Yixing brews- just not coming out very nice

[aKnightWhoSaysNi]

Every time I brew tea in my yixing teapot- it comes out tasting like the chaffings that settle at the bottom of a bag of mixed nuts. I can brew the same tea in a gaiwan- using the same parameters- and my tea will come out to be delicious and everything I want it to be. Albeit- I'm using a cheaper yixing pot that I bought from puerhshop. Has anyone else experienced a similar phenomenon? Do you think purchasing a higher quality pot will affect the taste of my tea in a more positive manner?

[AdamMY]

I paid tuition with respect to Yixings from puerh shop... The ones I have were quite large, and even after several months of regular usage, and proper preparation, it still tasted horrible. I still have those yixings as display pieces, as I wouldn't feel right passing them to someone else.

I would say look for a higher quality yixing, but if you are getting results you are happy with from a gaiwan, do you really need a yixing? I mean they can be more aesthetically pleasing, but perhaps save up and when you see one that really catches your eye from a vendor that is known for the quality of their yixings, you can jump on it.

[TomVerlain]

three variables

1) Quantity of Tea in relation to Quanity of Water
2) Temp of water
3) Brew time (with Pour time)

In a gaiwan, I use more tea, but super brief steep time

Each is about the same amount of water

Yixing will cool down the water initialy, so having a heated pot helps

Gaiwan dumps out water pretty quickly, your pour time might be as long as your brew time with pot.

[aKnightWhoSaysNi]

The arrogant man inside of me says that it's not my brewing skills; I could always be mistaken. I was completely satisfied with only using my two gaiwans; a small one for myself and a big one for when friends come over, that is until I read that using a nice yixing pot actually makes a big difference compared to using a gaiwan. So naturally; I figured I was missing out on something. I will probably just purchase a better yixing pot... eventually.

How much of an impact does the type of clay, amount of sand, etc have on the quality of the pot? Despite being a poor college student; I want to find the Cadillac of the yixing teapots.

You know, it makes me sick that I wasted so much of my 2006 king of puerh arbor cake to the current yixing pot that I have. Oh well, live and learn. Atleast I thoroughly enjoyed the majority of that cake by brewing it in my gaiwan.

[Dizzwave]

I have 3 yixing pots, all from Scott.
The two that cost $25-35 are great, and make great tea.
The one that cost $10, I don't even use anymore.

[chrl42]

That's very normal, Yixing is a whole different subject from tea.

I'd say to look for Zisha Yichang (Factory-1) Yixings if possible, they are cheaper than master-made Yixing, clay good, practical and easy to handle. Good for using for Puerh..

Or if you like the taste out of Gaiwan, why not go for it? Bad Yixing teapot is worse than not having Yixing..

[brad4419]

Where do you knowledgeable yixing people buy your pots? I have been on a yixing search for a while but just can't find a reliable online source for yixings.

[AdamMY]

Where do you knowledgeable yixing people buy your pots? I have been on a yixing search for a while but just can't find a reliable online source for yixings.

I am not overly knowledgeable but I am happy with my two pots from another teachat members company, and the consensus seems to be that they have good clay.

http://www.zishateapot.co.uk/

Or if you are looking for something a little older, or slightly more special...

http://www.nadacha.co.uk

http://www.houdeasianart.com/


I am sure there are other good sites, those are just ones I've had experience with, or heard good things about.

[tony shlongini]

Just a thought, since I didn't see you mention it-

have you washed your pot? By that, I mean, did you boil it out?

[Salsero]

Just a thought, since I didn't see you mention it-

have you washed your pot? By that, I mean, did you boil it out?

Tony's got a good point there. Thirty to sixty minutes in boiling water could be enough to remove the undesirable tastes you are finding there. To reduce the chance of possible breakage from bouncing around in the boiling water, it's not a bad idea to place a cloth at the bottom of the boiling pan or to raise your yixing pot off the floor of the pan in a completely submerged steaming rack or some other device.

[aKnightWhoSaysNi]

Hm, I sure haven't. Of course, I did pour boiling water inside the pot several times before using it- I didn't know you were supposed to boil the pot itself! I'll try that today. I'm really new to yixing; I've always been a gaiwan man myself.

[Salsero]

I often don't boil a new pot, but funky smells seem to call for it. A good brushing inside with a toothbrush or some other stiff brush may also be helpful. I just hate to give up on a pot.

[aKnightWhoSaysNi]

Hm, I don't want to boil it in my kettle because I don't want any of the clay smell to seep into my kettle, but I don't want to boil it in a regular cooking pot because I don't want any of the subtle food smells to seep into my tea pot. Am I being nit-picky?

[Intuit]

I believe it was the teamasters blog that recommended cycles of boiling and cool water (with sufficient wait in between to avoid thermal shocking of thinner pot walls) to break in new yixing pots.

While I found it removed the clay musty smell from my pots, its didn't obviate the sucking of aroma/top note flavors from some of my oolongs that gave otherwise excellent brews in gaiwans, glass and small porcelain pots. Not a happy camper if it takes months to condition (eg., block porous surfaces and lay down a tea residue that binds bitter components in later brews) a new clay teapot.

KWSN: I didn't boil my pot in a cooking vessel, although I thought about it. I used a heat resistant mixing bowl that I preheated, then poured boiling water into the preheated yixing (lower temp to step up to boiling, avoiding thermal shocking), covering the bowl/yixing for a bit while I let it sit and prise the clay dust particles off of the surface. Cool water / vigorous but careful swishing rinse followed.

[chrl42]

"it comes out tasting like the chaffings that settle at the bottom of a bag of mixed nuts" - this english sentence I didn't understand, so I have to re-post.

Smell of pot, from experience, is from new pots made of new clays. So it's in clay rather than finding a solution by boiling.

Also happens when pot is fired at a low temperature (not sure what clay you are using, but normally over 1150c except for Zhuni)

Another factor relies on a type of clay. Hongni, Qingshuini might smell a bit while Di Cao Qing, Zhuni don't. So it's not the best news you wanna see after purchasing a pot.

I also heard people saying, fill a pot with hot water and discard, fill again with cold water, do this action 2~3 times might remove the smell. And important thing is to choose 'right' pot rather than 'pricey' pot ^_^