I know that ideally you're supposed to dedicate a single type of oolong to a particular Yxing teapot, in order to allow for proper seasoning with each successive use. However, I am in fact new to Yixing teaware in general and I was wondering how much would the taste of one type of oolong affect another made in the same teapot. Because of their porous nature, do Yixing teapots hold on to the flavors of the tea placed inside of them to a significant enough degree as to tamper with the flavor of another tea?
I was wondering because I usually use a gaiwan to make my oolongs and it has work very well for me so far, but I recently have become interested in Yixing teapots and want to try them. However, it's impractical to buy a teapot for each of my favorite oolongs. And I'm worried about this because, for example, my two major favorites, Fenghuang Shuixian and Tieguanying, have very different flavor profiles. I am afraid the very strong peachy flavor of the Fenghuang Shuixian will overwhelm the buttery honey-like flavor of my Tieguanyin (and so on and so forth for all my other favorites messing with the flavor of another).
Sep 19th, '08, 18:41
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Some pots are less porous than others, but I think your concern is justified. It certainly wouldn't hurt to try each tea a few times in the pot to decide which works best with that pot, but once you decide you might want to stick with just that class of tea for that pot. On the other hand, after a few switch hitters, you might decide they can both occupy the same space without detriment. I say Experiment and have fun.
Sep 19th, '08, 21:10
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Proinsias
I've bought seven pots in the space of three years, in due course I'll have more. The more I brew one type of tea in a gaiwan the more I know I need to acquire a yixing for it. It seems like you know there will be a problem from reading your post.
If I brew one type of tea regularly in a gaiwan I start to think I'm losing out by not having a yixing for it. Then I start to debate if I should get a lot of the tea I love or a little bit and a yixing - life's tough round these parts.
I have a da hong pao pot, which is by far my favourite pot, that I recently decided to change to a generic 'wuyi pot'. All has went well.
My current dilemma is aged oolong. I love aged wuyi and aged dan cong. Do I buy and aged oolong pot or do I use my dan cong and wuyi pot? Where does aged begin and do I need two aged oolong pots? The more pots the less seasoning is going on. Decisions, decisions.
The more you use them for one type of tea the more they latch onto that type of tea.LuYuApostle wrote:do Yixing teapots hold on to the flavors of the tea placed inside of them to a significant enough degree as to tamper with the flavor of another tea?
If I brew one type of tea regularly in a gaiwan I start to think I'm losing out by not having a yixing for it. Then I start to debate if I should get a lot of the tea I love or a little bit and a yixing - life's tough round these parts.
I have a da hong pao pot, which is by far my favourite pot, that I recently decided to change to a generic 'wuyi pot'. All has went well.
My current dilemma is aged oolong. I love aged wuyi and aged dan cong. Do I buy and aged oolong pot or do I use my dan cong and wuyi pot? Where does aged begin and do I need two aged oolong pots? The more pots the less seasoning is going on. Decisions, decisions.
Out of curiosity, what are the characteristics of that pot? I've read contradictory opinions that flat/low is good for wuyis because the water and tea stay close together. On the other hand I read that tall thin pots would be better because they theoretically retain heat better.I have a da hong pao pot, which is by far my favourite pot, that I recently decided to change to a generic 'wuyi pot'. All has went well.
You seem to know a lot about the different types of Yixing teapots available. Is there a specific type of Yixing for Tieguanyin?Proinsias wrote:I've bought seven pots in the space of three years, in due course I'll have more. The more I brew one type of tea in a gaiwan the more I know I need to acquire a yixing for it. It seems like you know there will be a problem from reading your post.
The more you use them for one type of tea the more they latch onto that type of tea.LuYuApostle wrote:do Yixing teapots hold on to the flavors of the tea placed inside of them to a significant enough degree as to tamper with the flavor of another tea?
If I brew one type of tea regularly in a gaiwan I start to think I'm losing out by not having a yixing for it. Then I start to debate if I should get a lot of the tea I love or a little bit and a yixing - life's tough round these parts.
I have a da hong pao pot, which is by far my favourite pot, that I recently decided to change to a generic 'wuyi pot'. All has went well.
My current dilemma is aged oolong. I love aged wuyi and aged dan cong. Do I buy and aged oolong pot or do I use my dan cong and wuyi pot? Where does aged begin and do I need two aged oolong pots? The more pots the less seasoning is going on. Decisions, decisions.
I have seen a lot of different types of pots suggested for Wu Yi teas. Obviously the opening should be wide enough for big leaves to fit in, but a lot of people seem to like wide, pear / guava shaped pots for Wu Yi teas. Flat can probably work well, but I think *too* flat might not be a good idea.taitea wrote:Out of curiosity, what are the characteristics of that pot? I've read contradictory opinions that flat/low is good for wuyis because the water and tea stay close together. On the other hand I read that tall thin pots would be better because they theoretically retain heat better.I have a da hong pao pot, which is by far my favourite pot, that I recently decided to change to a generic 'wuyi pot'. All has went well.
