Yixing ZhuNi pot recommendations for brewing OB

[tingjunkie]

I have the sneaking suspicion that the aura around Zhu Ni is a bit hyped.

I hope your new pot from Hou De isn't falling short MT. Maybe you just haven't found the right tea pairing yet?

[Maitre_Tea]

I have the sneaking suspicion that the aura around Zhu Ni is a bit hyped.

I hope your new pot from Hou De isn't falling short MT. Maybe you just haven't found the right tea pairing yet?

Oh no, my Hou De pot is exceeding my expectations, but my comment was referring more to pure, unadulterated Zhu Ni. Mine is sand-blended, so it doesn't count in my book.

I'm very happy that my tastes lean towards roasted teas, which (at least for my experiments) don't do that well with Zhu Ni or any kind rather than lighter teas (which do better with Zhu Ni), so I don't have to waste tons of money buying Zhu Ni pots.

I figure that you can probably buy a high quality Zini pot at the fraction of the cost of a high quality Zhu Ni pot, so my wallet and I are both happy campers!

[Oni]

To be sure that a pot is zhu ni from those 3 closed "old mines", you must buy a teapot made is the early to late qing dynasty, that costs a lot, modern zhu ni can differ much from pot to pot, so I suggest you to buy something from Yunnan sourcing if you are new to yixing, and maybe later on one from nada or houde (zhu ni from the 1960`s, that are still too high priced for a newcomer).

[Tead Off]

I have the sneaking suspicion that the aura around Zhu Ni is a bit hyped.

I hope your new pot from Hou De isn't falling short MT. Maybe you just haven't found the right tea pairing yet?

Oh no, my Hou De pot is exceeding my expectations, but my comment was referring more to pure, unadulterated Zhu Ni. Mine is sand-blended, so it doesn't count in my book.

I'm very happy that my tastes lean towards roasted teas, which (at least for my experiments) don't do that well with Zhu Ni or any kind rather than lighter teas (which do better with Zhu Ni), so I don't have to waste tons of money buying Zhu Ni pots.

I figure that you can probably buy a high quality Zini pot at the fraction of the cost of a high quality Zhu Ni pot, so my wallet and I are both happy campers!

I use zhuni for Wuyi teas like DHP. Great results. I don't know why you say zhuni doesn't do well with roasted teas. I use a thicker pot for higher roasted teas, but, even roasted Dong Ding does well in the thinner zhuni pots I have. Aroma is tops. I think zhuni for oolongs work very well together. I'm not sure about Dancongs, though. No experience.

[Maitre_Tea]

I have the sneaking suspicion that the aura around Zhu Ni is a bit hyped.

I hope your new pot from Hou De isn't falling short MT. Maybe you just haven't found the right tea pairing yet?

Oh no, my Hou De pot is exceeding my expectations, but my comment was referring more to pure, unadulterated Zhu Ni. Mine is sand-blended, so it doesn't count in my book.

I'm very happy that my tastes lean towards roasted teas, which (at least for my experiments) don't do that well with Zhu Ni or any kind rather than lighter teas (which do better with Zhu Ni), so I don't have to waste tons of money buying Zhu Ni pots.

I figure that you can probably buy a high quality Zini pot at the fraction of the cost of a high quality Zhu Ni pot, so my wallet and I are both happy campers!

I use zhuni for Wuyi teas like DHP. Great results. I don't know why you say zhuni doesn't do well with roasted teas. I use a thicker pot for higher roasted teas, but, even roasted Dong Ding does well in the thinner zhuni pots I have. Aroma is tops. I think zhuni for oolongs work very well together. I'm not sure about Dancongs, though. No experience.

HaHa, I somehow expected that you would make that comment...which is why I emphasized the "my" part of commenting. I use a sand-blended Zhu Ni for roasted yancha, and I love it. But using a modern Zhu Ni for roasted yancha made the flavors a little sharper than I liked. But that's just for me...my taste buds and what I want from a tea are going to be different from anyone else's

[Tead Off]

I never use modern zhuni. They can't compare with old ones. Don't be fooled into thinking you are getting good zhuni. Beauty is only skin deep. Wake up and smell the Yancha.

[Tead Off]

To be sure that a pot is zhu ni from those 3 closed "old mines", you must buy a teapot made is the early to late qing dynasty, that costs a lot, modern zhu ni can differ much from pot to pot, so I suggest you to buy something from Yunnan sourcing if you are new to yixing, and maybe later on one from nada or houde (zhu ni from the 1960`s, that are still too high priced for a newcomer).

Plenty of good zhuni from the 70's and 80's. You just have to know where they are and what they look like. In the $200 range. Late Qing zhuni starts at about $500 here in Bangkok. I wouldn't touch anything modern, but, that's me.

[Maitre_Tea]

I never use modern zhuni. They can't compare with old ones. Don't be fooled into thinking you are getting good zhuni. Beauty is only skin deep. Wake up and smell the Yancha.

Definitely not being fooled into thinking modern > old, but it does the job well compared to other modern Zhu Ni. Sadly, I don't have the money to buy old Zhu Ni, so um...yeah, I'll take what I can get.

[Oni]

I wrote emails to Life of tea asking his advice for genuine zhu ni, they wrote>
"It's difficult to tell for sure. These older teapots have been through several owners and produced by Yixing factories where no details of the mining locations were given historically.

