Essence of Tea new yixing

[Tead Off]

I wonder what kyarazen would say. I know he considers red clay superior too.

I'm not speaking for Kyarazen, but most Chinese will say zhuni, red, is the best. How much of this perception is influenced by the prices paid privately and at auction, and simply cultural preference is hard to say. Zisha, purple sand pots, can be easily overlooked when the tide is high for zhuni.

[jayinhk]

I wonder what kyarazen would say. I know he considers red clay superior too.

I'm not speaking for Kyarazen, but most Chinese will say zhuni, red, is the best. How much of this perception is influenced by the prices paid privately and at auction, and simply cultural preference is hard to say. Zisha, purple sand pots, can be easily overlooked when the tide is high for zhuni.

Valid arguments for sure!

[Alex]

I am certainly one who prefers high quality zini. And across a pretty broad range of teas. I've dabbled with quite a few clays and have had tea from hongni/zhuni/duanni/mixed clay pots from friends/acquaintances, my own pots, etc. But there is just something about a good zini pot that I don't get from the red and duanni clays. Any clay for that matter (Japanese, Taiwanese, Novak, local, etc.)
Some kind of balance, fullness, and if it's good clay even those high notes. Love the purple

Just had some green tgy from one of the Lu Wei fang zini pots. Beautiful cup of tea! Superb clay. Could see it being great fit with a lot of teas. It was certainly a far better brew then from my modern zhuni and hongni. But they arent in same league of quality. Anyway I've certainly never used such fine clay as this. Hats off to David!

Those pots are quite lovely! So many, and all beautiful! I've resisted buying one only because I picked up one of the 90's dragon kiln pots from when he first started with all the new yixings

Do you have a photo of the Lu Wei fang pot you nabbed?

Yeah sure. My other pots are a Zhuni from teamsters and a hongni from tea gallery. Clay wise and workmanship wise this pot eclipse those by a very large amount. Extremely pleased with the pot. It's also my first yixing purchase for about 6 years. Worth the wait for sure! I'm pretty obsessed with xi shi shape as well. So I didn't even think when it went up! Going to try out a range of teas in it but so far it all taste good! It's certainly nothing like cheaper zini clay I've drunk from.

[kyarazen]

I wonder what kyarazen would say. I know he considers red clay superior too.

:O!! i felt my eye lid twitching so i decided to check tea chat........


what if.. i say.. my main usage pots are.. not yixing pots anymore?! (got a bit bored actually)
but that aside, historically red clay pots ever since early qing till roc, to 60s, 70s is always considered to be most desirable.

there are main differences, and i would rather talk about the differences than propose a "superiority" which might just be a culture or personal or collector's preference.

some things that cannot be changed about a red clay and a purple clay from the same era (not the modern ones as there are more advanced ways of blending), the red clay will be denser, pot will be harder, the porosity will be lower, the granularity will be finer, the texture will be "jade-r". these have different effects on tea, and depending on the type of tea, you can calibrate to your personal preference/liking. strictly speaking.. you might even be able to make good tea using a saucepan or a large soup ladle if you spend some time practicing on that. the wares you choose will change the tea drinking experience, and may help reduce parameters, standardize some procedures/steps.

zini/zisha's evolving, can be nice to figure out how it has changed over the years, how to tell the "ripeness" or well how eroded the clay is, whether it had been blended with other clays... whether it was super finely milled.. whether kaolin has been added.. whether sodium carbonate had been added, coloring agents etc etc etc.. same goes for hongni

[jayinhk]

I wonder what kyarazen would say. I know he considers red clay superior too.

:O!! i felt my eye lid twitching so i decided to check tea chat........


what if.. i say.. my main usage pots are.. not yixing pots anymore?! (got a bit bored actually)
but that aside, historically red clay pots ever since early qing till roc, to 60s, 70s is always considered to be most desirable.

What are you using instead of Yixing pots?

[TuoChaTea]

I got two 85 ml F1 teapots from EoT. Both have 87 stamped under the lid. Could it be year of making?

[Frisbeehead]

I got two 85 ml F1 teapots from EoT. Both have 87 stamped under the lid. Could it be year of making?

I don't think so, because mine is stamped with the number 57. If that were true, my pot would be quite old

[jayinhk]

I've got a pin zini with a 12. Older than my grandparents?

[theredbaron]

i believe that the number under the lid identifies the group of potters that made a particular batch of pots. The one i bought of essence of tea has a 6 (or 9), and a pot i got presented when i visited the factory in '95 or so has a 57

[LouPepe]

i believe that the number under the lid identifies the group of potters that made a particular batch of pots. The one i bought of essence of tea has a 6 (or 9), and a pot i got presented when i visited the factory in '95 or so has a 57

This here ^^^. As is also true that under the lid is usually were artisans stamp there name, also in factory pots (not sure if mostly the higher ranked potters did their name vs just an identification number).