I use two pots for Wu Yi teas; so far, I haven't dedicated one to light fire teas and one to higher fire teas, but I may at some point.... One is this one (supposedly 70s or 80s Factory #1 "Ba Le" pot):
which I like because it's one of the ones that the Fujian tea organization commissioned to promote their tea (not "Please drink Chinese oolong Tea", but similar). This picture was taken before I even got it; it's picked up a little shine since then. I've been keeping this one at work for now.
Also this one, supposedly 90s, which I got from a shop in Tianshan Tea City in Shanghai for not a ton of money. It's kind of funky / weird, but I think it makes good tea:
It was very dull at first, but the outside has picked up a nice shine fairly quickly.
I don't claim to know that this is the best style of pot for yan cha; these are just the pots I decided to use. Overall, I'm pretty happy with both of them.
Last edited by wyardley on Sep 19th, '08, 23:44, edited 2 times in total.
I think for green Tieguanyin, you'd like a fairly non-porous red clay like zhuni / hong ni, or some sort of modern zhuni, with a narrow pear shape. A Shui Ping or Ba Le shape would probably work Ok. You could use a more porous clay too, but it might mellow out the taste a little more.LuYuApostle wrote:You seem to know a lot about the different types of Yixing teapots available. Is there a specific type of Yixing for Tieguanyin?
I have heard that ball shaped pots, are better for more traditional (medium / high fire TGY)... a standard shui ping pot is a *very* common choice for brewing roasted TGY kung fu style. I have heard the reason for this is that you are usually really packing the leaves in with this style of brewing, and as the leaves expand, the pot helps squeeze the juices / oils out of the tea as they press up against the top of the pot, more than with other shapes.
I almost always brew any Tieguanyin that's not light in one of 3 shui ping pots I have - a 70s one (about 70-80 ml) from Jing (zi ni on the inside; hong ni makeup clay on the outside), a red Chaozhou one (about 80 ml), or a brown clay Silk Road Trade one I got second hand a while back (these pots are nice other than the ugly "camel" chop on the bottom).
My source for the flat-wuyi connection comes from Teamasters blog:
Too flat?
What teas *would* work well with those flat pots? (not to say that wuyis wouldn't).
So how flat is too flat?1. For teas that have flat dry leaves (like WuYi Mountain Shui Xian oolong), a rather flat teapot fits best so that tea and water are close together,
Too flat?
What teas *would* work well with those flat pots? (not to say that wuyis wouldn't).
To me, that doesn't seem too flat, though if that's one of Scott's pots, I think they're a little on the large side (for me, anyway) - I like to pack the leaves in (3/4 or 1:1), so there are only a few occasions where I'd want to use such a big pot for yan cha.taitea wrote:My source for the flat-wuyi connection comes from Teamasters blog:
So how flat is too flat?1. For teas that have flat dry leaves (like WuYi Mountain Shui Xian oolong), a rather flat teapot fits best so that tea and water are close together,
Too flat?
I think a Shi Piao shape might probably be a good choice for yan cha, and seems like Stéphane agrees:
This is one of the two pots I use for Dan Cong:
To me, that's pretty flat... as far as "too flat" for yan cha... I don't know. Depends who you ask, I guess. I've actually seen some that are insanely flat, even compared to that, though.
This pot looks like 'hand-made' Qing Shui ni that dates back to Cultural Revolution or ROC period when a clay was made by hand, not machine. Hence numerous non-yixing clay particles (quartz, manganese etc..) Do you have any information on the clay?
This Jun De hu looks like tiao sha of Hongni and Zhuni..I hope to visit Tian Shan tea city sooner..
I just received my new xi shi zhu ni pot from an esteemed teachatter - and enjoying a nice sheng now - but I tried a tky on a whim, and found it was quite different from brewing it in a gaiwan. I think it was missing the aroma, and therefore prefer it from the gaiwan - but the sheng is much better than in the gaiwan. I'm a complete noob though, so I might not be brewing right, but just my initial impressions. The wuyi's have been pretty good too - but you have to fanagle it a bit to get in the pot's narrow opening.
Sep 20th, '08, 16:48
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I just received a new teapot from Nada's shop. Very beautiful and now SOLD OUT. Ha! Nada calls it a Zhuni "Pan Hu (San Jiao)", whatever that means! It is quite lovely, gives a fairly metallic ring when lightly struck, thin-walled, and generally well-made, one of the nicest pots I have.
OK, BabelCarp says "San Jiao" means "Three Feet, as in a teapot supported by three 'feet' "
OK, BabelCarp says "San Jiao" means "Three Feet, as in a teapot supported by three 'feet' "
Sal, that is a really nice pot you bought. Congrats!! Show us pics after you have seasoned the pot. I am sure it will be brilliant.Salsero wrote:I just received a new teapot from Nada's shop. Very beautiful and now SOLD OUT. Ha! Nada calls it a Zhuni "Pan Hu (San Jiao)", whatever that means! It is quite lovely, gives a fairly metallic ring when lightly struck, thin-walled, and generally well-made, one of the nicest pots I have.
OK, BabelCarp says "San Jiao" means "Three Feet, as in a teapot supported by three 'feet' "
