Are Yixings Overrated?

[jayinhk]

I know Yixing pots are highly regarded and a very important part of Chinese tea history, but I'm curious if anyone doesn't like them. The notion of letting them soak up flavor from other tea seems a bit strange to me.

As a pipe smoker, briar pipes are often reserved for one type of tobacco, much like Yixings, because the flavor of other teas will 'ghost' the pipes and come back to haunt you, especially if you put something like Syrian Latakia (smoke-cured) in your pipe. Many dedicate pipes to a single blend.

Meerschaum pipes, however, do not have this issue, but many prefer briars for traditional purposes. Interestingly, meers are the ones that increase in value with use (like Yixings) as they 'color' from the smoke.

Is it really just tradition that attracts people to Yixings? "Green tobacco" aficionados would never dream of using a dirty glass pipe to taste a new strain, especially if they're judging it professionally. To me it seems that using a Yixing that has been 'ghosted' by previous teas would color the appreciation of a new tea.

[TIM]

Thats why you use only one yixing to pair with one tea.

[jayinhk]

Thats why you use only one yixing to pair with one tea.

I guess I'd have to find some 'grail' teas to go that route.

[spinmail]

I'm sure it's possible for yixing ware to accumulate flavor over time; it is, after all, a porous, unglazed clay.

But even experienced tea drinkers will admit that you'd have to use the ware regularly over decades with the same tea for the tea to gather so much flavor over time. Incidents of this happening are apocryphal. I drink a variety of teas, and have never experienced this kind of thing with yixing ware.

There are lots of tea drinkers in this forum. Maybe they can provide their experiences.

[TIM]

I'm sure it's possible for yixing ware to accumulate flavor over time; it is, after all, a porous, unglazed clay.

But even experienced tea drinkers will admit that you'd have to use the ware regularly over decades with the same tea for the tea to gather so much flavor over time. Incidents of this happening are apocryphal. I drink a variety of teas, and have never experienced this kind of thing with yixing ware.

There are lots of tea drinkers in this forum. Maybe they can provide their experiences.

I am not sure where you get the idea of using a good yixing to a single tea for decades before it will gather a seasoned flavor? Usually it will only takes less than a month or 3 weeks of daily use for a proper yixing to gather the character of a particular tea. For some rare and good yixing, it only took 5 or less brewing before you can taste and smell the enhance profile of a higher grade tea. Just my experience....

[tst]

This all depends on the clay though, right?

Wouldn't a softer, more porous/absorptive clay season at a faster rate than a harder clay like zhuni?

I'd really love to experience drinking from a pot that is very-well seasoned. I remember a thread (can't find it at the moment) where a poster stated (something along the lines of) he could not discern any difference between a water that flowed through a seasoned yixing pot and fresh water. Was the pot was not seasoned sufficiently? Perhaps so.

[MarshalN]

Well, I'll offer an anecdote. I bought a pair of used pots a few years ago. One of them was extremely dirty, so I tried and tried to clean it. One of the things I did was just soak it in hot water in a bowl, over night, uncovered. This is after many, many cleanings already, so there was no surface dirt or anything left.

The next morning the water was yellow, basically tea coloured.

So yes, they do soak up stuff, and they will show up in your tea. What effect that will have is harder to say.

[jayinhk]

What I find interesting is that this 'coloring' of flavor is seen as desirable. I can't see a beer or wine aficionado insisting on using a dirty clay mug or glass ("This is my IPA mug--I can still detect traces of last week's Sierra Nevada. Delicious!").

I guess it is more cultural than to do with serious, objective tasting, e.g., traditionally seasoning a wok and never, ever washing it with soap as the flavor of the previous meals adds to the flavor of future meals. I just read that Chiuchow chefs use the same stock, sometimes for decades, and just replenish it.

Similarly, my mother makes Indian pickles. She incorporated a little of her mother's pickle from the 1950s into one, and then uses a little of each older jar to make each new one of the same type.

I think for me, at this stage, it may make most sense to reserve a Yixing exclusively for sheng pu erh, which needs 'mellowing.' The HK shu tastes just fine in porcelain!

[chrl42]

No, it's not over-rated.

Problem is good Yixings are too few and too many fakes exist, so possibility is what we know as Yixing could be not the one how it got its fame from.

[fdrx]

I can't see a beer or wine aficionado insisting on using a dirty clay mug or glass

wine is put into oak barrels that cost a lot of money and that are replaced very often; and they absorb a lot of wine

[jayinhk]

I can't see a beer or wine aficionado insisting on using a dirty clay mug or glass

wine is put into oak barrels that cost a lot of money and that are replaced very often; and they absorb a lot of wine

True, and the same is true for scotch. I guess Yixings give you a different flavor profile.

Way too early in the game for me to be tying one pot to one tea: looks like I just bought a junk cake on Taobao.

[chrl42]

In my book, true Yixing expert is the one who makes better tea in Yixing than others.

Ba Jin is a famous Chinese author, his wife was an avid drinker of Gongfucha, after his wife passed away, Ba Jin'd drink tea just like us, cheap porcelain tea set, unlike his wife.

Xu Si-hai is of the most famous Yixing collectors in China, who is a friend of Ba Jin. One day he saw Ba Jin drinking Oolong that way, master Xu the other day brought antique Zhuni pot, performing traditional Gongfu in front of Ba Jin.

After having tea coming out of that, Ba Jin told Xu Si-hai "You are a real tea master and taste just not the same"....it's a true story

I don't know if this story has any relation to yours, but suddenly just popped out of my brain

[jayinhk]

There is definitely a great deal of skill involved in brewing tea correctly, since there are so many factors involved. There may be more esoteric factors involved if you believe in that kind of thing (and I do, to some extent). Either way, I enjoyed your story a lot!

[tingjunkie]

...and let's not forget there is more to Yixing than how it affects the flavor of tea. I also love using Yixings for the way they feel in the hand, the balance when pouring, the ritual of raising and taking care of them, and simply because I am a hopeless collector.

[MarshalN]

and simply because I am a hopeless collector.

Thanks for being honest