recently got a Factory 2 90's zini shuiping. How's the symmetry of the pot? How's the finish of the interior?jayinhk wrote:Nope, can take one for you though. Pretty standard as far as interiors go?stevorama wrote:Looking good! I'm curious about the interior of the pots. You have pictures?
Re: Essence of Tea new yixing
My 65 and 85 ml F1 pots are wonderfully crafted. The 65 ml has an airtight lid! Can't remember if the 85 does though.
Apr 4th, '16, 09:32
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Re: Essence of Tea new yixing
stevorama wrote:
I'm mainly curious about the craftsmanship of the Factory 1 pots. I haven't seen a Factory 1 in person. These EOT pots went so fast! I've seen a number of pots from the 90's and from the 80's. Actually I recently got a Factory 2 90's zini shuiping. How's the symmetry of the pot? How's the finish of the interior?
Commercial F1 pots were mass produced pots, and at the time very cheap, so you cannot expect great craftsmanship. What goes for them is the clay. And i do like the somewhat rough craftsmanship, it has its own appeal.
This particular batch essence of tea sold i just got a 65 ml pot. It has its rough spots, but the lid fit is quite good. It brews excellent tea though - which is why F1 pots are loved.
Re: Essence of Tea new yixing
From what I've read, on teachat or elsewhere, F1 had the good clay and craftsmen. So that made me wonder if the difference in craftsmanship is evident. If there's a difference between factories. Even in mass produced pots. Or maybe the best craftsmen were working on higher-end pots?
The F2 shuiping I have is a bit lopsided. And more like 95+ml rather than 85ml. But entirely functional and the clay seems good. I suppose such things are luck of the draw unless one could hand pick a pot from a group of them.
I did order a Factory 5 from EOT. So we'll see about that! Looks like Jayinhk has one of those as well.
The F2 shuiping I have is a bit lopsided. And more like 95+ml rather than 85ml. But entirely functional and the clay seems good. I suppose such things are luck of the draw unless one could hand pick a pot from a group of them.
I did order a Factory 5 from EOT. So we'll see about that! Looks like Jayinhk has one of those as well.
Re: Essence of Tea new yixing
I have a few F2s and F5s. The F1s are a little better in most cases. Depends on the pot!
Re: Essence of Tea new yixing
The 90's F5 shuiping's I own are surprisingly very very well made. More so than any of my F1 pots. It goes beyond simply a tight lid fit
Re: Essence of Tea new yixing
Agreed, but these F1 hongni pots are nicely high fired, have no flaws and are really well crafted. I don't see how they could be better made, aside from the 40ml, which are slightly wonky.BW85 wrote:The 90's F5 shuiping's I own are surprisingly very very well made. More so than any of my F1 pots. It goes beyond simply a tight lid fit
I've been told one of mine is late 80s because of the Zhongguo Yixing stamp. My 85ml also has good lid fit and can stop the flow. Looks like I lucked out! What really matters to me is how well they make tea and they work better for me than any of my modern pots, which makes them money well spent IMO! I have good older zini pots too, so I'm pretty much covered.
Also if I ever choose to offload them, F1 sells at a premium.Re: Essence of Tea new yixing
Brewing good Muzha medium-high roast TGY right now in the 85ml...Much more flavorful and aromatic than in zini for sure, but less smooth. Porous clays are the way to go with inferior tea, IMO, as hongni will show you if your tea has issues very quickly indeed.
The F5 dragon egg has a strong clay smell and needs seasoning. Couldn't find the cheap TGY I wanted to use for pot seasoning so I used some darker Thai oolong and I'll let it soak overnight. Based on the qualities of the F5 dragon egg, I think it's best suited to high fire balled oolong. My opinion may change once it has finished drinking up all the aroma and flavor from my tea! I don't think it'll ever be a good gaoshan pot though. Too porous and the walls seem too thick. Time will tell.
The F5 dragon egg has a strong clay smell and needs seasoning. Couldn't find the cheap TGY I wanted to use for pot seasoning so I used some darker Thai oolong and I'll let it soak overnight. Based on the qualities of the F5 dragon egg, I think it's best suited to high fire balled oolong. My opinion may change once it has finished drinking up all the aroma and flavor from my tea! I don't think it'll ever be a good gaoshan pot though. Too porous and the walls seem too thick. Time will tell.
Re: Essence of Tea new yixing
You must have lucked out. Mine has a very loose lid thus leaks a lot. Been forced to use it as a pitcher, brewing in gaiwan and transferring. IMO the other features are nice but certainly not top notch craftmanship. They were produced in huge quantities so you can't expect anything of very fine build, except on seldom occasions.jayinhk wrote:Agreed, but these F1 hongni pots are nicely high fired, have no flaws and are really well crafted. I don't see how they could be better made, aside from the 40ml, which are slightly wonky.BW85 wrote:The 90's F5 shuiping's I own are surprisingly very very well made. More so than any of my F1 pots. It goes beyond simply a tight lid fit
I've been told one of mine is late 80s because of the Zhongguo Yixing stamp. My 85ml also has good lid fit and can stop the flow. Looks like I lucked out! What really matters to me is how well they make tea and they work better for me than any of my modern pots, which makes them money well spent IMO! I have good older zini pots too, so I'm pretty much covered.
