Crackling Sound with Hot Water

[William]

I'm not making any judgement on what this is, but if it were normal, why would none of the dozens of Yixing pots I've used ever done it? I've never heard the sounds that the OP describes. Fascinating.

no idea why you dont observe it, 3 decades of yixing, who can dare say anything against that?

it can be narrowed down to several probabilities
1) your pots really do not bubble, there is no air trapped inside the clay, and probably suggest not so porous
2) you have used your pot for 20-30 years, the tea stains have saturated most of the pores
3) i'm imagining things
4) maybe... the pots i happen to use for brewing are not yixing?!

Now I hear this sound. LOL.

[Chip]

... a parallel? Of all the Japanese Kyusu I have, only a recent Tokoname purchase has a buzz ... fizzzz going on, and it is pretty loud. I can hear it easily 4 or more feet away (~1.3 meters). It is nicknamed for the sound it makes.

Looking into the Kyusu, it appears to have a very course /sandy interior which may contribute the phenomenon.

[Tead Off]

I'm not making any judgement on what this is, but if it were normal, why would none of the dozens of Yixing pots I've used ever done it? I've never heard the sounds that the OP describes. Fascinating.

no idea why you dont observe it, 3 decades of yixing, who can dare say anything against that?

it can be narrowed down to several probabilities
1) your pots really do not bubble, there is no air trapped inside the clay, and probably suggest not so porous
2) you have used your pot for 20-30 years, the tea stains have saturated most of the pores
3) i'm imagining things
4) maybe... the pots i happen to use for brewing are not yixing?!

Sounds like a firing issue. Maybe someone like John the potter would know something about this.

[kyarazen]

Sounds like a firing issue. Maybe someone like John the potter would know something about this.

necessary to activate the grandmaster?
yixing is meant to have a degree of porosity, and whenever it is porous, it means there are air spaces of various sizes.

perfectly fired zini, qingshui ni do bubble rather nicely. a favourite factory 2 flat pot of mine (well fired) bubbles gently in cool water, and bubbles excitingly when doused with hot water due to clay expansion. recently i picked up a 60-70s hongni (smooth almost like zhuni), when it arrived i soaked it in warm water with some tiny bubbles, but no longer bubbles much in use. high fired, almost "glass like" perhaps

[ken1shi]

That happens to the very first zini pot i have, on mine it sounds a bit like soda fizzing, loud enough.
it scared me and i tought i cracked it by pouring boiling water directly.
Then i notice this happens even with cold water, out of curiosity i fill it with water and use a flaslight to see inside.
I saw 1mm bubbles coming out of a micro hole (the hole is invisible), the bubbles gone after a couple of minutes, the pot never leaks though.
I dont know if this is normal for a (supposed) half handmade pot.

Yes! I just tested my other pu erh pot and it has this fizzing soda effect, but my zini could just be more obvious to the ear.

[fdrx]

Yes! I just tested my other pu erh pot and it has this fizzing soda effect, but my zini could just be more obvious to the ear.

Same thing with my pots and it's loud, my thick zini pot much less than the 2 others qingshuini pots though

[kyarazen]

just an example

thin wall rather high fired hongni
http://youtu.be/AEjZWUlzYl0
*edit - oops! i didnt think i was hitting the pot that hard but after watching the video it looks rather violent.. no pots were harmed in this filming.

and the initial little buzz that goes away after a quick while
http://youtu.be/DKuBLEusqpg
*edit - watch the spout area, and another event around 35-36 seconds


a nice well fired zini with hot water..
http://youtu.be/tnN-NNXptuY

[hopeofdawn]

I don't have anywhere near the extensive yixing collection of some of the other posters--just two pots, one of them fairly thick and high fired. But I will say I have heard the faintest whispering/buzzing sound from my smaller, thinner-walled pot when I poured water over it the first few times. It was distinct enough that I actually had to stop and put my ear down to the pot to make sure I was hearing what I thought I was hearing. But I haven't really heard it since my first few brews--so maybe a yixing pot has to be very dry to produce that kind of sound?

[William]

Since I read this thread, I have noticed that the my teapots emit this sound only when left unused for a few days. With everyday teapots, I rarely hear it.

Maybe the teapot needs to be completely dry, in order to emit this sound.

[kyarazen]

Since I read this thread, I have noticed that the my teapots emit this sound only when left unused for a few days. With everyday teapots, I rarely hear it.

Maybe the teapot needs to be completely dry, in order to emit this sound.

yup, has to be dry

[heliospace]

I did a search, looking for some old news and came across this, but I did want to confirm: I heard a westerner's easy way of seeing if it really is yixing clay is to listen to the faint sounds and crackles. Also, mind you, I've done the freezer->boiling pot->freezer->boiling pot method on a few cheap zini teapots and never experienced a cracked teapot. I don't recommend it, but just thought I'd share that I have done this. It's alleged to "open up the teapot."

Cheers

[William]

I heard a westerner's easy way of seeing if it really is yixing clay is to listen to the faint sounds and crackles.

These crackling sounds are emitted by all type of clays, e.g. Yixing, Kobiwako, Banko, Bizen and so on. Therefore I do not think it is a characteristic of only Yixing clays.

Regards.

[heliospace]

I heard a westerner's easy way of seeing if it really is yixing clay is to listen to the faint sounds and crackles.

These crackling sounds are emitted by all type of clays, e.g. Yixing, Kobiwako, Banko, Bizen and so on. Therefore I do not think it is a characteristic of only Yixing clays.

Regards.

Good to know. When I started my foray into yixing, I acquired some pots that were NOT yixing and they did nothing when boiling water was added (no sounds). Someone suggested to me to listen to this. Perhaps poor advice, but it held up with my teapots. Thanks for sharing!!!

Cheers

[Tead Off]

I heard a westerner's easy way of seeing if it really is yixing clay is to listen to the faint sounds and crackles.

These crackling sounds are emitted by all type of clays, e.g. Yixing, Kobiwako, Banko, Bizen and so on. Therefore I do not think it is a characteristic of only Yixing clays.

Regards.

Good to know. When I started my foray into yixing, I acquired some pots that were NOT yixing and they did nothing when boiling water was added (no sounds). Someone suggested to me to listen to this. Perhaps poor advice, but it held up with my teapots. Thanks for sharing!!!

Cheers

I wouldn't judge any of these teapots by whether they made a sound or not. It doesn't prove anything. I own many types of clay teapots and can't ever recall any of them making sound. In fact, I took out a Yixing teapot today that I haven't used in a year. No sound whatsoever. Maybe climate is responsible for this.

[William]

I heard a westerner's easy way of seeing if it really is yixing clay is to listen to the faint sounds and crackles.

These crackling sounds are emitted by all type of clays, e.g. Yixing, Kobiwako, Banko, Bizen and so on. Therefore I do not think it is a characteristic of only Yixing clays.

Regards.

Good to know. When I started my foray into yixing, I acquired some pots that were NOT yixing and they did nothing when boiling water was added (no sounds). Someone suggested to me to listen to this. Perhaps poor advice, but it held up with my teapots. Thanks for sharing!!!

Cheers

I wouldn't judge any of these teapots by whether they made a sound or not. It doesn't prove anything. I own many types of clay teapots and can't ever recall any of them making sound. In fact, I took out a Yixing teapot today that I haven't used in a year. No sound whatsoever. Maybe climate is responsible for this.

This is a good theory. Humid atmosphere might be responsible.
Humid atmosphere = less dry between the pores of the clay.