Rinse Yixing with Cold or Hot water after session?

[ken1shi]

I noticed that rinsing hot water after a tea session completely cleans the pot of everything. I'm wondering if rinsing the pot after a session with room temperature water or cold will be able to keep much of the seasoning intact instead of dissolving it all away. My pu erh pot doesn't seem to have any patina in the inside at all. I have been brewing my pu erh dark and thick everyday for half a year now. I'm just curious if rinsing my pot with boiling water after every session is the culprit that prevents the seasoning from forming.

[ole]

I often only use leftover water from my kettle, which by then normally has dropped to a lukewarm temperature. Sometimes I even wash it with tea. (Make an extra round, pour the tea into the pitcher, remove the leaves, and rinse it with the tea)

Could the difference in patina simply be something to do with how it is being handled, rather than the water temperature itself? Like brushing or wiping with a tea cloth?

[ken1shi]

No, I really don't do anything with the pot except for making tea and rinsing it with hot water afterwards.

[chrl42]

Hot water. Cold water earns stains rather than cleaning.

[kyarazen]

I noticed that rinsing hot water after a tea session completely cleans the pot of everything. I'm wondering if rinsing the pot after a session with room temperature water or cold will be able to keep much of the seasoning intact instead of dissolving it all away. My pu erh pot doesn't seem to have any patina in the inside at all. I have been brewing my pu erh dark and thick everyday for half a year now. I'm just curious if rinsing my pot with boiling water after every session is the culprit that prevents the seasoning from forming.

no need to forcibly season the interior unless the pot is low fired and very porious..

if you've been shu-pu-ering your pot with thick tea it should have a nice patina on the outside now

[BW85]

I would say use hot water. It allows the pot to dry quicker. The inside of the pot won't necessarily darken or patina the same way the outside will. Don't worry about it, it's definitely seasoning, it just takes along time to become very obvious

[kyarazen]

I would say use hot water. It allows the pot to dry quicker. The inside of the pot won't necessarily darken or patina the same way the outside will. Don't worry about it, it's definitely seasoning, it just takes along time to become very obvious

actually after a series of experiments including taking some pots into lab, i might have found the "secret" of the patina formation, but its too controversial to discuss it publicly maybe.

[BW85]

I would say use hot water. It allows the pot to dry quicker. The inside of the pot won't necessarily darken or patina the same way the outside will. Don't worry about it, it's definitely seasoning, it just takes along time to become very obvious

actually after a series of experiments including taking some pots into lab, i might have found the "secret" of the patina formation, but its too controversial to discuss it publicly maybe.

I'm interested in hearing about it!

[ole]

My wellmeaning other half placed one of mine in the dishwasher once.

[theredbaron]

I noticed that rinsing hot water after a tea session completely cleans the pot of everything. I'm wondering if rinsing the pot after a session with room temperature water or cold will be able to keep much of the seasoning intact instead of dissolving it all away. My pu erh pot doesn't seem to have any patina in the inside at all. I have been brewing my pu erh dark and thick everyday for half a year now. I'm just curious if rinsing my pot with boiling water after every session is the culprit that prevents the seasoning from forming.

You should clean the pot of everything - leftovers, etc. Please do not mistake a layer of tea dust as patina or seasoning. Seasoning is what happens inside the pores of the clay. So, for the general cleaning it should be hot water, if possible.
I have learned a trick a while ago, by the way. If you have just one pot available, such as when you travel light, and want to drink a different category of tea right after another, a brief wash with cold water can take away the ghost from the former tea quickly.

[ken1shi]

Thanks so much for the replies. Chrl42, theredbaron, and kyarazen. Kyarazen, I especially admire your blog on incense and yixing teapot. The scientific approach article of tea oxidation in yixings and lignification and aging of puerh is fascinating.

[mganz42]

Personally I tend to say on the hotter side... but I don't just use water. Typically throughout a session I will save just a little bit of tea in a separate teapot over a warmer, and by the time I'm done I have about half a cup of hot tea. I use this to rinse out the pot and then wet a tea cloth that I rub over the outside of the pot. I've found that this preserves the inside seasoning but speeds up the patina on the outside.

You have to be careful though - if you do this and the inside of the pot doesn't dry out, you will end up with a very nasty pot! So don't leave the lid on or do this if you store the pot in a really humid place.

[mcrdotcom]

I tend to rinse with cold water as I'm cleaning out the leaves to make them mobile, but then it's boiled water, fill the inside over the brim, place lid and empty once