Jian Shui Purple Pottery Tea Ware

[oolongfan]

Bagua7 - I think that you are correct in that Jian Shui might be similar to Yixing zhu ni in terms of hardness...but I don't have any zhu ni pots for comparison. To me, Jian Shu provides a relatively neutral backdrop, though not as neutral as porcelain (I have compared the two). I hope that you are able to get a Jian Shui pot. I love and use mine all of the time....so they were well worth the price.

Herbmaster - Thanks for posting pictures of your pot! It is beautiful -and a nice size too! I was hoping that you would drop in on this thread since I recalled reading somewhere that you had a Jian Shui pot. Have you done any comparisons between your Jian Shui and Yixing pots? If so, please share your experiences.

I just bought my first Yixing pot (last weekend) - and extraordinary 40 ml Hong Ni pot from the Mandarin Tea Room. Let me just say that it is worth every penny and then some...the craftsmanship alone-especially on that small a scale-is incredible. The clay is also excellent and really makes certain teas sing out..like un roasted/lightly roasted Anxi TGY's as well as charcoal/dark roasted ones. I will post pictures....once I can get decent ones with my cruddy cheapo camera.....so far my camera is making it look like a bright red Taiwanese pseudo zhu ni pot

I have done a few comparisons between my 130 ml Xi Shi Jian Shui pot and the Hong Ni using the aforementioned teas...and the Hong Ni really brings out the orchid/honeysuckle flavors. TIM sent me an incredible 2011 selected grade Anxi Tikwan Yin that has vanilla and cream notes along with the usual orchid honeysuckle flavors. The Hong Ni emphasized those unique vanilla cream notes much more than the Jian Shui Xi Shi.

I also brewed an Imperial Da Hong Pa(from Norbu) in the Hong Ni and tmy Jian Shui 190 ml Dragon Egg. The Hong Ni produced a lsightly deeper more complex tea...but the difference between the two pots was not as much as that when brewing TGYs. I could not tell how much the size difference made since I suspect the much smaller Hong Ni better preserved the tea's perfume

I will keep doing comparisons and after time post more results. My method for comparing is to brew the tea in a porcelain tea bowl first then pour the brewed tea in to the two teapots being tested-and let the tea sit for a minute or two before cupping. This method reduces the number of variables. The only drawback is that the tea is cooler by cupping time..and has also lost some of its perfume since it has been transferred so many times (tea bowl to tea pots to cups).

I would love to hear more comparisons between Jian Shui and Yixing pots...Herbmaster, I hope that I can inspire you to do some testing since you have a good palate and attention to detail Bagua7 I hope that you join in if you ever buy a Jian Shui pot!

[brillig]

I bought a black-and-white JianShui pot in Kunming a few weeks ago and I absolutely love it. I met the potter at a tea pottery expo and picked one out from her selection.

Mine has a matte texture, unlike most of the Jianshui I saw in Yunnan that had the glossy sheen. The potter showed me how the pots are shined with a file and I assume this one was just shined less. I actually really love the slightly rough texture and the heft and feel of the pot is better than any Yixing I own.

I've only used it for puer so far (I figured it would be appropriate; Yunnan tea, Yunnan clay) but it brews beautifully. Seeing these posts about using it for oolongs, I suppose I should give that a try.

I'm very excited to learn more about how this clay behaves.

[Da Hong Pao]

Payton, you picked an excellent pot, it pours great and the lid fits nicely, but of all the pots and gaiwans we saw, only you and Matt found pots both beautiful and functional.

What I noticed about the pots that we saw at two vendors in Kunming and one in Shanghai is the beauty over functionality of most pots. Unlike Yixing pots which have fixed a lot of the bugs of tea brewing (quick pours, good lid fits, no drips) The Jian Shui pots seem to still be more show pieces than workhorses for the most part. The spouts were quite drippy and almost all of the lids leaked.

That being said, I think in even as little as 5 years, we are going to see way more Jian Shui pots on the market and as they become more popular I also believe the need for the functionality of the pots will be higher.

The one thing Jian Shui has an advantage over Yixing is the lack of poor-quality wheel thrown or slipcast pots. I look forward to seeing how this clay impacts the tea world.

[bagua7]

The one thing Jian Shui has an advantage over Yixing is the lack of poor-quality wheel thrown or slipcast pots.

Hi,

But those wouldn't be considered as Yixing, would they?

[TaoTeaKing]

The one thing Jian Shui has an advantage over Yixing is the lack of poor-quality wheel thrown or slipcast pots.

Hi,

But those wouldn't be considered as Yixing, would they?

No, "Jian Shui" is one thing, "Yixing" is another.

