My first Yixing teapot

[armin]

Yeah... I thought in the regular glazes they use oxides... I know for sure in the cosmetic business there are oxides approved to be used in organic products...
After firing and processing those oxides are still getting into your tea?

[chrl42]

I remember john on Teachat who himself is a potter said, firing itself doesn't prove to make oxides any safer. I didn't have scientific infos to oppose that theory. Myself however have had experience of feelin dizzy after using blue (cobalt oxide) colored pot, I dunno I had becuz of that.

There are discussions about harmness of oxides, some say yes some say no, I didn't concentrate much since myself doesn't prefer oxide-added clays for athetic reasons, they are not seasoned fast.

[tingjunkie]

Rather than sweat whether or not a pot has oxides added, I let my nose and throat be the judge. You simply pour boiling water in the pot and let it sit for a minute or two. Pour the water from the pot into a neutral cup (porcelain is best IMO), and then water directly from the kettle into an identical cup. Taste test the two waters and compare. In my experience, if a pot has bad stuff going on, you can smell something unnatural/chemical it in the heated pot. More importantly, drinking water from a bad pot will taste slightly unpleasant and give you an uncomfortable scratchy throat.

Sadly, this doesn't help online shoppers too much.

[bagua7]

how to avoid yixing teapot with chemicals..

avoid green, blue, black or strong red-colored yixings or what they call pin zini (in today's stance)

Thanks for the info, as usual.

Yes I have experience with Pin Zini pots. Careful with these. I can't bear the plastic-like smell when you boil the pot with hot water or add hot water to the pot. Three pots destroyed (money was refunded in all instances though), so no more pin zini for me from online sources.

How about yellow? Duan Ni can be also a tricky clay. I also destroyed a fake duan ni in the past that was mixed with white cement (to address the economist's question). No refund was given since the pot was dirty cheap, which is impossible for a real duan ni pot.

[tingjunkie]

How many pots have you destroyed Bagua? What's your favorite method for doing it?

[blairswhitaker]

I am also curious about the destruction of the pots.

[Tead Off]

How many pots have you destroyed Bagua? What's your favorite method for doing it?

[gingkoseto]

how to avoid yixing teapot with chemicals..

avoid green, blue, black or strong red-colored yixings or what they call pin zini (in today's stance)

Thanks for the info, as usual.

Yes I have experience with Pin Zini pots. Careful with these. I can't bear the plastic-like smell when you boil the pot with hot water or add hot water to the pot. Three pots destroyed (money was refunded in all instances though), so no more pin zini for me from online sources.

How about yellow? Duan Ni can be also a tricky clay. I also destroyed a fake duan ni in the past that was mixed with white cement (to address the economist's question). No refund was given since the pot was dirty cheap, which is impossible for a real duan ni pot.

I always thought pin zi ni (mixed clay) simply means a proportional mixture of purple, red and/or duanni clay. I didn't think there was anything wrong with that term. But if that's what many people think of pin zi ni, it's good to know and I'd better find some other term in English writing to describe "mixture of various clay". Any suggestions?

[TIM]

how to avoid yixing teapot with chemicals..

avoid green, blue, black or strong red-colored yixings or what they call pin zini (in today's stance)

Thanks for the info, as usual.

Yes I have experience with Pin Zini pots. Careful with these. I can't bear the plastic-like smell when you boil the pot with hot water or add hot water to the pot. Three pots destroyed (money was refunded in all instances though), so no more pin zini for me from online sources.

How about yellow? Duan Ni can be also a tricky clay. I also destroyed a fake duan ni in the past that was mixed with white cement (to address the economist's question). No refund was given since the pot was dirty cheap, which is impossible for a real duan ni pot.

I always thought pin zi ni (mixed clay) simply means a proportional mixture of purple, red and/or duanni clay. I didn't think there was anything wrong with that term. But if that's what many people think of pin zi ni, it's good to know and I'd better find some other term in English writing to describe "mixture of various clay". Any suggestions?

