Ebay Shuiping teapot

[JD]

Oh wow. Dong Ding is amazing in these pots.

[Senchamatcha]

Oh wow. Dong Ding is amazing in these pots.

I know. I think it intensifies the flavor of Dong Ding (i use between 1/8-1/4 teaspoon). I've been using mine for Iron goddess and Dong Ding, they both taste very good, but the DD seems to be seasoning the pot more so than the IG. So far I have not had any problems with flavors clashing. I think I made a good investment. It may not be worth $$$, but i still like my beginners yixing teapot.
Oh, and everyone in my office thinks its the most precious thing "ever". I catch people staring at it all the time. No one seems annoyed so I doubt I will have to hide or remove it. It's a much more attractive desk accessory than the metal tea infuser.

[JD]

The only problem I've found with this teapot is that it does not like small leaves. I tried using one of the pots to make some shou pu-er, which this particular shou is high roasted so it's almost like charcoal and breaks into little bits of leaves. Those bits get stuck in the spout very easily and slow the pour. I tried a Yunnan black tea which has smaller leaves and the same thing happened. Not good for small leaves.

That's pretty much the only problem I've found with the pot. I guess it could also get lost easily? I dunno.

[Senchamatcha]

I use a straightened paperclip to unclog mine.
I mostly brew rolled tea so I haven't run into that problem... yet.

[dan88]

I got it in the mail today! It works wonderfully! I cleaned and lightly seasoned it as per internet instructions, went to pour my first batch of tea... and nothing came out! Not a dang drop! It poured perfectly when it had no leaves in it.
...
10 minutes later I realized there is a small air hole in the lid. If you plug the air hole there is enough suction in the pot to keep all of the tea in. Is this a normal feature in Yixing pots? Or is mine an oddball/dud?

I really should have bought two. or more. They are so tiny and cute yet make a Kick-*** cup of dong ding. It tastes better that brewing in a tea infuser set in a tea cup. its so odd about the lid. :/ Not sure how I'm supposed to hold it to pour now.

I saw the same teapot style, clay color and the "same" seal on the bottom, with the price tag of $220. You can compare two pictures here.

Btw Senchamatcha can you post pictures of the pot that you received?

[William]

I got it in the mail today! It works wonderfully! I cleaned and lightly seasoned it as per internet instructions, went to pour my first batch of tea... and nothing came out! Not a dang drop! It poured perfectly when it had no leaves in it.
...
10 minutes later I realized there is a small air hole in the lid. If you plug the air hole there is enough suction in the pot to keep all of the tea in. Is this a normal feature in Yixing pots? Or is mine an oddball/dud?

I really should have bought two. or more. They are so tiny and cute yet make a Kick-*** cup of dong ding. It tastes better that brewing in a tea infuser set in a tea cup. its so odd about the lid. :/ Not sure how I'm supposed to hold it to pour now.

I saw the same teapot style, clay color and the "same" seal on the bottom, with the price tag of $220. You can compare two pictures here.

Btw Senchamatcha can you post pictures of the pot that you received?

In my opinion, the two pots do not have the same seal at the bottom, I do not think even from the photos that are made ​​of the same clay.

[Senchamatcha]

Dan88, I can later today when I get home.
I'm with William...
If you look very closely the on the right of the Ebay pot stamp it almost spells "EOOk" or "BOOk" depending on how much you squint. Where as on your $220 pot it looks more like a "UE OO E" and some of the other symbols are a bit different. might have been made in the same area/province but by different makers possibly with different clay. It's also possible the two makers are relatives or one is the other apprentice... or aliens could have made it and had trouble copying the Chinese letters... I can't read chinese. maybe we should hire a translator to tell us what it says.

[edkrueger]

The text of the stamps are the same, but the stamps aren't the same. Its not uncommon to have stamps that are copies of each other or of "famous" marks. Maybe some one knows about this stamp.

[chrl42]

The text of the stamps are the same, but the stamps aren't the same. Its not uncommon to have stamps that are copies of each other or of "famous" marks. Maybe some one knows about this stamp.

Above one copied better, ROC seal.

7some bucks is not worth a shot..they produce in Yixing, tons a day..you can buy a copied pot...only if they copied right

[kikula]

What DO they put in the cheap knockoffs? Is it a matter of just inferior, mixed clay or is it mixed with other materials that produce off tastes or toxic effects? This is pretty much a free pot; one wouldn't expect it to do the yixing magic I suppose but are there other risks? I've seen "they use all kind of stuff" but besides the glamor effect noted in Ed's funny avatar I wonder specifically what? Anyone know?
(The seller here says 'no toxic materials' but Monsanto tells me that every day. And there's toxic and then there's toxic - are we still worrying about lead, arsenic, cadmium in yixing?)
Can you tell by eyeballing if a slip has been used to improve color?

