Wednesday TeaDay 10/01/08 Yixing anyone?

[auggy]

I own one but rarely use it as I mostly drink greener oolongs and they don't really sparkle in it. DH has had me use it for some darjeelings and he liked that a lot. Most of the time, though, I tend to forget I have it. But it is cute, so I don't want to get rid of it.

I had a magnolia oolong this morning and have a craving for some Japanese green. Sadly, nothing with me at work so it will have to wait until I get home.

[kongni]

Yes, as far as I have understood the tanins in tea will coat the interior of the pot and thus build up and become increasingly strong. Normally pots are glazed so the tanins can not bind and will simply be washed off with water. Tanins are basically the carriers of the aromatic components in tea (just like alcohol is the carrier of aroma in perfumes), so them remaining in the pot is in a way storing the essence of the teas aroma.
How many teas you can use in one pot I'm not sure of, I'm no expert. As far as I've understood you can use one type of tea, so different fairly similar teas should be fine (like using it for Wuyi oolongs). But brewing an Anxi oolong, then some Earl Grey in a yixing pot will be a disaster I think.

Thanks for the info! Very informative

[Trioxin]

Gyokuro Kame-Giru-Shi today.

Great Stuff!

Another fine photo, Trioxin, congratulations!

I have 18 Yixing pots. Someday I hope to own all of them in the world! Here is the one I use to brew Shu Puerh.

There you are. I was starting to get a little worried about you when you didn't post last night. Do you own a flower shop or something yo?

Thanks for the compliments on the photo everyone. Hopefully some day I'll be able to get a new camera and take some better shots. The sensor went bad in this one, and while fuji was kind enough to replace the sensor out of warranty, it just won't do longer exposure shots without streaks of noise.

[Chip]

Had another disappointing pot of Ippodo kaboku sencha this morning. Geeze, this is "premium" tea? More like "prissy" tea! Just a few degrees off on your water and just a few seconds too long in the pot and you're drinking crap.

That is asamushi? Asamushi can be "prissy" at times. Maybe lower temp would help? I can at times get frustrated with asamushi, prefering something I can consistantly brew perfectly!

OH, CONGRATS, Horsencl! I hope the Yixing serves you well. Good timing for today's topic. I planned that perfectly.

I had a Dong Ding that was very nice yesterday, and one I did not care for today. This is the nature of Dong Ding in my experience, soooo variable since it is grown over a wide geographic area and no longer means grown on Dong Ding. I think this one is just not my style. I will add it to the Oolong box which may arrive tomorrow.

Gyokuro Yame from O-Cha. Good everyday style gyokuro. I might eat the leaves in a bit.

[Jack_teachat]

None for me, will probably buy one some day when I decide to explore Pu Erh.
Yutaka Midori and Emperor Long Jing for me today... Started my Masters degree this week and am worried less time will be avaliable for tea drinking!

[Geekgirl]

I own 5, but my math seems to be fuzzy so I selected "less than 5" rather than "less than 10." bah.

Started the day with matcha, as is my custom. Moved on to an oolong sample from the pass box. It was one of the ones that I kept here because it had a huge container, but less than 2g of tea remaining. Ha. I steeped it for way too long in a glass pitcher, but it still tastes fine, although probably not a tea I would have chosen myself.

My matcha:


My froth is improving again, thanks to some tips by chamekke. There are still some frog eyes, but better. I suspect the freshness of the tea has a great deal to do with how well the froth turns out. I am nearly at the end of one of my Ippodo tins.

[scruffmcgruff]

Yes, as far as I have understood the tanins in tea will coat the interior of the pot and thus build up and become increasingly strong. Normally pots are glazed so the tanins can not bind and will simply be washed off with water. Tanins are basically the carriers of the aromatic components in tea (just like alcohol is the carrier of aroma in perfumes), so them remaining in the pot is in a way storing the essence of the teas aroma.
How many teas you can use in one pot I'm not sure of, I'm no expert. As far as I've understood you can use one type of tea, so different fairly similar teas should be fine (like using it for Wuyi oolongs). But brewing an Anxi oolong, then some Earl Grey in a yixing pot will be a disaster I think.

