Factory Pots?

[steanze]

np! It is indeed a quite uncommon filter for F1 pots

[jayinhk]

Spring pot appears to be a fake for sure; weird aroma and waxy residue on the bottom of the pot that won't come off, even after using alcohol, acetone and boiling the pot. Pot won't 'hold water' evenly either. Clay looks good up close though.

The larger pot has similar clay and smell to the acacia pot (with six-hole filter), but has a seven-hole 2:3:2 filter.

[jayinhk]

One more...this time a houhin. I believe this one is authentic. Again, color a little washed out from direct daylight (it's very sunny here in HK right now):

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQW8dLsj5XK ... e.hk&hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQW8h5MjZW3 ... e.hk&hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQW8lRtjU1e ... e.hk&hl=en

[steanze]

One more...this time a houhin. I believe this one is authentic. Again, color a little washed out from direct daylight (it's very sunny here in HK right now):

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQW8dLsj5XK ... e.hk&hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQW8h5MjZW3 ... e.hk&hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQW8lRtjU1e ... e.hk&hl=en

looks plausible. I don't know much about houhins though, so take this with a grain of salt.

[jayinhk]

One more...this time a houhin. I believe this one is authentic. Again, color a little washed out from direct daylight (it's very sunny here in HK right now):

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQW8dLsj5XK ... e.hk&hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQW8h5MjZW3 ... e.hk&hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQW8lRtjU1e ... e.hk&hl=en

looks plausible. I don't know much about houhins though, so take this with a grain of salt.

Me neither, but I thought it looked good and had to pick it up. Missed out on some duanni ones! This one has a green tea stain under the spout.

[kyarazen]

One more...this time a houhin. I believe this one is authentic. Again, color a little washed out from direct daylight (it's very sunny here in HK right now):

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQW8dLsj5XK ... e.hk&hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQW8h5MjZW3 ... e.hk&hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQW8lRtjU1e ... e.hk&hl=en

looks plausible. I don't know much about houhins though, so take this with a grain of salt.

Me neither, but I thought it looked good and had to pick it up. Missed out on some duanni ones! This one has a green tea stain under the spout.

this is probably outside red clay, inside qingshui clay. 70s to 80s item.

holds the record for the most difficult to use houhin... if you have the taller version of it. the shorter version.. when hot it is really hot

[jayinhk]

One more...this time a houhin. I believe this one is authentic. Again, color a little washed out from direct daylight (it's very sunny here in HK right now):

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQW8dLsj5XK ... e.hk&hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQW8h5MjZW3 ... e.hk&hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQW8lRtjU1e ... e.hk&hl=en

looks plausible. I don't know much about houhins though, so take this with a grain of salt.

Me neither, but I thought it looked good and had to pick it up. Missed out on some duanni ones! This one has a green tea stain under the spout.

this is probably outside red clay, inside qingshui clay. 70s to 80s item.

holds the record for the most difficult to use houhin... if you have the taller version of it. the shorter version.. when hot it is really hot

After looking closer, yes, it does appear to be qsn under the red clay. Nice! High fired too. Just tried filling it up all the way with boiling water and you're right...super hot to hold. lol. Any thoughts on the other pots?

[Tead Off]

One more...this time a houhin. I believe this one is authentic. Again, color a little washed out from direct daylight (it's very sunny here in HK right now):

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQW8dLsj5XK ... e.hk&hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQW8h5MjZW3 ... e.hk&hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQW8lRtjU1e ... e.hk&hl=en

looks plausible. I don't know much about houhins though, so take this with a grain of salt.

Me neither, but I thought it looked good and had to pick it up. Missed out on some duanni ones! This one has a green tea stain under the spout.

this is probably outside red clay, inside qingshui clay. 70s to 80s item.

holds the record for the most difficult to use houhin... if you have the taller version of it. the shorter version.. when hot it is really hot

After looking closer, yes, it does appear to be qsn under the red clay. Nice! High fired too. Just tried filling it up all the way with boiling water and you're right...super hot to hold. lol. Any thoughts on the other pots?

I guess these were made for the Japanese market, primarily. Don't forget, hohin are used with cooler water for most Japanese greens.

[jayinhk]

One more...this time a houhin. I believe this one is authentic. Again, color a little washed out from direct daylight (it's very sunny here in HK right now):

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQW8dLsj5XK ... e.hk&hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQW8h5MjZW3 ... e.hk&hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQW8lRtjU1e ... e.hk&hl=en

looks plausible. I don't know much about houhins though, so take this with a grain of salt.

Me neither, but I thought it looked good and had to pick it up. Missed out on some duanni ones! This one has a green tea stain under the spout.

this is probably outside red clay, inside qingshui clay. 70s to 80s item.

holds the record for the most difficult to use houhin... if you have the taller version of it. the shorter version.. when hot it is really hot

After looking closer, yes, it does appear to be qsn under the red clay. Nice! High fired too. Just tried filling it up all the way with boiling water and you're right...super hot to hold. lol. Any thoughts on the other pots?

