Preferred Yixing Size?

[BonBon]

I hope this isn't repetitive, but I've been poking around and can't seem to find some info I'm looking for, unless it's been tucked away somewhere.

I'm looking at buying a Yixing for brewing Pu-Erh and not really sure what a good size is. I guess I'm mainly looking at one that is 125 mL and one that is 250 mL. And I'm also pretty new to Pu-Erh; I've given it a try in the past but used an old kyuusu I had, and I see most people use a Yixing or a gaiwan, so I'm wanting to try it closer to the "official way." Heck, I'm wanting to try gong fu brewing, too.

The two that I'm looking at currently (I'm a poor college kid, no money for anything too fancy right now ):

125 mL Yixing
250 mL Yixing

So what is the preferred size? I'm just a little confused on what is best suited to Pu-Erh and/or gongfu. Does it not really matter at all?

Thanks for any pointers you can toss my way!

[olivierco]

100-125ml is for me the good size for gongfu.

[Jagori]

Both of those will work for gongfu, but you need to think of how many steeps you're going to do. If you're dragging out a tenacious pu-erh to 10+ infusions, with a 250ml teapot that's 2.5 litres of tea! If you're just brewing for yourself, I agree with olivierco on the 90-125ml range.

[BonBon]

Awesome, thanks for the help. The smaller size does seem to make sense. And since I really only make tea for myself, I'll go for a for that range.

[wyardley]

I'm looking at buying a Yixing for brewing Pu-Erh and not really sure what a good size is. I guess I'm mainly looking at one that is 125 mL and one that is 250 mL.
[...]
So what is the preferred size? I'm just a little confused on what is best suited to Pu-Erh and/or gongfu. Does it not really matter at all?

Well the preferred size depends on a few things.... the first is how many people you're making tea for (and what size cups you're using). I like to use small (1-2 oz) cups, and I mostly make tea for myself or me and the gf, so I have mostly smallish pots (60-120ml).

Another is how much caffeine you like to drink. I'm blown away by the amount of (strong) tea that some people I know drink. Personally, if I don't pour any off, and I drink 7-10 infusions of tea in a 175 ml pot, it's going to be way too much tea for me.

Also depends on the shape of the pot and the size of the tea leaves. Some puerh leaves can be pretty large; in his book, Chan Kam Pong says that pots < 150 ml are not good for brewing pu'erh because the leaves can get so big.... while that seems pretty big to me for one or two people, you can always pour off some and use it to season your pot or tea tray mascot. I think 125 is fine, though.

[devites]

Definately smaller but the bigger looks cooler