So my teaware arrived today. I'm definitely a Beginner!

[stanthegoomba]

First of all, congrats on your new toys.

I can't speak for the Japanese teaware; but, believe it or not, your new duanni (I have the same one) is actually considered to be on the *large* side for a one-person yixing pot!

It's designed for a Chinese brewing style called "gongfu" which you can read about all over this site if you do a little searching. The basic idea is that you can keep brewing a good oolong over and over (and over!) again. Each steep will bring out different tastes and qualities. 8 steeps in a 4 oz pot is a litre of tea, so you do end up drinking just as much or more than you would otherwise. You get a much more interesting experience than you would out of one big mug full of oolong.

To make this work, you use lots of leaves (enough to fill at least 1/4 of the pot, but many people use more), water straight off the boil, and really short steeps of about 20 seconds to a minute. The exact amounts, temperatures, and times depend on the individual tea and your own preferences, but part of the fun is figuring it out as you go.

I was surprised at how small my first yixing was when I got it; now it's WAY too big—and I'm even finding my 4.2 oz duanni rather spacious.

[PolyhymnianMuse]

The link to the yixing you purchased didnt work for me.

Not all yixing pots are that small, infact some yixing pots are huge. Really there is no right or wrong, if your tea taste good drink it, regardless of parameters and the fancy stuff. The pot that you purchased is more for gong fu brewing (basically that just means small amounts of tea using lots of leaf and short infusion times) although you dont have to follow that at all.

As for the bladder buster that you usually brew up in the morning I would go about brewing it the way you have been. These types of pots really aren't meant for brewing high volume like that, unless you have the time to do it

Don't feel like your doing anything wrong though, and don't think that your purchase was in vain. Experiment with your new addition, you will deff learn to love it

[stanthegoomba]

I need some new glassware or a proper mug cause the one I've been using is a HUGE double walled glass mug.

Having the rights cup sizes and pot sizes for any given situation is something I'm still struggling with. That's the downside to 20 second steeps that are so concentrated: the whole pot needs to be emptied right away each time. I've tried to find different cups for different purposes (eg, drinking alone, drinking with friends...) but I think the best solution is to get tiny cups and decant into a fair cup first, so you can fill and refill as many as are necessary without worrying about over-steeping. The duanni fills a pair of 2 oz Bodum glasses perfectly, for what it's worth.

[Salsero]

You might enjoy Kam's lessons in gong fu cha HERE. They are a little long on the frills and short on the down-to-earth, but I think they convey the essence in an enjoyable way. I don't use most of the fancy equipment he has ... my tea tray is a pie plate and I use a single cup big enough to hold one whole potful ... but it's fun to see the ideal session. You might also enjoy some of the many gong fu cha (kung fu cha) videos on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLcGch6koh4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfCJXL5CUns

Again, my own tea making is not so frou frou or mystical. I am more slam bang, tea time.

[Woots]

Congratz on the new toys... looks like both of us have set out on the same voyage of picking of the tea hobby. I also got some new toys in the mail today and enjoying myself over here.

Have fun and enjoy the tea!

[Salsero]

I also got some new toys in the mail today

We thrive on details!

[Salsero]

Rinse them out well with hot water and brew away.

[Salsero]

Is it suggested to keep the one to the oolongs and the other to the greens as I had planned?

That's a sterling plan! You may find you will want to brew more tea for less time with the oolongs, i.e. gong fu style.

[wyardley]

Do the Rishi Yixing pots smell funny to anyone else? Even after rinsing with boiling water alternating with cool water, brewing tea in them repeatedly, and even leaving charcoal and tea leaves inside the canister, that duanni pot and the canisters they have give off a distinctive smell that is unlike any other Yixing I own.

[stanthegoomba]

Do the Rishi Yixing pots smell funny to anyone else? Even after rinsing with boiling water alternating with cool water, brewing tea in them repeatedly, and even leaving charcoal and tea leaves inside the canister, that duanni pot and the canisters they have give off a distinctive smell that is unlike any other Yixing I own.

Lemon air freshener? Yeah. But it's muted now. One thing I have noticed is that the whole pot seems to have gotten darker, and very quickly. I saw what I thought was a dark stain on the spout, but then I realized that the rest of the pot is that colour and there is just a little area in between that is lighter.