Boldly going where few have gone before: Gongfu Kyusu!

[tingjunkie]

Or you can get a nice Yixing teapot from Yunnan Sourcing for around $50.
You're free to spend your money on whatever you want, but IMO, if you're going to invest that much money on a fair-cup...why not make it a teapot?

I was kind of operating under the assumption (as Tead Off pointed out above) that $50 won't get you "the real deal." But perhaps brewing in a $50 Yixing pot would still offer better results than brewing in a gaiwan and then transfering to a $100 vintage Yixing faircup? Just don't know... so the experiments shall continue!

[tingjunkie]

The plot thickens...

It's my day off, so I just decided to go another session with the Dong Ding while the taste of the first session was still solid in my memory. This time I skipped the gaiwan, and just used the Kyusu to brew the tea.

The taste was decidedly too rounded! Very smooth with no astringency at all, but it definitely killed the highlights. During the first session, I managed to get some plum notes by the 3rd/4th infusions, but here none were to be found. The floral notes were still there, but not as clear or distinct. The mouth feel was heavy- not 'thick' really, but the tea just slid around my tongue like dead weight. I don't mean to be crude, but the best analogy for this session I can make was that it was like making love with a condom on. It wasn't bad, but it tasted/felt like there was a barrier in between the tea and my taste buds. Now I know why I was missing the berry notes when I made the Iron Goddess the first time.

So, brewing in the kyusu kills the oolongs highlights, but rounds the flavor and gets rid of astringency, but using the kyusu like a faircup improves aroma and some flavors, mutes the astringency some, but possibly still takes away highlights... at least that's the case for the 3 rolled oolongs I've tried so far. Do I dare put some good Wuyi in there?

[Maitre_Tea]

$50 won't get you "real deal" Zhuni, but you can get pretty nice pots for the price they're at. I think as a beginner (and I'm in this category too!), you probably don't need to invest in super-expensive Zhuni (unless you have the money to). But super-expensive Zhuni is going to beat out the tokoname though, IMO. But maybe for Hong Ni, Zisha, Duan Ni, who knows?

I think mostly everyone here has good things to say about the pots from Yunnan Sourcing, and they're very nice. Some of my pots come from Yunnan Sourcing, and the quality is pretty top-notch. Granted, they're not going to sound like a bell, but they're really nice for the price range that they're at.

I think it's important to consider the different quality tiers of Yixing, because not everyone is loaded enough to only buy old Zhuni or what have you. I'm probably going to experiment sometime later tonight...and I'll post my results on the gaiwan vs. tokoname vs. yixing throw-down

[tingjunkie]

I think it's important to consider the different quality tiers of Yixing, because not everyone is loaded enough to only buy old Zhuni or what have you. I'm probably going to experiment sometime later tonight...and I'll post my results on the gaiwan vs. tokoname vs. yixing throw-down

Yeah, I'm not going to be able to afford a vintage one any time soon. I have been checking YS for a while now, but have yet to pull the trigger. I think I'm going to wait until my next visit to the Tea Gallery and get the real expert opinions. Also, I know the TG has some nice red clay Yixing for sale for around $75 (not vintage of course), but I would need to get more info on them before I make that investment- for me, that's a lot to spend on a pot right now- especially since it seems my new kyusu may not be up to the oolong task.

However, I'm not ready to throw in the tea towel yet, and I will be anxiously awaiting the results of your tests!

[Maitre_Tea]

Also, I know the TG has some nice red clay Yixing for sale for around $75 (not vintage of course)

Since you were there recently, what's the price range like for their teapots? Do they have a nice selection? I would love to buy a teapot from the Tea Gallery

[tingjunkie]

No idea about the price range, but the selection is great. Basically, I just asked Winnie what she had for an "entry level" red clay Yixing pot, and she showed me the $75 dollar ones. At first I was a bit put off because it had a small metal ball filter on the inside of the spout, and she said it was molded and not handmade. However, she said it was really nice clay, and I came to realize very quickly that they really have good taste and know their stuff. But still... $75 for a molded pot with metal filter? I need more info- perhaps from Michael when he is there.

[wyardley]

You tend to use them with different teas, so I think it makes sense to use something neutral like porcelain.

[Intuit]

Gongfu Girls interesting blog comments on a hybrid yixing-gaiwan:

http://www.gongfugirl.com/2008/11/modern-yixing/

I really want to try this design, but dang it, I can't find this set anywhere!

[Maitre_Tea]

It's from Hou De:
http://www.houdeasianart.com/index.php? ... cts_id=104

It looks like it would make a nice houhin

[t4texas]

No idea about the price range, but the selection is great. Basically, I just asked Winnie what she had for an "entry level" red clay Yixing pot, and she showed me the $75 dollar ones. At first I was a bit put off because it had a small metal ball filter on the inside of the spout, and she said it was molded and not handmade. However, she said it was really nice clay, and I came to realize very quickly that they really have good taste and know their stuff. But still... $75 for a molded pot with metal filter? I need more info- perhaps from Michael when he is there.

