New to site, wondering about a yixing

[Enjex]

hi all! first, sorry, i know, this type of topic has been done to death by literally every person starting to enter yixing, but i have to make one myself (this will prolly be a long post, so feel free to leave now, no offence taken )

also, as a note, im still somewhat new to looseleaf, ive basicly only just narrowed down that i highly prefer reds. my thoughts on teas are as follow; love the heavy flavor of reds, like the sweeter, less heavily vegital greens, eeh on whites as they are too light generally for me, i find most oolongs to have a light nori flavor and wont go out of my way to buy any, and ive not dared to start exploring the world of pu....

now, on to the topic (sorry). i have already purchased two "yixing" pots, threw one away as it was clearly made with chemicals, and im currently using one with low expectations, as i believe it is of low quality.

after doing yet more googleing, i dicided that i need to basicly pay for what i hope to get; a decent entry to mid level yixing pot. i know that im going to over pay for whatever it is that i get, since the internet is my only option. after seeing its name pop up a few times, i decided to risk buying from yunnansourcing. the pot that i decided on is this one, and i am waiting on it to arrive; https://yunnansourcing.com/collections/ ... apot-150ml

first off, what i intend to brew in it is red teas, mostly sweeter with chocolate notes like loshan black and black dragon pearl, as those are what i reach for first. the changes i hope to achieve with the yixing are to thicken the mouthfeel while enhancing the flavors/sweetness of the tea, secondary and much, much less important is reducing any astringancy (as these teas are quite low in that anyway). i asked the site owner their thoughts on the matchup, and (naturally) they gave me full go ahead with enthusiasim (however you spell that). however, i choose not to just blindly listen to whatever a merchant sais about their product, so i thought i would ask other people their opinions.

my main concern is that it is most likely heavily over fired, as it states in the descrip that it is high fired to achieve the coloration that is no where near what the clay is supposed to look like. From my own research, it seems it takes a combination of verry high temps, repeated firings, and firing the clay with reduced oxygen inside the kiln. My concern with this is i have read that when a clay is over fired, it looses some of its "yixing" properties, if you will, and starts to act more like a Porcelain piece. Yet the description states that the pot is still highly porous. i just dont know anymore *shrugs* any thoughts you guys have would be appreciated.

also, if you actually read all of that, thank you for taking the time to "listen" to my ramblings, and sorry for the headache it most likely caused

[Zared]

Skip the pot if that level of porosity is too high for your needs.

[Enjex]

Skip the pot if that level of porosity is too high for your needs.

thats just it. im not sure about the qualities of the clay that i need to look for. thats why im asking for advice on the pot. IS it too porous for blacks, what effect does the porosity have on teas?

[Zared]

Skip the pot if that level of porosity is too high for your needs.

thats just it. im not sure about the qualities of the clay that i need to look for. thats why im asking for advice on the pot. IS it too porous for blacks, what effect does the porosity have on teas?

Generally you lose some top notes but gain body and smoothness with porous pots. Perfect for brewing tea strong without becoming unpleasant. It could easily kill your tea if it's too porous though.

[Enjex]

aah. thats one of the things i could never really find searching the internet, what qualities of the clay actually does to the tea... i might just send the package back then withought opening it then, get a refund for the pot, since i can only send back unopened packages. its a shame, really liked how that little pot looked, but i know its more about how the pot brews more than how it looks. honestly i will prolly just give up on the whole yixing idea, i dont really drink many vaireties of tea, so buying a pot and then pairing it properly is out of the question, was hoping to get lucky and get one that works well with the blacks i drink.

anyway, thanks for the advice!

[Zared]

aah. thats one of the things i could never really find searching the internet, what qualities of the clay actually does to the tea... i might just send the package back then withought opening it then, get a refund for the pot, since i can only send back unopened packages. its a shame, really liked how that little pot looked, but i know its more about how the pot brews more than how it looks. honestly i will prolly just give up on the whole yixing idea, i dont really drink many vaireties of tea, so buying a pot and then pairing it properly is out of the question, was hoping to get lucky and get one that works well with the blacks i drink.

anyway, thanks for the advice!

Did you try searching this forum? Lots of info on yixing.

https://www.kyarazen.com/secrets-choosi ... g-teapots/

[Enjex]

[/quote]

Did you try searching this forum? Lots of info on yixing.

https://www.kyarazen.com/secrets-choosi ... g-teapots/
[/quote]

yeh, ive readthat post, and many, many others. pretty much scoured the internet. most posts are from people who have no idea about yixing or tea, but are just parroting the very basics, such as yixing comes from china and is unglazed, and changes the taste of the tea. others give very rough outlines for the usage of shape and clay type, but dont really go into specifics. so instead of continuing to try to figure which site actually gives complete info, and is accurate, i thought i would simply ask those people who use the teapots.

