Cheap Zhu Ni teapots?

[kostap]

Hello, everybody!
I am a beginner tea drinker from Israel. I mean beginner in serious tea drinking ) At this time I have found out which teas I like and which teapot size is optimal for me and started to collect my set of teaware.
I would like to find a nice Zhu Ni teapot or at least one with similar quality.
Recently I saw a new tea seller on eBay that also have his own shopping site with nice choice of teas and Yixing teapots.
Most teapots there are marked as made of Zhu Ni clay, which sounds strange taking into account that they are priced in range of 40-60 USD and this price already includes worldwide shipping.
Here is the site:
dianxitea com/index.php?styleid=2&id=110
What do you think about it? For instance the shipping of this nice-looking egg-shaped teapot to Israel should be around half of the total price stated on site:
dianxitea com/news.php?styleid=2&id=3711
I am not an expert, but think that price for Zhu Ni teapot in China should start at $30 or something close to it. Am I right?
Thanks for your replies!

Edited by Moderator: new members are not permitted to post links. Thus the links have been broken. Please read the forum rules located under Introduction, in particular regarding new members as well as self promoting links/posts.

Chip
TeaDrinker who happens to Moderate

[kostap]

To board moderator:
Sorry if I broke the forum rules. It's hard to find out how to ask my question without pointing to the seller's site.
I am not involved in tea business, just buying some tea for me from time to time. However I understand that I cannot prove this.
Anyway, as a newbie I cannot post replies to other treads just because I have nothing to say at this moment so I can remain a new member forever due to my silence

[Maitre_Tea]

There are others better informed than I am, and they have their strong opinions on this subject. To be honest, "cheap" and "Zhu Ni" are two words that should never be in the same sentence, perhaps not even within a one-page radius of each other.

There are different notions of what "Zhu Ni" is, and there isn't a standard by which vendors (even tea drinkers) can agree by. For instance, some vendors refer to "Zhu Ni" as any clay that's reddish, but it could really be Hong Ni or something else. There are collectors who say that the only "authentic" "Zhu Ni" went extinct during the 1960s, and the quality of so-called "Zhu Ni" pots made after that period are inferior. Could be true, but IMHO, with pots from this period becoming rarer and rarer and more expensive, regular people (with more limited budgets) will have to settle for "lesser" quality modern Zhu Ni.

If you're just starting to get into tea, maybe you should slow down a bit and try brewing with a gaiwan, which are inexpensive and pretty much of the same good quality at most vendors. Dealing with the world of yixing, as you will see if more people answer, is really confusing and there isn't really a straight answer. Don't listen to the people who rag on gaiwan, they're very useful tools for the beginner.

Just my two cents

[kostap]

Dear Maitre_Tea, Thanks for your reply! Based on the information I found in the Internet (and I usually read instructions prior to pressing a button) you are right regarding prices for "old" Zhu Ni teapots. I am not expecting this type of teaware from the site I mentioned. But! What else can be used for making good Yixing pot? I mean - the best material available today? Maybe this "new" Zhu Ni clay is just good enough for most tea drinkers?
BTW, I have a gaiwan and must to say that this is not my type of device. I prefer teapot as my brewing vessel and as cheap alternative to Yixing can use some properly-sized porcelain teapot.

[pb2q]

Good reading re: a layman's approach to Zhu Ni: the particular clay and other uses of the term, can be found in 5 parts, here, here, here, here, and here.

Intro Zhu Ni was discussed on this forum quite recently, here.

[pb2q]

Maybe this "new" Zhu Ni clay is just good enough for most tea drinkers?

Definitely, depending on the cost, and what you're looking for in a yixing teapot (and assuming that the provenance/description of the pot is accurate).

You should ask yourself: is what I'm looking for really only a high-fired, thin-walled, relatively non-porous red clay yixing teapot?

[Maitre_Tea]

Fair enough, as long as you gave using a gaiwan a chance...here's a good site for reasonably priced yixing: http://www.yunnansourcing.com
Any so-called "Zhu Ni" is most likely to be the modern version rather than the old extinct version. Good value for what they're worth, IMO

[kostap]

Maybe this "new" Zhu Ni clay is just good enough for most tea drinkers?