Or you mean the "wheel thrown" ones....?! In this cas:

if they were produced in the Yixing area with "real" Yixing clay ... these pots can be called "Yixing Teapots" ... but a lot of pots claim to be made out of "Yixing" area clay ... but actually the clay is not from there.
... same with some tea, for example i heard of cases wehre some tea is claimed as "Pu Erh" but actually it is from Laos

[drinking_teas]

The one thing Jian Shui has an advantage over Yixing is the lack of poor-quality wheel thrown or slipcast pots.

Hi,

But those wouldn't be considered as Yixing, would they?

No, "Jian Shui" is one thing, "Yixing" is another.

Or you mean the "wheel thrown" ones....?! In this cas:

if they were produced in the Yixing area with "real" Yixing clay ... these pots can be called "Yixing Teapots" ... but a lot of pots claim to be made out of "Yixing" area clay ... but actually the clay is not from there.
... same with some tea, for example i heard of cases wehre some tea is claimed as "Pu Erh" but actually it is from Laos

Pots can also be produced in the Yixing area with non-Yixing clay and be called Yixing.

Although Laotian/Vietnamese/etc. pu'erh isn't technically "pu'erh", many consider it to be pu'erh or at least a quality tea. For example, Laos is very close to Gua Feng Zhai, a famous and highly-regarded Pu'erh village.

[heliospace]

Nice pots. I received some photos from a tea guru friend of mine who was visiting China recently and met with a Jian Shui master. She sent me some pictures of the teapots and the one I was interested in the most asking if she could bring it back for me, she said there was only one of them made by the teapot master's wife so he was (obviously) extremely reluctant to let it go. It is very nice. If you'd like to see some Jian Shui teapots from my friend's trip, I did get permission to post them here. Let me know.

[BW85]

Nice pots. I received some photos from a tea guru friend of mine who was visiting China recently and met with a Jian Shui master. She sent me some pictures of the teapots and the one I was interested in the most asking if she could bring it back for me, she said there was only one of them made by the teapot master's wife so he was (obviously) extremely reluctant to let it go. It is very nice. If you'd like to see some Jian Shui teapots from my friend's trip, I did get permission to post them here. Let me know.

I'd enjoy seeing some pictures

[heliospace]

Here they are. Enjoy the photos. The second photo is the teapot that the master's wife made. The last one (shi piao), for price valuation, is about $160USD or 980Yuan in China at the retail level. Added: I currently do not own one and plan on chasing one down myself to have. Cheers!

[fuzzer37]

Although no one has posted in this thread in about 2 years, here is my favourite Jian Shui teapot. It was made by Chen Quan, and it is 145ml. I got it from YS.

https://imgur.com/a/Tih8H

[Alucard]

Although no one has posted in this thread in about 2 years, here is my favourite Jian Shui teapot. It was made by Chen Quan, and it is 145ml. I got it from YS.

https://imgur.com/a/Tih8H

Looks nice. Tea pet seems happy. I have a Jian Shui teapot from Crimson Lotus Tea and like it quite a bit for shou and sheng.

[jayinhk]

I have a Jianshui pot that I absolutely love for maocha! Very high fired. Not sure how it compares to lao zhuni but it definitely gives me a full flavor profile, so great for dry storage pu erh, young maocha, green tea or even black tea: anything that doesn't need much muting. For anything funky (very humid tropical or traditional storage pu) you want zisha for sure.

[andresito]

One other thing I forgot to mention: size. When I bought these pots, the majority being offered were 200 ml and above - with only two selections smaller than than that size. I wish that there were more 'smaller' sizes...and I do see some 130 - 150 ml sized pots offered...really a matter of timing in terms of buying.

Having said that, I am glad that I have two slightly largish pots as I have discovered that some teas do well in large pots So it is sometimes good to be pushed outside one's preconceived notions from time to time.

I just purchased a matte black 100mL dragon egg teapot from Crimson Lotus. They have quite a few smaller sized Jian shui teapots available in the 70-110mL range. They don't have fancy designs but the craftsmanship and functionality is better than almost all of my other teapots. I just love using it so much!

http://crimsonlotustea.com/collections/ ... nshui-2016

[Islander]

Yesterday I received this http://www.pu-erhtea.com/TeaDetails.aspx?TeaID=700 Jian Shui from Awazon Pu-erh Tea Company. They're in Kunming. It makes fabulous Dan Cong, as I've read here and elsewhere. The lid fits perfectly. The pour is fast in a nice arc. It's a beautiful piece of art to look at. It was $76.80 US, and shipping was only $6.90. It took 15 days to arrive in Canada. They have a large selection (173) with a wide variety of styles.

[jayinhk]

Nice pot, and quite a good price. Looks good for sheng. A little big for dancong IMO unless you're grandpa brewing it, which is a thing, or brewing for eight people!