Yixing Teapot site.

[Cyphre]

I was wondering if anyone has heard of, or bought any teapots from yixing tea pot sale dot com. I have bought a few things and they are beautiful but I am a noob when it comes to quality. Maybe someone with more experience has tried this retailer out? I would be curious to know how they rate vs others.

[tingjunkie]

First time hearing of them. I quickly scanned their selection, and (sorry to say) most of what I saw looked pretty suspect. Unnatural looking clays and questionable craftsmanship. If you are looking to buy more Yixing teapots, I'd look elsewhere. State your price range, and I'm sure you'll get a couple suggestions for vendors.

[Cyphre]

They were dirt cheap so luckily it's not a total loss. I do like the way they look too.

Are there specific ways to tell the quality of a teapot? They all look like the same clay to me.

[tingjunkie]

Telling clay (or teapot) quality through pics? Very hard. Takes lots of experience. I'm only beginning my Yixing journey, so I'm no expert. To me, most of the pots on the site have artificial colors, and they look too shiny. It's hard to describe though.

For some example of what good clay "should" look like, I think these are good places to start:

http://themandarinstea.blogspot.com/200 ... xings.html

http://www.houdeasianart.com/index.php? ... 90c64ce84e

http://www.jingteashop.com/cat-jing-tea-shop-teapot.cfm

http://www.teadrunk.org/viewtopic.php?id=145

Aside from just looking at lots of pics from trusted vendors and teapot collectors, I'd say the following. 1) Avoid whimsical shapes like animals and other objects (95% are crap and just a gimmick). Stick to simple shapes. 2) A pot should be symmetrical and well balanced. The lid, lid knob, handle and spout should all be in-proportion and well made. The lines should be clean and flowing. 3) The color of the clay should be natural looking- in other words, the color should not be hard on the eyes, but calming or soothing.

Above all else, if you live where you have access to anyone who might have good quality pots, get your hands on one to hold and inspect. It's far easier to see quality in person.

[TwoPynts]

Great resource links, thanks.

[Cyphre]

Yes thank you for those sites. I will need to save a bit before I make the leap and spend that much for a pot.

One thing that I liked about the site that I linked at the top was that they had yixing mugs also. It's just a bit easier when I am drinking tea at work. Do you know if there are any good quality yixing mugs out there?

[tingjunkie]

Do you know if there are any good quality yixing mugs out there?

Never tried one, but this vendor has quite a few choices and has a good reputation here on TeaChat. http://www.zishateapot.co.uk/teacup-acc ... 28e870evq6

[Cyphre]

For some example of what good clay "should" look like, I think these are good places to start:

http://themandarinstea.blogspot.com/200 ... xings.html

http://www.houdeasianart.com/index.php? ... 90c64ce84e

http://www.jingteashop.com/cat-jing-tea-shop-teapot.cfm

http://www.teadrunk.org/viewtopic.php?id=145

Are these the best sites for buying older Yixing? I would like to get my hands on at least one so that I could see the diff. in person. I don't trust the places around me. All the places I have gone to have said their Yixing teapots are the best.

[tingjunkie]

For some example of what good clay "should" look like, I think these are good places to start:

http://themandarinstea.blogspot.com/200 ... xings.html

http://www.houdeasianart.com/index.php? ... 90c64ce84e

http://www.jingteashop.com/cat-jing-tea-shop-teapot.cfm

http://www.teadrunk.org/viewtopic.php?id=145

Are these the best sites for buying older Yixing? I would like to get my hands on at least one so that I could see the diff. in person. I don't trust the places around me. All the places I have gone to have said their Yixing teapots are the best.

Yes... with the addition of The Tea Gallery (which you have to inquire about their pots because they are not on the site).

[Cyphre]

after skimming this site and going through a ton of posts I saw that people had suggested rishi tea also for beginner teapots. So I ended up going with these two.

http://www.rishi-tea.com/store/yixing-c ... huini.html

http://www.rishi-tea.com/store/yixing-b ... ongni.html

One will be for dan cong and one will be for a jasmine pearl.

[TwoPynts]

Nice looking pots.
Good luck with them!

[Cyphre]

http://www.rishi-tea.com/store/yixing-b ... ongni.html

So just an update. I ended up with this pot for my Dan Cong. Wasn't really my first choice but my girlfriend really liked the other one and well.... I now have this one. She has been using the crown pearl qingshuini one for her Jasmine Pearls.

The difference between this pot and the ones I got before from the YiXing Wholesale, is night and day. Thank you very much for pointing me to better sites. I can't even imagine what it would be like going from this cheaper pot to an even better quality one. The feel of the pot, the size, the smell, even the taste are all completely different then the other ones.

My girlfriend has even noticed a big difference between what she was using and the one she is now using and she isn't into tea as much as I am. So the moral of the story is that no one should ever buy from yixingteapotsale dot com.

[bagua7]

Do you know if there are any good quality yixing mugs out there?

Never tried one, but this vendor has quite a few choices and has a good reputation here on TeaChat. http://www.zishateapot.co.uk/teacup-acc ... 28e870evq6

Can anyone explain to me why the difference in prices amongst various teapots; i.e. $0 to $50, $51 to $100, $101 to $200, etc.

I need to purchase two teapots but unfortunately I can't afford $250 teapots. Way too expensive for a poor monk like myself.

Are the ones sold over at Yunnan Sourcing of acceptable quality?

I also came across the following Chinese merchant:

http://shop36049974.taobao.com/

What do you think? Good or avoid it?

Thanks

[debunix]

I found this reference in another forum (tea-disc yahoo group (post was from 2003))

"Just a general idea of what a Yixing teapot should cost and the
various levels of craftsman.

Technical Personnel - $50-80
Assistant Craftmasters - $80-120
Craftmaster - $120-800
Senior Craftmaster - $800-4,000
State Grade Great Craftmaster - -Over $6,000"

but had to add a new lower pricing layer to accomodate the price range of most of my little pots:

Made by someone who once saw a genuine yixing pot" - $6-$15

[debunix]

I can't believe that yixing is the only source of clay that could have a nice effect on the tea, although it may indeed have some superior properties to many other commonly used clays, but from what I've been reading, it seems like the most important thing is to avoid pots that have been adulterated with other things in order to more closely resemble yixing clays, because those can be toxic.