I guess these were made for the Japanese market, primarily. Don't forget, hohin are used with cooler water for most Japanese greens.

That's exactly what I was just thinking TeadOff (cooler water for sencha), and yes, definitely made for the Japanese market. I quite like it! Haven't used it for tea yet.

[victoria3]

Hi Jay, yes I indicated on your instagram feed that your houhin is an F1 pot, I believe it is from the 70's or late 60's. I'm not an expert, just gathering information along the way in order to better know my wares. Kyarazen posted an FI catalogue last year helping me identify another Chinese kyusu I also have. I purchased this houhin at the same time, from the same owner as the chinese kyusu. I posted about it here;
http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f= ... e&start=15

I've seen over the years that this Chinese houhin was made in different sizes, 300ml, 250ml.... I believe it is neiziwahong; zini purple clay (70s qingshuini ?) inside, with a coat of hongni red clay (chuan-bu) outside.

I thought about using it for Japanese greens but didn't have the heart because the walls are so thick, retaining too much heat. Instead, I really like using it for my medium grade low roasted morning oolong. It really does smooth out the flavours elevating the liquor. I use a tea cloth though to grab the hot pot!

[jayinhk]

Hi Jay, yes I indicated on your instagram feed that your houhin is an F1 pot, I believe it is from the 70's or late 60's. I'm not an expert, just gathering information along the way in order to better know my wares. Kyarazen posted an FI catalogue last year helping me identify another Chinese kyusu I also have. I purchased this houhin at the same time, from the same owner as the chinese kyusu. I posted about it here;
http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f= ... e&start=15

I've seen over the years that this Chinese houhin was made in different sizes, 300ml, 250ml.... I believe it is neiziwahong; zini purple clay (70s qingshuini ?) inside, with a coat of hongni red clay (chuan-bu) outside.

I thought about using it for Japanese greens but didn't have the heart because the walls are so thick, retaining too much heat. Instead, I really like using it for my medium grade low roasted morning oolong. It really does smooth out the flavours elevating the liquor. I use a tea cloth though to grab the hot pot!

Hi Victoria! Qingshuini is like a lighter zini (reddish/brown vs purple), and in my experience is a lovely clay for many teas. I find it suits pretty much everything, so coating it with hongni does sound like it might work well for sencha. I'll try it with a Chinese green first to see how it performs.

I hear you about not wanting to cook the leaves with sencha, but I tend to leave the lid off between infusions anyway and I wouldn't be using water that was too hot, so it might work well with sencha (or it might be a little too muting). I've found even uncoated QSN to perform well with Taiwanese and Vietnamese greens, so I will give it a shot with sencha (eventually)! Green oolongs that aren't too fancy sound good too. I haven't tried the houhin yet, but I will soon enough. I'm currently brewing using a gaiwan for some 2014 milanxiang dancong via Chawangshop--a member here kindly sent me some samples of different teas she's bought over the last few years, so I'm trying the dancong out today. I almost never use a gaiwan at home nowadays, so today's a little special.

[Tead Off]

Hi Jay, yes I indicated on your instagram feed that your houhin is an F1 pot, I believe it is from the 70's or late 60's. I'm not an expert, just gathering information along the way in order to better know my wares. Kyarazen posted an FI catalogue last year helping me identify another Chinese kyusu I also have. I purchased this houhin at the same time, from the same owner as the chinese kyusu. I posted about it here;
http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f= ... e&start=15

I've seen over the years that this Chinese houhin was made in different sizes, 300ml, 250ml.... I believe it is neiziwahong; zini purple clay (70s qingshuini ?) inside, with a coat of hongni red clay (chuan-bu) outside.

I thought about using it for Japanese greens but didn't have the heart because the walls are so thick, retaining too much heat. Instead, I really like using it for my medium grade low roasted morning oolong. It really does smooth out the flavours elevating the liquor. I use a tea cloth though to grab the hot pot!

Hi Victoria! Qingshuini is like a lighter zini (reddish/brown vs purple), and in my experience is a lovely clay for many teas. I find it suits pretty much everything, so coating it with hongni does sound like it might work well for sencha. I'll try it with a Chinese green first to see how it performs.

I hear you about not wanting to cook the leaves with sencha, but I tend to leave the lid off between infusions anyway and I wouldn't be using water that was too hot, so it might work well with sencha (or it might be a little too muting). I've found even uncoated QSN to perform well with Taiwanese and Vietnamese greens, so I will give it a shot with sencha (eventually)! Green oolongs that aren't too fancy sound good too. I haven't tried the houhin yet, but I will soon enough. I'm currently brewing using a gaiwan for some 2014 milanxiang dancong via Chawangshop--a member here kindly sent me some samples of different teas she's bought over the last few years, so I'm trying the dancong out today. I almost never use a gaiwan at home nowadays, so today's a little special.