Definitely, depending on the cost, and what you're looking for in a yixing teapot (and assuming that the provenance/description of the pot is accurate).

You should ask yourself: is what I'm looking for really only a high-fired, thin-walled, relatively non-porous red clay yixing teapot?

And if I ask myself - "Which clay is better for my oolong teapot in the given price range - brown Zi Ni or the new Zhu Ni"?

[kostap]

Fair enough, as long as you gave using a gaiwan a chance...here's a good site for reasonably priced yixing: http://www.yunnansourcing.com
Any so-called "Zhu Ni" is most likely to be the modern version rather than the old extinct version. Good value for what they're worth, IMO

Yep, this one was my main reference until I found the site mentioned in my first message and discovered the teapot prices on it. And that was the reason for asking my question here since I already saw threads related to Scott's red clay teapots (Da Hong Pao clay).
So it's almost impossible to say if the teapot made of (new) Zhu Ni based on pictures posted on sellers site?
BTW, do all these new Zhu Ni teapots have this nice "metallic" knocking sound?

[Maitre_Tea]

Maybe this "new" Zhu Ni clay is just good enough for most tea drinkers?

Definitely, depending on the cost, and what you're looking for in a yixing teapot (and assuming that the provenance/description of the pot is accurate).

You should ask yourself: is what I'm looking for really only a high-fired, thin-walled, relatively non-porous red clay yixing teapot?

And if I ask myself - "Which clay is better for my oolong teapot in the given price range - brown Zi Ni or the new Zhu Ni"?

Okay, so we get to the "heart" of the question, which tea to what type of clay...and *surprise*surprise*, this one also have confusing and more of it has to do with personal preference. There are those who will swear by antique Zhu Ni as the end-all, be-all; however, it's what you want out of the clay that's most important. Some people want their teas flavor to be more rounded because of harshness that may arise from roasting, while others may want certain notes/aroma to be "sharpened" because a particular tea is more floral.

IMHO, I prefer more roasted oolong to be a Zi Ni, while more greener Oolong they should go in a Zhu Ni, or even better, a gaiwan. This is very general, but you should be the one to form your own guidelines. Keep in mind that your first pot isn't going to be the only pot, and it probably won't even be the best one. Out of all the pots I currently use, the earliest one I use is one I bought a few months ago. My first four pots aren't used anymore. Not that they're of bad quality, but I made those purchases without knowing exactly what I wanted.

The metallic sound is only one way to tell, and sometimes it's not very accurate, but there are others who are better informed to make a judgment call on that front.

[Chip]

To board moderator:
Sorry if I broke the forum rules. It's hard to find out how to ask my question without pointing to the seller's site.
I am not involved in tea business, just buying some tea for me from time to time. However I understand that I cannot prove this.
Anyway, as a newbie I cannot post replies to other treads just because I have nothing to say at this moment so I can remain a new member forever due to my silence

Well, you already have 5 posts!

I did give you the benefit of the doubt, I left enough info for anyone interested in checking the site, yet not enough to feed the google bots, etc.

Welcome to the forum.

[kostap]

Maitre_Tea, I got your point . I guess I have to purchase few teapots to find out my preferences. I already have few clay teapots - 2 of them are cheap and not exactly of my preferred size (the first one also have no build-in strainer and therefore I don't like to use it at all), one is a big pot for making mug of tea in my office and the forth one (pictured on my avatar) is the one used every day for brewing shu pu-erh.
So, I probably have to take a risk and buy additional one- this time I wont it red-colored

[kostap]

Well, you already have 5 posts!

I did give you the benefit of the doubt, I left enough info for anyone interested in checking the site, yet not enough to feed the google bots, etc.

Welcome to the forum.

I see... Thanks!

[Intuit]

Aim for a pot that matches your tastes in tea. Since you are new to tea, that will change, probably significantly, over the next year, as you develop your tea tasters palate and brewing skills.

[odarwin]

i hear this brand of teapots are good ones...
http://www.jdart.cn/ShopMore.asp?id=4
and here is a site that sells them...
http://shop36202542.taobao.com/?catId=5 ... y&search=y

i have one on its way, and its a 100ml zhu ni pot...
i really cant say much, but this brand was recommended to me by a friend

-darwin