Yixing teapot group buy?

[gingkoseto]

Stopped entirely, or just poured really slowly? I brew both rolled and wiry oolongs in single holed pots all the time (and I use a LOT of leaf, so sometimes the leaves are pressing against that hole pretty tightly), and while sometimes it will pour a little slow, as long as the spout isn't clogged, it should pour well enough. Are you sure there wasn't anything in the spout? I even use single holed pots for chaozhou style gong fu with some crushed leaves & the leaves taking up 1/2 or more of the pot's total volume, and no major problems as long as I pour carefully. I've found it does help to pour slowly and deliberately until the leaves have expanded sufficiently to hold them in place.

I don't find that red tea always stays to the bottom, especially during the rinse - I'd worry much more about having a single hole pot for really small leaf teas than anything else.

Oh I didn't describe it very clearly The water flow didn't stop so it was not an entire clog. The water flow got much more slowly, which I dislike very much and that's why I gave it up for oolong.

The red tea, I don't rinse it so after a couple of minutes the leaves sink. There may be a few floating leaves and they can easily escape to the cup without blocking the spout. I tried it on jasmine green as well. The tea leaves stay put but it was the jasmine petals that may block the spout a bit and slow down the water flow.

[edkrueger]

Thus far, I'm still interested in a #7 or #8 pot unless someone can redirect me to a better pot for under $100. Thanks!

Actually, if you want to spend perhaps a little more, perhaps a little less, have a look here: http://www.nadacha.co.uk . One of thoose Zhuni pots is on the way to me, I'll tell you how it is, but I have great faith in Nada.

I don't know if whether or not I'm excluded from the last sample, but if not, I'd take it. I'm not trying to be greedy or anything, I just wanted the opportunity to try some different teas.

What type of teas do you like? I can send you some 5-10g samples.[/quote]

[edkrueger]

As far as the samples go, I can say this. When I first started drinking pu, I had a lot of trouble getting the pour right. So many variables. What kind of tea will it be used, what kind of water, temperature, leaf to water ratio, steeping times. I've ruined many a sample early on that looking back, could have been quite tasty given a more controlled hand and a little more knowledge of the process. Further, what do you brew in? Sure, yixing is porous and will take on it's own characteristics over time, but IMHO, I think it's always best to sample in a gaiwan. It lets me have a few solid conversations with the tea to see what it really has to offer. Nothing is masked this way. Even if you make your first pot a nicer one such as the aforementioned, you're doing yourself a great disservice by not also investing in a gaiwan or two. Just my two cents.

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll head over to the store and get a gaiwan to test teas out (and my ability to brew) in before diving into the yixing pot. That's a great idea.

I second this advice, especially for puerhs. I first sample them in a tasting set, eliminate 3-5/6, then they are Gaiwan worthy. Then about half are eliminated and the other half are yixing worthy and I will buy lots of them. If you are just getting started this would be a great way to sort though the mess of bad tea.

[pb2q]

Thus far, I'm still interested in a #7 or #8 pot unless someone can redirect me to a better pot for under $100. Thanks!

Check out all of the teapots that Jing has for sale:
http://www.jingteashop.com/cat_teapots.cfm

There are a few pots in the $80 price range that look great. Jing is a trustworthy yixing seller, they do extra work deciphering the real provenance of the pots that they're selling, and they make suggestions for tea pairings.

Stéphane's pots at Tea Masters are also a good bet if you're comfortable with this price range.

[pb2q]

As for the samples, I think that they should go to thanks, or split between thanks and anyone willing to take some responsibility for the order (fund collection), or anyone that thanks wants to share with. It has also been suggested that (some of) the samples go along with any of the pots which are harder to move, this also seems reasonable.

Note that you can buy some of the sample tea from Jing:
http://www.jingteashop.com/pd-oolong-te ... i-xian.cfm


Thanks to thanks for the idea and handling some of the details.

[wyardley]

A picture would be greatly appreciated. I'm assuming it's a good pot worth the money or you wouldn't be wanting another one, correct?

I started a new thread on teadrunk for broken pots; hope no one minds me just posting the link instead of re-posting all the info here....

http://teadrunk.org/viewtopic.php?pid=283#p283

Things to note - the color of the broken section is darker than the inside of the pot, and is consistent, which is probably a good sign (see previous post there and note from chrl42 for more on this). Also, note the difference between the seasoned #5 pot and unused #3 pot. It doesn't show up as well in this picture (taken a few weeks back) as I had hoped... I really want to get some shots in natural light when there's time.

[Salsero]

That is heart breaking!

[thanks]

As far as the samples go, I can say this. When I first started drinking pu, I had a lot of trouble getting the pour right. So many variables. What kind of tea will it be used, what kind of water, temperature, leaf to water ratio, steeping times. I've ruined many a sample early on that looking back, could have been quite tasty given a more controlled hand and a little more knowledge of the process. Further, what do you brew in? Sure, yixing is porous and will take on it's own characteristics over time, but IMHO, I think it's always best to sample in a gaiwan. It lets me have a few solid conversations with the tea to see what it really has to offer. Nothing is masked this way. Even if you make your first pot a nicer one such as the aforementioned, you're doing yourself a great disservice by not also investing in a gaiwan or two. Just my two cents.