[LouPepe]

Great to hear Alex! The clay does look pretty nice. I do believe there are zinis that perform wonderfully with 'greener' teas.

This whole discussion on red vs purple seems to have sprouted from my statement on thinking hongni to be a bit inferior to zini. I think most know that zhuni on the other hand is held in highest regards amongst zisha collectors. I guess maybe I need to drink tea from the really old zhuni pots to make an accurate assessment of zhuni clay in general. But as of now, high quality zini pots do more to the body of the tea which coincide with my personal preference. But it really does boil down to the person brewing the tea and personal preference first and foremost! Cheers all. Hoping to hear more feedback on the Lu Wei Fang pots as well as those private orders.

[jayinhk]

i believe that the number under the lid identifies the group of potters that made a particular batch of pots. The one i bought of essence of tea has a 6 (or 9), and a pot i got presented when i visited the factory in '95 or so has a 57

This here ^^^. As is also true that under the lid is usually were artisans stamp there name, also in factory pots (not sure if mostly the higher ranked potters did their name vs just an identification number).

Yes, I believe the best potters made the best pots with the best clay, and those more artistic pots would have the craftspeople's name(s) stamped under the lid vs numbers.

[steanze]

i believe that the number under the lid identifies the group of potters that made a particular batch of pots. The one i bought of essence of tea has a 6 (or 9), and a pot i got presented when i visited the factory in '95 or so has a 57

This here ^^^. As is also true that under the lid is usually were artisans stamp there name, also in factory pots (not sure if mostly the higher ranked potters did their name vs just an identification number).

Yes, I believe the best potters made the best pots with the best clay, and those more artistic pots would have the craftspeople's name(s) stamped under the lid vs numbers.

As far as I know the stamps under the lid worked a bit differently. They depend on the period in which the pot was made. As redbaron says, the number identifies the group of potters, and it is mostly used in the 1980s. You can also see a character seal under the lid in pots made by more famous artisans in the 1980s. However, in the mid to late 1970s you usually see two characters. In the early 70s, usually nothing is stamped under the lid, and the same holds during the 1960s, except in the 1960s you can sometimes see the teapot size written in terms of number of cups, especially for the larger shuipings (十二杯). Sometimes you can also see a ting ji mark, often on the inside bottom of the pot, that indicates one particular artisan. The quality of clay largely depends on the period in addition to the artisan's name...
But there are several members of the forum who know a lot more than I do so hopefully they can provide more information.

[Alex]

Great to hear Alex! The clay does look pretty nice. I do believe there are zinis that perform wonderfully with 'greener' teas.

This whole discussion on red vs purple seems to have sprouted from my statement on thinking hongni to be a bit inferior to zini. I think most know that zhuni on the other hand is held in highest regards amongst zisha collectors. I guess maybe I need to drink tea from the really old zhuni pots to make an accurate assessment of zhuni clay in general. But as of now, high quality zini pots do more to the body of the tea which coincide with my personal preference. But it really does boil down to the person brewing the tea and personal preference first and foremost! Cheers all. Hoping to hear more feedback on the Lu Wei Fang pots as well as those private orders.

Yeah my preference is for body as well. If I want opposite I usually just reach for porcelain. Just tried some oriental beauty in the lu wei fang pot. Wow! Brought all those fruity flavours and turned them up to 11 lol.

[jayinhk]

i believe that the number under the lid identifies the group of potters that made a particular batch of pots. The one i bought of essence of tea has a 6 (or 9), and a pot i got presented when i visited the factory in '95 or so has a 57

This here ^^^. As is also true that under the lid is usually were artisans stamp there name, also in factory pots (not sure if mostly the higher ranked potters did their name vs just an identification number).

Yes, I believe the best potters made the best pots with the best clay, and those more artistic pots would have the craftspeople's name(s) stamped under the lid vs numbers.

As far as I know the stamps under the lid worked a bit differently. They depend on the period in which the pot was made. As redbaron says, the number identifies the group of potters, and it is mostly used in the 1980s. You can also see a character seal under the lid in pots made by more famous artisans in the 1980s. However, in the mid to late 1970s you usually see two characters. In the early 70s, usually nothing is stamped under the lid, and the same holds during the 1960s, except in the 1960s you can sometimes see the teapot size written in terms of number of cups, especially for the larger shuipings (十二杯). Sometimes you can also see a ting ji mark, often on the inside bottom of the pot, that indicates one particular artisan. The quality of clay largely depends on the period in addition to the artisan's name...
But there are several members of the forum who know a lot more than I do so hopefully they can provide more information.

Good info--thanks for sharing!