The clay is not the same as most modern 'zhuni' teapots, but to get really pure Zhuni I would tend to recommend qing dynasty zhuni. These can cost anything from £400 upwards and usually are not made in the shui pin style.

If you would like a shui pin teapot, I'd recommend a 50's or 60's shui pin. The 90's Shui pin pot I have though has good quality zhuni clay. I'll send a picture for you tomorrow."
I trust them, they sure know a lot about tea, so I believe them.

[cyberhoofer]

I have the sneaking suspicion that the aura around Zhu Ni is a bit hyped.

Will have to deal with all your thoughts & guidance, thx! Just need to purchase a few pots to season my best teas of different characters with, nothing fancy!

I've been into tetsubins & porcelain for the last four years -so a change would be aptly due within my DJs & OBs.

Sophomore into aged Taiwan Dong Dings lately, clay pots would serve my learning curve & the potential intuition without or with 'trial'n'learn' better, I believe.

[oldmanteapot]

To be sure that a pot is zhu ni from those 3 closed "old mines", you must buy a teapot made is the early to late qing dynasty, that costs a lot, modern zhu ni can differ much from pot to pot, so I suggest you to buy something from Yunnan sourcing if you are new to yixing, and maybe later on one from nada or houde (zhu ni from the 1960`s, that are still too high priced for a newcomer).

Plenty of good zhuni from the 70's and 80's. You just have to know where they are and what they look like. In the $200 range. Late Qing zhuni starts at about $500 here in Bangkok. I wouldn't touch anything modern, but, that's me.

+1

[Tead Off]

To be sure that a pot is zhu ni from those 3 closed "old mines", you must buy a teapot made is the early to late qing dynasty, that costs a lot, modern zhu ni can differ much from pot to pot, so I suggest you to buy something from Yunnan sourcing if you are new to yixing, and maybe later on one from nada or houde (zhu ni from the 1960`s, that are still too high priced for a newcomer).

Plenty of good zhuni from the 70's and 80's. You just have to know where they are and what they look like. In the $200 range. Late Qing zhuni starts at about $500 here in Bangkok. I wouldn't touch anything modern, but, that's me.

+1

Ask Oldmanteapot if he has any older zhuni he wants to sell. He knows the difference and you can trust him. Just joking. He has many good things.

[chrl42]

In my opinion, faith for old Zhuni pot is a lot hyped.

I'm sure I'm not ready to start such a grand subject..

Some legend Zhuni pots of old time

Kangxi-Yongzheng-Qianlong period (Qing Shui Tang, Qing De Tang, Meng Chen, Si Ting, Yi Gong etc) - price minimum from 2000 USD, lots of em are sand-mixed-in and Shi Huang (special iron-rich clay) contained. Craft level normal, size of particle large.

Late-Qing (Chang Ji, Fu Ji etc) - from 1000 USD, particle smaller than pre-time and purer, craft level high

ROC (Tie Hua Xuan, Yin Chun etc) - not many made

50~60's Jing Xi Hui Meng Chen Zhi-sealed Shui Ping - from 500 USD, clay best and craft level high, quantity very small, lots of fakes.


To say old Zhuni pots are just better than modernly-made Zhuni pots is ignoring improvement of firing, clay-manufactering, know-how of making. I'm not saying modern Zhuni (Hufu) is better than Lao (Zhaozhuang), but from 50's all of Yixing clay was produced from one factory so Zhuni wasn't sorted out carefully as now, and Kang-Yong-Qian period Zhuni wasn't purified and delicate as late-Qing's so how to say good or bad?

Next is firing, in old time used wood kiln, which means poor at controlling temperature. So wasn't able to fire super-delicate clay such as early-Xiao Mei Yao Zhuni or Jin Huang Zhuni who just cracks by 5C. nor had they would filter on 140~160-hole sieve to get the purest component of clay.


Many people would agree that the peak of Yixing teapot would be 20C (period of Wu Yun Gen, Wang Yin Chun, Gu Jing Zhou) not Ming-Qing, of its level of work, grading/sorting of clay, know-how of mixing, craftsmanship ('work like a dog' in factory)

Good potters are still coming out and more lab tests are being done, problem is 'clay'. Original ores are running out and there's no way to make that blank up

[Tead Off]

I think there are many elements at work with zhuni clay teapots. Since the amount of zhuni clay mined has gotten very small in the last 40 years, it becomes difficult to get it and the price for modern zhuni goes up. But, it is not just the clay that is going to make the difference in a pot. Once you have the clay, you have to prepare it. Recipes were held secret and it was time consuming. Most zhuni are mixed for easier kiln survival.

The skill of the potter doesn't necessarily reflect the quality of the clay. If beauty were the main issue, many great potters are at work today. Clay composition is at the core of the problem/question. Using additives have become commonplace in modern production. Most sellers will not know what they have. Someone they buy from, a distributor, will tell them this or that. True or not? How can they know if they don't know the potter and how the clay was found and prepared?

The main reason to buy older yixing is the clay was purer. They did not use coloring agents, etc., to get results like they do now. They also used different kilns and if you ask any potter, the kiln is also a contributing factor.

My conclusion is that it is easier to find and buy a zhuni 70's 80's pots than buy a modern one using pure clays that have been prepared well and you are sure that it is what a seller is telling you it is.