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll head over to the store and get a gaiwan to test teas out (and my ability to brew) in before diving into the yixing pot. That's a great idea.

Are you deciding on not getting one? If you decide against it, that would put thejamus down for the #8 and I'll update the op accordingly.

Ms Kita B, I will update the op with you taking the #1 pot. All we need now is someone to take the #2.

[Ghumbs]

As far as the samples go, I can say this. When I first started drinking pu, I had a lot of trouble getting the pour right. So many variables. What kind of tea will it be used, what kind of water, temperature, leaf to water ratio, steeping times. I've ruined many a sample early on that looking back, could have been quite tasty given a more controlled hand and a little more knowledge of the process. Further, what do you brew in? Sure, yixing is porous and will take on it's own characteristics over time, but IMHO, I think it's always best to sample in a gaiwan. It lets me have a few solid conversations with the tea to see what it really has to offer. Nothing is masked this way. Even if you make your first pot a nicer one such as the aforementioned, you're doing yourself a great disservice by not also investing in a gaiwan or two. Just my two cents.

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll head over to the store and get a gaiwan to test teas out (and my ability to brew) in before diving into the yixing pot. That's a great idea.

Are you deciding on not getting one? If you decide against it, that would put thejamus down for the #8 and I'll update the op accordingly.

Ms Kita B, I will update the op with you taking the #1 pot. All we need now is someone to take the #2.

I am still planning on getting a yixing pot as well as a gaiwan, but I'll give my spot up as I just inquired on the Zhuni Duo Qio teapot from Stephane (http://teamasters.blogspot.com/2008/10/ ... ixing.html). If a spot opens up and it doesn't work out with that one, I may still be interested.

Thanks again everyone for the advice.

Also, edkrueger, thanks for the offer. As I'm new, I'm looking to try all different kinds, but my interest right now is in puerh and oolong teas, as I have the least experience with them.

[thanks]

As far as the samples go, I can say this. When I first started drinking pu, I had a lot of trouble getting the pour right. So many variables. What kind of tea will it be used, what kind of water, temperature, leaf to water ratio, steeping times. I've ruined many a sample early on that looking back, could have been quite tasty given a more controlled hand and a little more knowledge of the process. Further, what do you brew in? Sure, yixing is porous and will take on it's own characteristics over time, but IMHO, I think it's always best to sample in a gaiwan. It lets me have a few solid conversations with the tea to see what it really has to offer. Nothing is masked this way. Even if you make your first pot a nicer one such as the aforementioned, you're doing yourself a great disservice by not also investing in a gaiwan or two. Just my two cents.

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll head over to the store and get a gaiwan to test teas out (and my ability to brew) in before diving into the yixing pot. That's a great idea.

Are you deciding on not getting one? If you decide against it, that would put thejamus down for the #8 and I'll update the op accordingly.

Ms Kita B, I will update the op with you taking the #1 pot. All we need now is someone to take the #2.

I am still planning on getting a yixing pot as well as a gaiwan, but I'll give my spot up as I just inquired on the Zhuni Duo Qio teapot from Stephane (http://teamasters.blogspot.com/2008/10/ ... ixing.html). If a spot opens up and it doesn't work out with that one, I may still be interested.

Thanks again everyone for the advice.

Also, edkrueger, thanks for the offer. As I'm new, I'm looking to try all different kinds, but my interest right now is in puerh and oolong teas, as I have the least experience with them.

Since Ghumbs is getting a pot elsewhere, the next one to call the #8 spot was thejamus, so I'll change the op accordingly. Just need someone to want that #2!

[thanks]

odarwin pm'ed me last night to claim the #2 pot, so we're all set on who's getting what. Since Jing sounded against multiple payments from separate users, I'll e-mail her again now that we have all 12 pots spoken for, and try to work out different pricing, shipping locations, etc. If we end up doing one large lump sum, paypal makes the most sense to me, and we could get a moderator involved in case anyone's worried about the safety of their money going towards the pot. I'll keep you guys posted.

[cheaton]

Good luck with this folks! Part of me appreciates what you're doing. Part of me thinks its a shame to split up a complete set like that. Seperated probably never to be united again. Seems best to go to one buyer to me......

[heavydoom]

so thanks is getting the big order and thanks will mail each pot from his home?

[thanks]

so thanks is getting the big order and thanks will mail each pot from his home?

Jing said she'd ship them individually to different locations, so we won't have to wait for it all to be shipped to a central location and then shipped out.

[Drax]

I think it's "romantic." Maybe one day we'll all reunite them?

thanks -- any chance of getting to add tea to my order...? Or should I just make a separate order so as not to complicate things.