[Zared]

Did you try searching this forum? Lots of info on yixing.

https://www.kyarazen.com/secrets-choosi ... g-teapots/
[/quote]

yeh, ive readthat post, and many, many others. pretty much scoured the internet. most posts are from people who have no idea about yixing or tea, but are just parroting the very basics, such as yixing comes from china and is unglazed, and changes the taste of the tea. others give very rough outlines for the usage of shape and clay type, but dont really go into specifics. so instead of continuing to try to figure which site actually gives complete info, and is accurate, i thought i would simply ask those people who use the teapots.
[/quote]

Kyarazen is an avid tea drinker and very knowledgeable about using yixing. If his article didn't help you than it's likely that you should focus on understanding the tea your drinking first before attempting to buy a pot.

[Enjex]

i think you are confusing what info i am looking for here. i am not looking for general knowledge. i am asking opinions on whether a specific clay type, with a specific firing range, would have the potential to pair well with a certain type of tea. i know the reds that i drink, and know what happens to them when brewed with different temps, times, and leafs. i just have not found any other types of teas other than the reds that i drink that i like, as i have not had the funds to start mass sampling the other types of teas.

i understand that high fired clay, especially over fired clay, starts becoming more neutral in terms of affecting the tea. i also know that the more porous the clay, the more it will take away from the flavor of the tea. i just dont know where old duan ni falls in the ranges of porous/non porous, how much it will affect the flavor profile in a way i dont want, especially with it being over fired.

so, back to my actual question, anyone with experience using yixing, do you have any general idea as to how over fired old duan ni will interact with red tea? too porous/muting, or will it be ok?

[Bok]

Seems futile to ask the questions now that you have already bought the pot. Just wait and try it out then you will see! Even better, without any preconceived opinions you can just be as objective as possible.

And you can never go wrong with porcealain! Especially for black tea.

[Zared]

Try overbrewing your tea with porcelain and see if it's unpleasant. If it's still to your liking than that's an indication that using a highly porous pot is not a good idea.

[Enjex]

well, i was just going to return it if the general concensus said that it would be unsuitable, as i could return the package as long as it remaine unopened, but as im starting to get somewhat bored with reds (even though i do like them), im probably going to keep it and start slowly sampling oolongs. ive read that they vary greatly in flavor between green to red, hopefully i can find a few to my liking. ive tried a few before, but they have all had somewhat of a seaweed taste to me, so i just stopped getig samples of them.

[CheekyChipmunk]

well, i was just going to return it if the general concensus said that it would be unsuitable, as i could return the package as long as it remaine unopened, but as im starting to get somewhat bored with reds (even though i do like them), im probably going to keep it and start slowly sampling oolongs. ive read that they vary greatly in flavor between green to red, hopefully i can find a few to my liking. ive tried a few before, but they have all had somewhat of a seaweed taste to me, so i just stopped getig samples of them.

Hi there. Let me start by saying I am a novice when it comes to tea, but I’m definitely an enthusiast. I own a range of Yixing from ‘tuition’ pots up to some old 60’s F1 zisha. I also happen to own a pot using the same clay, also purchased from YS. I have to say, it is one of my least used pots, not because of it’s quality or effect, but because it’s my pot assigned for black teas, which I rarely drink.

My understanding/experience of this high fired duanni is that it doesn’t have such a profound effect on the tea that’s in it, which may be due to the very high firing which has already been discussed. You may like the general rounding effect that Yixing can have on your red teas, but if you like your tea edgy, you will probably prefer porcelain to this, or any other Yixing.

I think it’s one of the biggest myths that Yixing makes your tea sweeter. Even the best Yixing I have, which is 60’s F1 zisha and is well-fired, will not imbue sweetness that is not already existent in the tea/water you use. I like what it does to the tea I drink but that’s just me. My hunch is that you might like what it does to heavy roasted oolongs more than what it does to your red teas. Keep us posted how your experience goes!

[CheekyChipmunk]

ive read that they vary greatly in flavor between green to red, hopefully i can find a few to my liking. ive tried a few before, but they have all had somewhat of a seaweed taste to me, so i just stopped getig samples of them.

From your description you either have not had very good oolongs or you don’t enjoy ‘greener’ vegetal notes in your tea. The craze in the oolong world at the moment is bright and fresh oolongs. Have you tried sampling traditional charcoal roasted oolongs?

[Enjex]

ive read that they vary greatly in flavor between green to red, hopefully i can find a few to my liking. ive tried a few before, but they have all had somewhat of a seaweed taste to me, so i just stopped getig samples of them.

From your description you either have not had very good oolongs or you don’t enjoy ‘greener’ vegetal notes in your tea. The craze in the oolong world at the moment is bright and fresh oolongs. Have you tried sampling traditional charcoal roasted oolongs?

no, i have had a few of the more green, as you have said, and sampled a few milk oolongs, i think those are green as well. i placed an order for a few medium roasted oolongs with yunnan sourcing a week ago, so hopefully i will enjoy one of those. i wanted to stay away from the darker ones for now, from what ive read they can be comparable to reds, which im a bit bored of ATM. but if you have any suggestions for an oolong i would love to hear them i think that im going to use my team money for now to try to find an oolong i like.