I know some will disagree, but I don't think it is necessary to leave the lid off while brewing Japanese greens. If you are using low temps, between 50-60c for your first brews of either sencha or gyokuro, you want the heat to remain in the pot to extract the full flavor of the tea. When I increase the temp for the next brew, it is only 2.5c for each successive brew till there is little flavor left. I find with a good tea, I can get a minimum of 5 flavorful brews. There are some Japanese greens that can take higher temps, but those teas usually are not my usual preference.
If you cannot extract full flavor from a tea, there are 4 possibilities that I can think of.
1. The tea is a poor quality
2. The water is too hot
3. Change your water
4. Change your brewing vessel

There are probably more, but I haven't had my coffee, yet.

[victoria3]

Hi Jay, yes I indicated on your instagram feed that your houhin is an F1 pot, I believe it is from the 70's or late 60's. I'm not an expert, just gathering information along the way in order to better know my wares. Kyarazen posted an FI catalogue last year helping me identify another Chinese kyusu I also have. I purchased this houhin at the same time, from the same owner as the chinese kyusu. I posted about it here;
http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f= ... e&start=15
I've seen over the years that this Chinese houhin was made in different sizes, 300ml, 250ml.... I believe it is neiziwahong; zini purple clay (70s qingshuini ?) inside, with a coat of hongni red clay (chuan-bu) outside.

I thought about using it for Japanese greens but didn't have the heart because the walls are so thick, retaining too much heat. Instead, I really like using it for my medium grade low roasted morning oolong. It really does smooth out the flavours elevating the liquor. I use a tea cloth though to grab the hot pot!

Hi Victoria! Qingshuini is like a lighter zini (reddish/brown vs purple), and in my experience is a lovely clay for many teas. I find it suits pretty much everything, so coating it with hongni does sound like it might work well for sencha. I'll try it with a Chinese green first to see how it performs.

I hear you about not wanting to cook the leaves with sencha, but I tend to leave the lid off between infusions anyway and I wouldn't be using water that was too hot, so it might work well with sencha (or it might be a little too muting). I've found even uncoated QSN to perform well with Taiwanese and Vietnamese greens, so I will give it a shot with sencha (eventually)! Green oolongs that aren't too fancy sound good too. I haven't tried the houhin yet, but I will soon enough. I'm currently brewing using a gaiwan for some 2014 milanxiang dancong via Chawangshop--a member here kindly sent me some samples of different teas she's bought over the last few years, so I'm trying the dancong out today. I almost never use a gaiwan at home nowadays, so today's a little special.

I know some will disagree, but I don't think it is necessary to leave the lid off while brewing Japanese greens. If you are using low temps, between 50-60c for your first brews of either sencha or gyokuro, you want the heat to remain in the pot to extract the full flavor of the tea. When I increase the temp for the next brew, it is only 2.5c for each successive brew till there is little flavor left. I find with a good tea, I can get a minimum of 5 flavorful brews. There are some Japanese greens that can take higher temps, but those teas usually are not my usual preference.
If you cannot extract full flavor from a tea, there are 4 possibilities that I can think of.
1. The tea is a poor quality
2. The water is too hot
3. Change your water
4. Change your brewing vessel

There are probably more, but I haven't had my coffee, yet.

I will agree, I never leave lid off for Japanese greens, I understand especially with dancons this is practiced. Thick walls will retain heat for a long time even with lid off. Although I usually am up to trying new things, in this case I have no desire to experiment with thick walls and tender steamed Japanese greens. In my case, depending on sincha or sencha, I begin by increasing temperature by 5F-10F per steep, but again that varies with each tea.

At any rate, after 8 years+ of not using this Chinese houhin because it had a strange odor (humid storage for decades) and water tasted metallic, I now use it every week with great results. It just took trying to reset it yearly with simmering water and pleantly of dry air circulating in a cupboard.

[jayinhk]

I meant that I leave the lid slightly propped up between infusions--never entirely off. I do this regardless of the type of tea, and I tend to brew at closer to 75-80C for sencha. I rarely drink sencha, though, as there's lots of other stuff I'd rather drink! I keep the lid on during infusions and during the pour. It's only between infusions when I prop up the lid slightly to vent. This is something I learned from MarshalN's blog years ago and I've done it ever since.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQZ0X-BDS6f/

The only time the lid is entirely off is when I'm loading or unloading the pot and when I'm letting the pot dry out after a session.

[victoria3]

I meant that I leave the lid slightly propped up between infusions--never entirely off. I do this regardless of the type of tea, and I tend to brew at closer to 75-80C for sencha. I rarely drink sencha, though, as there's lots of other stuff I'd rather drink! I keep the lid on during infusions and during the pour. It's only between infusions when I prop up the lid slightly to vent. This is something I learned from MarshalN's blog years ago and I've done it ever since.

The only time the lid is entirely off is when I'm loading or unloading the pot and when I'm letting the pot dry out after a session.

Ok Jay glad for clarification. Between infusions I take the lid entirely off so leaves don't over-cook, I do this with all leaves. 75-80C is very hot in general for sencha, although a very few do well hotter Imen, of Tea Habitat, suggested to me dancons steep better with lid off, I'm assuming she was serious although I'm not sure why....