Pairing a yixing teapot with tea

[Scuffed Bluchers]

I'm trying to pair a yixing teapot made from zini clay. It's a low-profile pot, 100 ml with 8 second pour (when packed with leaves)

I tried young sheng first and thought the steeps were lifeless. It was almost like the pot was sucking flavor out of the soup. I tried a yancha oolong and BOOM, the pot really woke those leaves up. It's a perfect pair but I already have a yancha pot.

Any clue where I should look next? What other teas pair will with low profile zini pots?

[Tead Off]

I'm not sure what you mean by 'low profile'. Do you mean more squat, flatter than tall or round?

Perhaps the pot will brew some yancha better than others. You have to pay attention to the different types of yancha and how it mingles with the teapot. I use different zini for different yancha.

Young sheng puerh will probably do better in a gaiwan or porcelain teapot, something high fired where the fruitiness and aromas can be brought forward from a young tea. Zini can be good for older puerh. You just have to experiment and not write a pot off without an exhaustive effort at getting to know it.

[Scuffed Bluchers]

Patience..... Best advice. I'm trying everything using comparative tasting using a gaiwan and doing my best to keep the other brewing parameters the same. Now I'm wondering if this pot is even good for yancha.

So far there's a consistent softening of teas. With young pu, the pot mutes floral tones. With Shu pu, sweetness was striped away. With oolong, the grassiness and edgy flavors are rounded out so it tastes more mellow (I'm not sure that's desirable?)

Anyway.... on to pu from 2004.

[Robertjcoons]

Yixing clay does two things primarily:
- pick up taste via seasoning
- remove bitterness and astringent tastes.

If you dedicate a pot to young sheng pu, typically it will be in order to remove astringent tastes from the tea.
If the tea is already mellow, using standard ceramics will be better
Wuyi yancha loves yixing pots though.