The term Pin zi ni or Te Sha (mixed sand) are proper, but not just limited to purple, red or duan ni or sha. What people in the West think of these term are far misinformed as of "Dry Storage" puerh: http://www.marshaln.com/2012/03/ideas-o ... h-storage/. My suggestion is to stick with the original and correct our misunderstanding of the idea.

[bagua7]

How many pots have you destroyed Bagua? What's your favorite method for doing it?

Let me see:

1. Two duan ni (no refund asked as they were purchased cheap on eBay).
2. Three zi ni pots (one of them pin zi ni). Refund was asked and given.

How about you?

[gingkoseto]

The term Pin zi ni or Te Sha (mixed sand) are proper, but not just limited to purple, red or duan ni or sha. What people in the West think of these term are far misinformed as of "Dry Storage" puerh: http://www.marshaln.com/2012/03/ideas-o ... h-storage/. My suggestion is to stick with the original and correct our misunderstanding of the idea.

Indeed it's quite interesting that people use the same term with different understanding, and sometimes two people may think they talk about the same thing yet those are two different things. Now one discussion leads to another - I always thought red, purple and duanni clays are the 3 basic types of yixing, and if a clay is none of the above nor mixture of the above (that's my definition of pin zi ni, as what I've seen being used commonly in China), then it's not legitimate/authentic yixing (with exception of some commonly thought-to-be legitimate coloring materials as used by some famous guys). I would be surprised if other people's definition and categorization of yixing clays are very different from mine, but if there are discrepancies, it's always good to know.

[brandon]

Most people are willing to write off their tuition paid on cheap ebay teapots and quietly go about their business.
To new folks reading this forum, I hope you are not discouraged by all the sour grapes being tossed around here.
Keep posting your pots even if they are not the greatest, there is always an opportunity to learn something even if you have been collecting for years.
Thanks for playing!

[TIM]

The term Pin zi ni or Te Sha (mixed sand) are proper, but not just limited to purple, red or duan ni or sha. What people in the West think of these term are far misinformed as of "Dry Storage" puerh: http://www.marshaln.com/2012/03/ideas-o ... h-storage/. My suggestion is to stick with the original and correct our misunderstanding of the idea.

Indeed it's quite interesting that people use the same term with different understanding, and sometimes two people may think they talk about the same thing yet those are two different things. Now one discussion leads to another - I always thought red, purple and duanni clays are the 3 basic types of yixing, and if a clay is none of the above nor mixture of the above (that's my definition of pin zi ni, as what I've seen being used commonly in China), then it's not legitimate/authentic yixing (with exception of some commonly thought-to-be legitimate coloring materials as used by some famous guys). I would be surprised if other people's definition and categorization of yixing clays are very different from mine, but if there are discrepancies, it's always good to know.

There are 5 main color clay. Before they call it Yixing Zisha, it was called 5 color earth or Prosperity earth.

http://themandarinstea.blogspot.com/200 ... -mine.html

[TIM]

How many pots have you destroyed Bagua? What's your favorite method for doing it?

Let me see:

1. Two duan ni (no refund asked as they were purchased cheap on eBay).
2. Three zi ni pots (one of them pin zi ni). Refund was asked and given.

How about you?

Interesting to show how you select your yixings, by destroying them. How many yixing pot still standing in your selection? Just curious

Please stop buying yakkie chemical pots B7. As to quote from your own quote:

"See, now you have to spend extra money when you could have done the right thing from the beginning."

[gingkoseto]

There are 5 main color clay. Before they call it Yixing Zisha, it was called 5 color earth or Prosperity earth.

http://themandarinstea.blogspot.com/200 ... -mine.html

I guess we have different understanding on "5 color earth" too. It's a cultural term used not only in zisha but other places, and my understanding of "5 color" in zisha is "many color" instead of literally 5 colors, referring to the many color shades of yixing products. My understanding of "5 color earth" out of the field of yixing is "all the earth of all the colors in the world".