Vessel Too Small To Brew Oolong Properly?

[kyarazen]

A few months back I did my own experiments with pouring or not pouring hot water over the pot using an infrared thermometer to watch the surface temperature of the pot. Using two identical 80ml shuipings. Filled both with boiling water, poured additional boiling water over one. Did this 5 times back to back trying to control the variables the best I could. The pot showered with hot water remained 3°-5°F hotter at 45seconds to a minute.

And besides, if we're talking about brewing with very short infusions of 5 to 15 seconds, pouring hot water over a small pot to warm it up is only going to be beneficial, even if it did start to cool faster after that point

sir, admiring your willingness to experiment!

[mcrdotcom]

You should take into consideration the typical insulation provided to the Yixing when using bowl or plate. So cooling may indeed occur by evaporation, but what about the excess hot water in the bowl insulating the pot after it has been poured over, compared to when no water is poured over the pot.

If anyone could do an experiment with a tea boat that doesn't allow this insulating layer at the bottom, vs one that does, vs no pour over at all, that would be interesting

[wyardley]

You should take into consideration the typical insulation provided to the Yixing when using bowl or plate. So cooling may indeed occur by evaporation, but what about the excess hot water in the bowl insulating the pot after it has been poured over, compared to when no water is poured over the pot.

Exactly, we are talking about hot water surrounding a good part of the pot, not just pouring over it. And in orthodox gongfucha, you're doing 3 brews, 4 max, so you're never getting to the point where the tea is poured much after the water is showered over.

Also, pouring the water from the cups over the pots is sometimes involved in the timing, and watching the water evaporate, or watching the water retreat back into the spout, can be helpful in terms of the timing. So I think timing may be part of the real reason we do this. But generally speaking, you're pouring within seconds anyway, so the longer term heat loss isn't really a problem.

[kyarazen]

You should take into consideration the typical insulation provided to the Yixing when using bowl or plate. So cooling may indeed occur by evaporation, but what about the excess hot water in the bowl insulating the pot after it has been poured over, compared to when no water is poured over the pot.

If anyone could do an experiment with a tea boat that doesn't allow this insulating layer at the bottom, vs one that does, vs no pour over at all, that would be interesting

i do use a flower pot with a porous insulating mat sometimes.

actually it doesnt need to be an absolute nor exact method the concepts are there just to guide you into knowing how to increase heat when needed, and when and how to slow down heat loss for the particular setup/pot/cups you have

anyways CZ brewing style has a lot of sub-lineages depending on one's family lineage and what has been developed and passed on. if you take a look at ye han zhong's brewing, there are some tips that are mentioned

i.e. to enable the brew to be softer and smoother, before dispensing the tea, give the pot a quick swirl shake before immersing it into cold water that covers 2/3 the pot, move it about a couple of times, lift it out, dry the outside and dispense. the initial swirl before the cold bath is to give a bit of mechanical energy to help the tea surface compounds come out into the brew, and the cold bath is to quickly drop the vessel's temperature so that the bitter astringencies will not come out. i experimented a little with this a while back and unfortunately had ended up cracking the joint between handle/pot of one of my 60s SPs...

you can read up more here : http://www.dyee.org/bbs/thread-527011-1-1.html

[BW85]

You should take into consideration the typical insulation provided to the Yixing when using bowl or plate. So cooling may indeed occur by evaporation, but what about the excess hot water in the bowl insulating the pot after it has been poured over, compared to when no water is poured over the pot.

If anyone could do an experiment with a tea boat that doesn't allow this insulating layer at the bottom, vs one that does, vs no pour over at all, that would be interesting

I wasn't using a boat but a tray that drained water

[wyardley]

I wasn't using a boat but a tray that drained water

That may well be the case for you; I'm just suggesting where the practice of showering the pot with water comes from, though.

[kyarazen]

I wasn't using a boat but a tray that drained water

That may well be the case for you; I'm just suggesting where the practice of showering the pot with water comes from, though.

chaozhou style brewing at least, the step's known as 淋罐 but not always consciously done and can be optional. when adding water to the pot there's always some spill over that would collect in the saucer, which inevitably would aid thermal retension

[tingjunkie]

I've found a good solution that works for me with the heat loss on smaller pots on longer infusions. Traditionally, using a small bowl for the pot to swim in some boiled water works great, but I was worried about getting lines in the pot's patina. Now I just pour boiling water in this lotus root Yixing lid rest (it doesn't have a drain hole) and it works like a little hot pad that radiates heat and steam in to my smallest pots from the bottom without messing with the outer patina.

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[William]

Now I just pour boiling water in this lotus root Yixing lid rest (it doesn't have a drain hole) and it works like a little hot pad that radiates heat and steam in to my smallest pots from the bottom without messing with the outer patina.

Are you sure that steam does not make the teapot to cool quicker?

[tingjunkie]

Sadly, I don't own a laser-guided heat-seeking thermometer, so it's hard to say.

[bambooforest]

It's very customary to fill a kyuusu less than completely full in water.

If you had a 90 ml yixing pot, could you simply fill it 2/3 full and still get very good results?

[wyardley]

If you had a 90 ml yixing pot, could you simply fill it 2/3 full and still get very good results?

I usually don't do this, but I'd be hard-pressed to tell you why.

[debunix]

It's very customary to fill a kyuusu less than completely full in water.

If you had a 90 ml yixing pot, could you simply fill it 2/3 full and still get very good results?

Yes, but I find it very hard to be disciplined about the pouring because I am so used to filling the pot. If I want less tea volume, I use less leaf and longer infusions, or less leaf and a smaller pot/brewing vessel.

[BW85]

It's funny... The thought of not filling a yixing teapot up to the brim seems odd

[tingjunkie]

It's very customary to fill a kyuusu less than completely full in water.

If you had a 90 ml yixing pot, could you simply fill it 2/3 full and still get very good results?

Depends on the tea. With gongfu, especially using pots as small as 60-90ml, the tea doesn't really float around inside the pot like sencha would do in a kyusu. So, you could fill up a Yixing part way, but some of the leaf on top would probably not be interacting with the water during each infusion.