(I've been safely abiding in Japanese kyusu/gaiwan/tc artisan world, avoiding yixing for all of those reasons. Not fear of poisoning, just the wild and uncertain variability in quality and price, and apparent abundance of ripoff. Not sure how much I actually want a pot to influence precious tea taste unless I were sure it was gonna be a very positive investment.)

[TIM]

You can easily find a "Yixing" flower pot from a gardening store for cheap. And the materials making those flower pots could also be make into "Yixing" teapots or tea cups too.

[dan88]

So for the newcomers to the tea world what would you consider "cheap" pot? At what price point I could expect reasonable clay quality in a yixing teapot?

When I see the teapot for 350-450RMB is it a cheap one that I should avoid? For me the first priority is the clay quality, than price. Should I look only at 3000-5000RMB pots only to be sure the clay is good? Can you, forum members, point me to the right direction where I can look for the first real yixing pot for myself. I do not really want to pay for tuition teapots.

[Tead Off]

You are in quicksand when it comes to Yixing material. The vast majority that are sold commercially are not pure clays and you will have no way to find out what has been put into them. This is mostly a marketing driven product based on a name that once held a very high place in the tea world similar to some teas that are marketed by their name such as Da Hong Pao Wuyi tea which there is precious little of. The commercial stuff has little to do with the actual real thing. It's not going to kill you (I think) but it is not going to give you the legendary result that people are hoping for. It's a type of brain-washing that is very common all over the world. Keep your eyes open and your brain working.

[Teaism]

You are in quicksand when it comes to Yixing material. The vast majority that are sold commercially are not pure clays and you will have no way to find out what has been put into them. This is mostly a marketing driven product based on a name that once held a very high place in the tea world similar to some teas that are marketed by their name such as Da Hong Pao Wuyi tea which there is precious little of. The commercial stuff has little to do with the actual real thing. It's not going to kill you (I think) but it is not going to give you the legendary result that people are hoping for. It's a type of brain-washing that is very common all over the world. Keep your eyes open and your brain working.

+1 except the quote "It's not going to kill you "

[chrl42]

So for the newcomers to the tea world what would you consider "cheap" pot? At what price point I could expect reasonable clay quality in a yixing teapot?

When I see the teapot for 350-450RMB is it a cheap one that I should avoid? For me the first priority is the clay quality, than price. Should I look only at 3000-5000RMB pots only to be sure the clay is good? Can you, forum members, point me to the right direction where I can look for the first real yixing pot for myself. I do not really want to pay for tuition teapots.

350~450rmb do have pots made of genuine Yixing clay (#4 mine, #5 mine, Taixi and Baoshan)..just numbers are few. Jing Dian Tao Fang and Huang Long Yuan are the one with no fakes, Factory 1 is the one, too but lots of fakes. And potters are too many to name..

Plus, you don't go for the price or the level of potters, you should go for the names or reputation of a seller.....Yixing people or Jiangsu people overall, are very clever when it comes to money..they know how to roll it

What DO they put in the cheap knockoffs? Is it a matter of just inferior, mixed clay or is it mixed with other materials that produce off tastes or toxic effects? This is pretty much a free pot; one wouldn't expect it to do the yixing magic I suppose but are there other risks? I've seen "they use all kind of stuff" but besides the glamor effect noted in Ed's funny avatar I wonder specifically what? Anyone know?
(The seller here says 'no toxic materials' but Monsanto tells me that every day. And there's toxic and then there's toxic - are we still worrying about lead, arsenic, cadmium in yixing?)
Can you tell by eyeballing if a slip has been used to improve color?

(I've been safely abiding in Japanese kyusu/gaiwan/tc artisan world, avoiding yixing for all of those reasons. Not fear of poisoning, just the wild and uncertain variability in quality and price, and apparent abundance of ripoff. Not sure how much I actually want a pot to influence precious tea taste unless I were sure it was gonna be a very positive investment.)

Last time I heard some new Zhuni clay-manufacterer use Hydrochloric acid..to make Zhuni purer (90's they used a cotton or water to purify Zhuni)..but no matter how they try, the base quality will never change even if it could fool a buyer for a short time

Also, try to avoid the clays that have too bright, too glossy..black, green, dark red or yellow..

Using German-imported cobalt, manganese, chrome oxide is a traditional way but still harmful to degree (yet has many disagreement too)