Thanks for the info! Very informative

Except that it isn't accurate; sorry Selaphiel, but there are only trace amounts of tannins in tea (there are essentially none), so any role they would play is negligible. I don't know if there are any compounds in tea that are carriers of aromatic (I assume we are talking about "aromatic" compounds in terms of aromas, not the chemistry term) components either, but I'd be interested in seeing data about them.

I imagine Yixing seasoning is no more complicated than the buildup of tea oil and gunk.

[edkrueger]

It actually arrived about two minutes after my last post. Here is a quicky picture I took of it. I think I'm in love

I have that one and it bigger brother. They are really nice.

[Selaphiel]

Yes, as far as I have understood the tanins in tea will coat the interior of the pot and thus build up and become increasingly strong. Normally pots are glazed so the tanins can not bind and will simply be washed off with water. Tanins are basically the carriers of the aromatic components in tea (just like alcohol is the carrier of aroma in perfumes), so them remaining in the pot is in a way storing the essence of the teas aroma.
How many teas you can use in one pot I'm not sure of, I'm no expert. As far as I've understood you can use one type of tea, so different fairly similar teas should be fine (like using it for Wuyi oolongs). But brewing an Anxi oolong, then some Earl Grey in a yixing pot will be a disaster I think.

Thanks for the info! Very informative

Except that it isn't accurate; sorry Selaphiel, but there are only trace amounts of tannins in tea (there are essentially none), so any role they would play is negligible. I don't know if there are any compounds in tea that are carriers of aromatic (I assume we are talking about "aromatic" compounds in terms of aromas, not the chemistry term) components either, but I'd be interested in seeing data about them.

I imagine Yixing seasoning is no more complicated than the buildup of tea oil and gunk.

You are probably right about the taste not coming from the tannins in tea, they thought it were, but recent resarch shows that it is not.
However, to say that there are no tannins in tea is wrong. Polyphenols is a type of tannins and tea has a significant amount of polyphenols (mainly catechins). These tannins gradually gets solved into the water during the steeps. After about 2 minutes of infusion, 40% of it is in the water (Got a graph here, but it is in a book: The Tea Lover's Guide by Francois-Xavier Delmas, Mathias Minet and Christine Barbaste). Some of these tannins gives the texture of the tea and the astringency in the taste.

[scruffmcgruff]

You are probably right about the taste not coming from the tannins in tea, they thought it were, but recent resarch shows that it is not.
However, to say that there are no tannins in tea is wrong. Polyphenols is a type of tannins and tea has a significant amount of polyphenols (mainly catechins). These tannins gradually gets solved into the water during the steeps. After about 2 minutes of infusion, 40% of it is in the water (Got a graph here, but it is in a book: The Tea Lover's Guide by Francois-Xavier Delmas, Mathias Minet and Christine Barbaste). Some of these tannins gives the texture of the tea and the astringency in the taste.

Tannins are a subset of polyphenols, not the other way around. Yes there are plenty of polyphenols in tea, but very few of the polyphenols are tannins. It may seem like splitting hairs, but I tend to be skeptical of "scientific" statements about tea chemistry that feature this misunderstanding.

[kongni]

That is asamushi? Asamushi can be "prissy" at times. Maybe lower temp would help? I can at times get frustrated with asamushi, prefering something I can consistantly brew perfectly!

Yes, I believe it is a type of asamushi. I'll try the lower temp. The second steep seems to come out better than the first every time. Go figure

[Proinsias]

Don't even want to know. Specially after I got married.... Not getting any newly made one anymore, just in love with the older stuff.

I want to know and I get the feeling a few others might too.

[Victoria]

Xiang Hua TGY from Jing Tea in my cup this afternoon.
Trying to focus on work, as you can see it's not working
too well.

[augie]

I only own two Yixing.

only two, Victoria?

I only own two, too. I like my new double spout yixing, only because the double handle is easier to pick up. The rest of it is a looser tho.


Currently enjoying dragonwell. Trying to empty the tin for Chipster.

Ditto on the photo, Trioxin!\m/

[Maitre_Tea]

I only own two Yixing.

only two, Victoria?

I only own two, too. I like my new double spout yixing, only because the double handle is easier to pick up. The rest of it is a looser tho.


Currently enjoying dragonwell. Trying to empty the tin for Chipster.

Ditto on the photo, Trioxin!\m/

Wow, I don't know what to say...where did you buy this?
I figure that a double-spout might come in handy if the tea pot is bigger the the pour can be a little faster.