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Dec 18th, '08, 21:04
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Best clay for Dancong?

by thanks » Dec 18th, '08, 21:04

I've really enjoyed the few DC I've had. I really want to start getting into them. I would like to dedicate a yixing to this type of tea, but does anyone have any suggestions? Duanni, hongni, modern zhuni, etc. Thin/thick, short/tall, etc. I know the lid should be quite wide as to fit the DC without breaking, but that's about it.

Also if this has already been posted before I apologize, I did a search but couldn't find anything.

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Dec 18th, '08, 22:19
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by Maitre_Tea » Dec 18th, '08, 22:19

I'm not too sure about what kind of clay (I use Hei Ni myself), but I do that you should look for a stout teapot, to better fit the longer leaves of Dan Cong. I would think going for a thicker teapot would be nice, because you would want to keep in the heat.

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by edkrueger » Dec 19th, '08, 12:09

I use this.It keeps the heat well and the small size allows me to fill it to the top with leaves.

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Dec 19th, '08, 23:51
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by chrl42 » Dec 19th, '08, 23:51

Maitre_Tea wrote:I'm not too sure about what kind of clay (I use Hei Ni myself), but I do that you should look for a stout teapot, to better fit the longer leaves of Dan Cong. I would think going for a thicker teapot would be nice, because you would want to keep in the heat.
Agreed, and i don't think Dan Cong is tea sensitive to clay either

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Dec 20th, '08, 04:51
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by CDS » Dec 20th, '08, 04:51

I just acquired a 90ml pear shape Chao Zhou pot from Imen at Tea Habitat. I really like the this pot because of its size and shape. I cannot tell much difference in the tea between this one and the Duanni pots that I normally use, other than that when brewing in the Duanni pot, the tea seems a little sweeter tasting.

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Dec 20th, '08, 09:39
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by xuancheng » Dec 20th, '08, 09:39

CDS wrote:I just acquired a 90ml pear shape Chao Zhou pot from Imen at Tea Habitat. I really like the this pot because of its size and shape. I cannot tell much difference in the tea between this one and the Duanni pots that I normally use, other than that when brewing in the Duanni pot, the tea seems a little sweeter tasting.
I would look in to the Chaozhou pots. you don't have to get one, but they are traditional for Dancongs.
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Dec 20th, '08, 11:38
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by britt » Dec 20th, '08, 11:38

I've used three different Yixings and two clay types with Dan Cong, all with good results. The clays are Pin Zi Ni and Qing Shui Ni, with the Qing Shui Ni producing a lighter taste but all three pots giving great results. I think the lid size, shape, and weight are more important in this case. Thick and heavy is my preference for brewing Dan Cong.

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by edkrueger » Dec 20th, '08, 21:01

xuancheng wrote:
CDS wrote:I just acquired a 90ml pear shape Chao Zhou pot from Imen at Tea Habitat. I really like the this pot because of its size and shape. I cannot tell much difference in the tea between this one and the Duanni pots that I normally use, other than that when brewing in the Duanni pot, the tea seems a little sweeter tasting.
I would look in to the Chaozhou pots. you don't have to get one, but they are traditional for Dancongs.
I'm going to give that a try.

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Dec 21st, '08, 01:28
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by thanks » Dec 21st, '08, 01:28

I had figured Chaozhou pots would make sense, however I hadn't seen any that were pure Chaozhou. Nada recently listed one, but it's a mix.

I didn't know Imen sold pots! I should look into that, thanks. All great advice.

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Dec 21st, '08, 01:45
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by wyardley » Dec 21st, '08, 01:45

thanks wrote:I had figured Chaozhou pots would make sense, however I hadn't seen any that were pure Chaozhou. Nada recently listed one, but it's a mix.

I didn't know Imen sold pots! I should look into that, thanks. All great advice.
She can get you some. You can also try Jing, who can source some for you on special request, though they most likely won't be super cheap.

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Dec 24th, '08, 04:20
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by ABx » Dec 24th, '08, 04:20

So I asked essentially the same question to Imen recently, and she replied that regardless of the vessel you want it to be as thin as possible. She says that she actually uses an eggshell gaiwan for brewing. You use fully boiled water for the first few infusions, and then cooler water after that.

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Dec 24th, '08, 04:58
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by thanks » Dec 24th, '08, 04:58

Thanks Wyardly and ABx! I'm currently looking in to all options. I have a fairly thin gaiwan from Scott that I've been using for a year (although it's beaten to all hell) that I recently ordered a replacement for. Hopefully it's just as thin. I wish wall thickness was stated for every pot online as I find this to be a pretty important factor in determining tea to brewing vessel. Like I said my most recent teapot was originally meant for Dancong, but the walls are really thick and now it's my aged pu'er pot. My pot for wuyi tea though has medium thickness walls, but still produces some fantastic results.

Well regardless, I will update with what I eventually end up using. I'm just going to get 100g of Jing's "Everyday" DC so that I can experiment quite a bit.

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by edkrueger » Dec 24th, '08, 10:59

ABx wrote:So I asked essentially the same question to Imen recently, and she replied that regardless of the vessel you want it to be as thin as possible. She says that she actually uses an eggshell gaiwan for brewing. You use fully boiled water for the first few infusions, and then cooler water after that.
I may be doing it the completely wrong way, I've been using a very thick pot.

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Dec 26th, '08, 03:39
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by ABx » Dec 26th, '08, 03:39

thanks wrote:Well regardless, I will update with what I eventually end up using. I'm just going to get 100g of Jing's "Everyday" DC so that I can experiment quite a bit.
That sounds like a very good idea :) You could also go for some dancong from AsiaChi.com (which is the online reseller for Wing Hop Fung). I got some of the Milan (Honey Orchid, aka "Honey Orchard") dancong, $12 for 4oz, and it's really quite good; very fragrant and durable.

edkrueger wrote:I may be doing it the completely wrong way, I've been using a very thick pot.
I did as well - I kept thinking that you wanted to retain as much heat as possible. I just tried (still working on it, actually) some dancong I got locally in an eggshell gaiwan, however, (preheated, boiling water) and it turned out much better - much smoother, fuller, aromatic, and even much more complex(!) (both up-front and over the course of multiple steeps). I'm even getting more steeps out of it, and finding it much harder to get any bitterness (which is usually very easy to do with almost any dancong). I was really amazed - I didn't think this particular dancong could be like this. I feel a bit silly now, actually. I'm going to try a glass gaiwan next - without preheating it will maximize heat for a short time and then bleed off heat very quickly. I suspect that this will produce even better results.

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Dec 26th, '08, 04:53
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by thanks » Dec 26th, '08, 04:53

ABx wrote:That sounds like a very good idea :) You could also go for some dancong from AsiaChi.com (which is the online reseller for Wing Hop Fung). I got some of the Milan (Honey Orchid, aka "Honey Orchard") dancong, $12 for 4oz, and it's really quite good; very fragrant and durable.
Awesome link! Is their Shui Xian any good? A pound for 7$ is very tempting!

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