The clay is certainly very nice. Pure and dense. Although I've been brewing with it a lot and have done several side by sides with my other pots and I've yet to prefer it to any of my other pots in terms of clay affect on tea. I'm sure as it seasons through the years then it may brew excellent tea, but as of now it's pretty much average. I've done Yancha, sheng, and hongcha so far. Pots I've put it against- early 2000's zhuni (sheng), ChenJuFang zini clay 2 (sheng), modern qingduanni (hongcha), early 2000's wengelvni (Yancha), factory 1 qinghuini (Yancha).
Re: Essence of Tea new yixing
Aside from these pots, the only red clay I had was a 2000s 100ml hongni I bought in Taiwan and a modern zhuni. Both are relatively new and thirsty. I use the 100ml for sheng, but it may just have been too thirsty for gaoshan. My modern zhuni is the same way. These F1 hongni pots were better from the first use, however, and were an immediate improvement.
I definitely prefer them to zini for finer oolongs because of the aroma and flavor, although I recently got a thin walled zini F2 pot that is wonderful with yancha, and is a nice balance between aroma, flavor and body. It has a wonky lid, but works very well. My other zini shuipings are better suited to high fire stuff, especially my pin zini. Amazing body, but really very muting with more delicate teas, even after years of use.
It's nice to have options; the Muzha TGY I'm drinking now might be better in my wonky lid zini pot as this tea is a little harsh. It's far more interesting in hongni though.
From now on, I'll test new teas in porcelain and then I'll know which pots to try next! Both kyarazen and steanze told me modern pots are thirsty, and boy, is that ever true!
I definitely prefer them to zini for finer oolongs because of the aroma and flavor, although I recently got a thin walled zini F2 pot that is wonderful with yancha, and is a nice balance between aroma, flavor and body. It has a wonky lid, but works very well. My other zini shuipings are better suited to high fire stuff, especially my pin zini. Amazing body, but really very muting with more delicate teas, even after years of use.
It's nice to have options; the Muzha TGY I'm drinking now might be better in my wonky lid zini pot as this tea is a little harsh. It's far more interesting in hongni though.
From now on, I'll test new teas in porcelain and then I'll know which pots to try next! Both kyarazen and steanze told me modern pots are thirsty, and boy, is that ever true!
Re: Essence of Tea new yixing
I suppose a pot being thirsty has to do with many factors, and firing being amongst the most critical ones. I guess it's hard to generalize too much but certain things are truer in most cases. These hongni shuipings were unused, stored in newspapers for decades so right now my impression is that they are 'thirsty', hence my average results thus far. In contrast to my qinghuini factory 1 pot which was previously used and did not rob too much from the get go. Then there's my modern pots, some were a lot thirstier than others. My clay 1 pot brewed aroma/high note intense tea pretty much from day one. But that clay, if aged as long as stated, could then be considered factory 1 period clay.
My belief is that there is superb clay out there being used on modern pots that compare with the clays of old days. You just have to find it, and be prepared to dish out some money. But all this has been argued and stated before.
I did not own a hongni pot till I got this one, given my impression was always that it was an inferior clay. But I hope it seasons out well and starts to give back very soon!
My belief is that there is superb clay out there being used on modern pots that compare with the clays of old days. You just have to find it, and be prepared to dish out some money
. But all this has been argued and stated before. I did not own a hongni pot till I got this one, given my impression was always that it was an inferior clay. But I hope it seasons out well and starts to give back very soon!
Re: Essence of Tea new yixing
I think you'll find a lot of disagreement with your assertion that hongni is inferior clay! 
Zini usually gets that label from those in the know. Zhuni is considered best, of course, but considering how long it's been since zhuni pots were made, I wonder how many are available that aren't suffering from receded firing.
My very high fired modern pots are extremely thirsty, so it seems there is more to thirst than just firing. They ring almost like porcelain. That surprised me too!
I have about two dozen Yixings at present; picking up #25 in a few (modern zhuni meng chen style pear-shaped pot). #26 is zini and headed my way now!
Zini usually gets that label from those in the know. Zhuni is considered best, of course, but considering how long it's been since zhuni pots were made, I wonder how many are available that aren't suffering from receded firing.My very high fired modern pots are extremely thirsty, so it seems there is more to thirst than just firing. They ring almost like porcelain. That surprised me too!
I have about two dozen Yixings at present; picking up #25 in a few (modern zhuni meng chen style pear-shaped pot). #26 is zini and headed my way now!