Nothing unusual about $75 for a molded pot with metal filter. You can spend many times that for a pot half handmade with molds, which is what it appears you have. But ask more about when the pot was made, the exact type and age of the clay, who made the pot, etc.

And let us know about how it does.

[Intuit]

Thanks for the HouDe link. Their photo provides a clue to purpose of the holes in the handles of Cinnabar's set (also came with matching cups, purchased off of Ebay a few years ago). Her set lacks the wrapping on the handles but was substantially cheaper than HouDe's set.

[tingjunkie]

Any test results to report Maitre_Tea? I'm trying to psych myself up enough to try the kyusu faircup test with some Shi Lan Wuyi from the Tea Gallery. Since I'm still new to the high grade oolong thing, it's the most expensive tea I have ever bought, and I'm having trouble convincing myself it's worth it for the name of Science.

[Maitre_Tea]

Any test results to report Maitre_Tea? I'm trying to psych myself up enough to try the kyusu faircup test with some Shi Lan Wuyi from the Tea Gallery. Since I'm still new to the high grade oolong thing, it's the most expensive tea I have ever bought, and I'm having trouble convincing myself it's worth it for the name of Science.

Sorry, there were a few problems but I have some results...I had originally wanted to do a test with my high mountain oolong, when I realized that my green oolong yixing is actually a purion pot! So I was waiting for my Just 4 Tea traditional roast TGY to come in from a tea swap so I could do a comparison. I was comparing my kyusu with my duan ni teapot, and I found that the results with the duan ni were better. It's hard enough for me to say which one tastes better, but I know the results from the duan ni made it taste better. Also, to prevent any pre-meditated bias I had my sister pour them into random faircups so I couldn't tell which one was which...I can say that the duan ni made the roasted TGY taste more "rounded" and took away from the charcoal roast flavor that could sometimes be off-putting. I think it also depends on what type of pot you're working with. I'm looking to get a nice-quality Zhuni soon, so afterwards I can do more extensive tests.

[tingjunkie]

Update: Finally got up the courage to do a session with Shi Lan WuYi from the Tea Gallery in which I tried using my kyusu as a faircup again. Used a gaiwan to brew, then decanted into a Pyrex cup, 1/2 the tea into a glazed ceramic cup, the other 1/2 into the kyusu for about 30 seconds, then to an identical ceramic cup.

Once again, the kyusu rounded out the flavors in a not so great way. Muted the higher notes, took away a little astringency, and made the mouth feel a little duller. Absolutely loved the Shi Lan from the gaiwan though! Very flowery (orchids or lilies?) with some toasted caramel/creme brulee notes and a sweet finish! Yum.

Ok... so I found out the hard way what generations of tea connoisseurs already knew. But that's ok, I like to do things the hard way sometimes anyway! I learned a lot during the process, developed my tea palette further, and now I won't have to wonder anymore. The experiment also opened my eyes to seeing first hand how clay can change a tea's profile, and I learned a great method for testing future clay pots. (Thanks Maitre_Tea!) I may try this experiment again in the future with some very green oolongs or some highly roasted astringent oolongs just to see what happens, but for now, I think my little side-handled buddy will stick to serving up all my better greens and whites... unless someone wants to trade me a good modern Zhuni for her! She's a natural with fukamushi sencha and gyokuro.

[JPX]

Update: Finally got up the courage to do a session with Shi Lan WuYi from the Tea Gallery in which I tried using my kyusu as a faircup again. Used a gaiwan to brew, then decanted into a Pyrex cup, 1/2 the tea into a glazed ceramic cup, the other 1/2 into the kyusu for about 30 seconds, then to an identical ceramic cup.

Once again, the kyusu rounded out the flavors in a not so great way. Muted the higher notes, took away a little astringency, and made the mouth feel a little duller. Absolutely loved the Shi Lan from the gaiwan though! Very flowery (orchids or lilies?) with some toasted caramel/creme brulee notes and a sweet finish! Yum.

Ok... so I found out the hard way what generations of tea connoisseurs already knew. But that's ok, I like to do things the hard way sometimes anyway! I learned a lot during the process, developed my tea palette further, and now I won't have to wonder anymore. The experiment also opened my eyes to seeing first hand how clay can change a tea's profile, and I learned a great method for testing future clay pots. (Thanks Maitre_Tea!) I may try this experiment again in the future with some very green oolongs or some highly roasted astringent oolongs just to see what happens, but for now, I think my little side-handled buddy will stick to serving up all my better greens and whites... unless someone wants to trade me a good modern Zhuni for her! She's a natural with fukamushi sencha and gyokuro.

mmm sorry meant to pm