Keep your kyusu clean.

[teaisme]

after trying out some waters it seems the higher mineral content water with a higher ph stain more vs low mineral low ph

so was it the ph or the minerals that caused the additional stains? (thicker tea=more stains, higher minerals bring about a thicker tea from what I have observed)

The answer is probably more complicated then just saying it was one or the other. Mineral content does not always coincide with pH.

I haven't tried a high mineral water with low pH thoroughly enough to remember whether or not it still stained a lot.

[Geekgirl]

Wow, it never would have occurred to me to try and season my Tokoname, I always make sure they are thoroughly rinsed and wiped out, with no tea stains inside if I can help it. They might occasionally have a little buildup inside the spout, but nowhere else.

I figure that if we don't want our Japanese greens to oxidize (which is why we try to use them up quickly, right?) then why would we allow an oxidized "patina" of tea scale "season" to affect the brew.

[David R.]

after trying out some waters it seems the higher mineral content water with a higher ph stain more vs low mineral low ph

so was it the ph or the minerals that caused the additional stains? (thicker tea=more stains, higher minerals bring about a thicker tea from what I have observed)

For me, the problem with stains comes with a high amount of mineral in water. I am using really low mineral water for my teas and have zero problem with stains. I used to have some when using Brita filtered water. I am using mainly two different spring water (in different teapots) ; one is at 5,7 and the other is at 7,3, both very low on mineral. I have problem with neither of them. But they are not Tokononame pots.

Recently I tried a heavy mineral water. A deposit immediately formed on the surface of the water (see photo). For me this could very likely be the source of the problem. Well, at least, it is an idea.

If the problem comes from the scale, a lower pH water will tend to eliminate it.

[NOESIS]

Excellent topic, Stentor. I experienced the same thing with a couple of my Tokoname pots a few years back. The tea that I was brewing began to last a bit funky. I will say, this was when I was drinking mostly fuka. I've been drinking asa almost exclusively for the past year, and with these teas (and with gyo), I use my porcelain Kiyomizu-yaki kyusu or a Hagi houhin. The combination of tea with much less dust, and using a glazed brewing vessel has meant that I don't need to worry about this issue of "foul" water. I've been using the old Tokoname's to brew genmai and hoji.

[Tead Off]

Excellent topic, Stentor. I experienced the same thing with a couple of my Tokoname pots a few years back. The tea that I was brewing began to last a bit funky. I will say, this was when I was drinking mostly fuka. I've been drinking asa almost exclusively for the past year, and with these teas (and with gyo), I use my porcelain Kiyomizu-yaki kyusu or a Hagi houhin. The combination of tea with much less dust, and using a glazed brewing vessel has meant that I don't need to worry about this issue of "foul" water. I've been using the old Tokoname's to brew genmai and hoji.

I'm beginning to wonder whether this funkiness people talk about only occurs with Japanese teas. I've never experienced any of this with Chinese or Darjeeling teas. Anyone have this occur with teas other than Japanese?

[NOESIS]

I'm beginning to wonder whether this funkiness people talk about only occurs with Japanese teas. I've never experienced any of this with Chinese or Darjeeling teas. Anyone have this occur with teas other than Japanese?

Tead Off, Speaking from my own experience, I've not experienced this with other teas brewed in unglazed clay vessels. Also, of the two Tokoname kyusus that I use, the one with an obiami filter got noticeably "off" quicker. I was fairly good about keeping it clean between sessions, but maybe particulates got trapped behind the screen and built up over time. Dunno, but this doesn't explain why my other Tokoname, with a ceramic filter, eventually went funkadelic too.

By the way, I tried Stentor's baking soda method, and it seems to have improved the taste of the teas brewed (a few pots of genmaicha, a pot of hojicha). More distinctive flavors were revealed, and much better aftertaste.

