Question on the Authenticity of my Yixing Teapot

[AFOL]

Hi, everyone.
For Christmas, my brother got me an Yixing teapot (I assume). However, I don't really know much about its origin, and wondered if anyone else had a pot like this, or could tell me if it's an authentic Yixing (based on the chop). It's a lot less orange in real life than it is in the photo--it's kind of a purple-brown-red (especially now--the photo was pre-seasoning). Any insight would be helpful!

[steanze]

Any more pics?

[AFOL]

Here are a few I took earlier--more to come

[steanze]

From these pictures the clay seems real Yixing clay, maybe qing shui ni
The last picture is very hard to use to tell the type of clay because it's blurred and high ISO, the white balance in the pic of the seal was odd, so I am mostly relying on the first picture in your second post. Ideally it would be nice to see a similar daylight picture from a perspective that shows more clearly the texture of the clay

[AFOL]

That's great to hear! Sorry the pictures haven't been as useful--by the time I was able to take more, it was already dark, so I didn't end up taking any. I'll try to get some good daylight ones tomorrow. Thanks for the help--I'll look forward to more input once I get more accurate pictures up (but the first picture in the second post is probably closest to how it looks, of the three pictures).

[steanze]

No worries I totally understand, it's hard to take clear pictures of clay also my pictures often are not very clear.

[AFOL]

OK, I took some pictures today--both inside and outside, with plenty of natural light. The second picture most clearly shows the consistency of the clay on the inside (I can provide a higher-res version of a smaller area, if needed), while the first shows both the consistency of the outside, as well as the color when the pot is inside, but with sunlight coming in. I do apologize for any poor quality--my camera isn't working, so I've had to rely on my iPhone camera. The colors are (at least on my screen) pretty accurate. There's still a slight difference, but not much.

[steanze]

I think authentic Yixing clay, qing shui ni. Nice pot

[AFOL]

Thanks--and thanks for the help! I hope I didn't choose poorly by dedicating this pot to Tieguanyin; it's seemed to have good effects so far.

[steanze]

Mm it depends on whether it's dark roast tieguanyin or light roast tieguanyin. If it's dark roast (brown/black leaves, orange liquid) it should work well, if it is light roast (green leaves, green/yellow liquid) I wouldn't use a qing shui ni pot. That's because light roast tieguanyin is very aromatic, and a pot of a very porous clay like qing shui ni would mute the aroma of the tea. I hope this helps!

[AFOL]

I think mine is a lighter roast--the leaves are dark green, and the liquid is lighter. I've already seasoned it--will it be too late to switch to a darker roast? Or should I just stick to the lighter?

[steanze]

It is possible to switch to a different tea - first you'll need to boil the teapot for a while to remove the flavor of the current tea.
To decide if it is worth it, try the tea in the pot and in a gaiwan and see what you prefer. If you prefer it in the gaiwan, use the pot for another tea, if you prefer it in the pot, keep using it the way you are using it now

[bonescwa]

I wouldn't boil the teapot, just use the new tea in the pot. The seasoning stuff is overblown anyway.

[steanze]

mm it depends on how much it is seasoned IMO. After pouring boiling water in some (empty) pots I've seasoned well, slightly colored water comes out that tastes like the tea I brew in those pots. Especially so for more porous clays like zi ni, qing shui ni, di cao qing, duanni. To see if it is worth it to boil the pot in your case you can do a quick check - if pouring boiling water in the (empty) pot and pouring it out you don't notice any tieguanyin taste then you can switch without boiling

[AFOL]

Sounds great--thanks for all the advice!