[Stentor]

By the way, I tried Stentor's baking soda method, and it seems to have improved the taste of the teas brewed (a few pots of genmaicha, a pot of hojicha). More distinctive flavors were revealed, and much better aftertaste.

That's good to hear!

A quick update on the situation with my Tokoname tea pots.
I have not had to clean them with baking soda again, so far.

What I do now in addition to what I had been doing is that, after each use, after rinsing, I scrub the inside of the pot with a soft microfibre cloth, applying slight pressure so as to scrub off whatever may stick to the clay. I also wipe the sasame screen dry thoroughly instead of just "letting it dry". I think that if I had done that from day 1 the kyusu might sill look "like new".
Actually, I think the kyusus are cleaner than ever!

Also, I have brewed a bit of houjicha in one of them (I'd guess about twice a week, for months...), and with this method of routine cleaning (the one I just described) there is no staining and sencha brewed in this same kyusu does not taste like houjicha at all! It tastes perfectly fine and normal.

[Tead Off]

This is all leading me to believe that it is the Japanese teas used in unglazed pots that will leave a residue that is affecting flavor over time. Maybe with steamed teas, pots need to be very carefully cleaned out to avoid this. Personally, I haven't had this happen to me and I use mostly Banko pots. The 2 Tokoname pots I own haven't developed any noticeable bitterness. 1 of them I use for gyokuro, the other I use mostly for black tea. I can see the residue in the one for black tea but it is not affecting taste, yet.

[Chip]

I have obviously been drinking quite a bit of Japanese greens for a while and use kyusu each time. I have patina, but have never experienced funkiness ...

... except as I have mentioned several times on the forum when I bought my first unglazed kyusu ... I used it for virtually anything not flavored and constantly. A lot of oolong, Chinese green, Japanese green, and some blacks. This pot developed a rather distracting sweetness that was conveyed to everything I was brewing.

[NOESIS]

...then again, I was brewing ALL of my Japanese greens in these two Tokoname pots. As I mentioned, the recent cleaning did seem to eliminate the off flavor that I was detecting, so I'm glad about that.

Truth be told, after using quite a few different brewing vessels, fine porcelain is my medium of choice for most green teas (with Hagi ware a close second). But being a hopeless collector, well...need I say any more?

[Chasm]

I'm beginning to wonder whether this funkiness people talk about only occurs with Japanese teas. I've never experienced any of this with Chinese or Darjeeling teas. Anyone have this occur with teas other than Japanese?

I've run into this with red teas as well, so I only brew them in glazed vessels.

[Tead Off]

I'm beginning to wonder whether this funkiness people talk about only occurs with Japanese teas. I've never experienced any of this with Chinese or Darjeeling teas. Anyone have this occur with teas other than Japanese?

I've run into this with red teas as well, so I only brew them in glazed vessels.

Still haven't experienced this with any tea in my various pots.

[debunix]

I just did a little 'teapot test' with plain water in my tokoname kyusu and other pots recently, and the tokoname, only used for sencha, and not cleaned with anything more than baking soda once or twice in a year, just added a very slight vegetal green sweetness to the water--a sencha-ness--that was delicious rather than off-putting.

[Chasm]

Still haven't experienced this with any tea in my various pots.

You might just be drinking better tea than I am.

[entropyembrace]

I just did a little 'teapot test' with plain water in my tokoname kyusu and other pots recently, and the tokoname, only used for sencha, and not cleaned with anything more than baking soda once or twice in a year, just added a very slight vegetal green sweetness to the water--a sencha-ness--that was delicious rather than off-putting.

This is my experience too...my tokoname kyusu has a wonderful sweet sencha aroma even it´s been sitting unused for a couple of months now with no sencha available...it adds a nice sweetness to water and I tried brewing green TGY in it once which gave the TGY a sencha-like aftertaste

After almost a year of heavy use the interior is heavily stained...to the point that the inside is looking like my grandmothers favourite pot! but I´m not noticing anything funky...and I´m hypersensitive to mold.