Yancha lovers?

Semi-oxidized tea
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Bok
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Fri Mar 19, 2021 7:15 pm

Andrew S wrote:
Fri Mar 19, 2021 7:00 pm
Enjoying a Rui Quan Jin Suo Shi from Essence of Tea on a very wet day.

Medium roasted, but none the worse for it.

Andrew
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Nice pot... is that from ZAG?
Last edited by Victoria on Mon Mar 22, 2021 7:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Mod edit: added link to referenced vendor
Andrew S
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Fri Mar 19, 2021 7:59 pm

Yes, you have a good eye for pots... Did the shape of the handle give it away?

I usually prefer pots in the 60mL to 80mL range for yan cha, but I like having smaller ones for when I want to try a couple of different teas in the day.

This one is getting easier to use as I get to know it better. When the lid is at the correct angle, it doesn't drip even when the spout is turned all the way down. And the clay is giving wonderful results right from the start.

Andrew
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Bok
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Fri Mar 19, 2021 9:21 pm

Andrew S wrote:
Fri Mar 19, 2021 7:59 pm
Yes, you have a good eye for pots... Did the shape of the handle give it away?

I usually prefer pots in the 60mL to 80mL range for yan cha, but I like having smaller ones for when I want to try a couple of different teas in the day.

This one is getting easier to use as I get to know it better. When the lid is at the correct angle, it doesn't drip even when the spout is turned all the way down. And the clay is giving wonderful results right from the start.

Andrew
Haha, the overall shape and a few details looked old and I happened to remember seeing it on their website :) not too many pots of that shape out there... good call on getting it!

Old - or any Zhuni for that matter, doesn’t need break in time. If it does, it’s not real Zhuni ;) Wonderful clay for good teas, an enemy for bad teas, it’ll expose them and all their flaws...
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Bok
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Fri Mar 19, 2021 9:45 pm

As for size, I’ve been appreciating these small pots more and more as teas get more and more expensive... my most frequently used pots are all in the 45-60ml range now.

Especially for Yancha I wouldn’t want to go any larger...
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Victoria
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Fri Mar 19, 2021 9:52 pm

Andrew S wrote:
Fri Mar 19, 2021 7:00 pm
Enjoying a Rui Quan Jin Suo Shi from Essence of Tea on a very wet day.
Image
Really stunning, must be something of a trick to get enough wiry yancha inside. Hot water helps :) 🍃
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Bok
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Fri Mar 19, 2021 9:56 pm

@Victoria it’s like slowly arranging branches in a furnace for the perfect fire :)

To me this is one part of the process to fully and consciously appreciate these expensive treats. Kind of forces you to proceed with care and respect.
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Bok
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Fri Mar 19, 2021 10:03 pm

This inspired me to take out this picture from last weeks Yancha session... small Zhuni, stuffed to the top with deliciousness, yum yum, visual and sensory pleasure combined to perfection.
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Andrew S
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Fri Mar 19, 2021 10:51 pm

That's a beautiful pot; even just the texture of the lid is lovely.

Old small zhu ni teapots look like they were always destined for the best yan cha.

Andrew
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Victoria
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Fri Mar 19, 2021 11:20 pm

Bok wrote:
Fri Mar 19, 2021 10:03 pm
This inspired me to take out this picture from last weeks Yancha session... small Zhuni, stuffed to the top with deliciousness, yum yum, visual and sensory pleasure combined to perfection.
Image
Nice one @Bok. Consciously placing the leaves makes a good connection.
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OCTO
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Sat Mar 20, 2021 12:19 am

Bok wrote:
Fri Mar 19, 2021 9:45 pm
As for size, I’ve been appreciating these small pots more and more as teas get more and more expensive... my most frequently used pots are all in the 45-60ml range now.

Especially for Yancha I wouldn’t want to go any larger...
:o :shock: :? :twisted:
Andrew S
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Sat Mar 20, 2021 12:36 am

@Bok has inspired me in turn.

My usual yan cha pot, around 65mL, so, slightly too big for Bok it would seem.

Brewing a high roast tie luo han, also from EoT.

The colours are hard to get right on a day like this, though. Should look a touch more red than orange...

Andrew
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LeoFox
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Mon Mar 22, 2021 6:38 pm

I had an interesting conversation today with Hojo's store manager about tea and specifically yancha brewing. Her point of view is that ( I am paraphrasing here):

1. There is no need to pack the vessel full with tea leaves for brewing. Good tea doesn't need much leaf to produce a great cup. She uses 3-4.5g/ 100 mL for yancha. She does a rinse and then does many steeps less than 10 second. Exact amount of tea and amount of time depends on the nature of the tea (lvl of roast, cultivar, etc)

2. If you find you need more leaf then:
A.) Your tea is low quality
B.) Your taste buds have been damaged somehow
C.) Your water is bad
D.) Your clay is bad

3 ) as to why people stuff their pots:
A.) This may be good for very low quality tea
B.) Maybe this practice arose from people with very poor taste whose tastebuds have been destroyed by hard drinking and smoking
C.) This is great for vendors to make more money
D.) Status signaling maybe comparable to crazy rich asians drinking their romanee-conti pinot mixed with coca cola.
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Mon Mar 22, 2021 7:49 pm

@LeoFox, I'm afraid that I don't find these suggestions particularly helpful. There can be lots of reasons one uses more leaf, most notably because one prefers that taste. If the tea is poor, you will discover that as soon as you taste it and using more leaf won't help there. I, for example, use about 6g per 100ml (I rarely weigh other than to confirm - or not - that my estimates remain very close). So, I am using about twice as much leaf as she is and that is because I like an extracted tea. My preference in taste is also why I generally get many fewer steeps than some others. The number of steeps has only the scantiest of relationships to the quality of the tea.

With yancha, I use water just off the boil (212/100 degrees) and have VERY rapid steeps. The first one comes out as soon as the brewing vessel is filled with water. As to water, if your water isn't good for yancha, you'll notice that it isn't good for much other tea either. I brew yancha either in a 150 ml gaiwan or a relatively large (240ml) low fired yixing pot. I tend to be very pleased with the results but am open to experimentation.

As to the practice of "packing the pot", that method produces what in Fujian is known as nong cha or "farmer's tea". It arose, I suspect, from workers wanting a strong brew before heading out into the fields (but that is conjecture).
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Bok
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Mon Mar 22, 2021 8:04 pm

I agree with Tillerman.

Hojo has a lot of "interesting" theories, best consumed with caution and a critical mindset... They are not really known for having good yancha either.
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LeoFox
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Mon Mar 22, 2021 8:31 pm

Hahaha I may be just trying to stir the pot!
In any case I got a tin of their $1/g ban tian yao and soon will know if their method is good or if my taste buds have been destroyed. :mrgreen:

As for how good it is, I know at least one other person on this forum who says it's pretty good, hahaha.

I have found that Hojo's teas tend to have this characteristic: strong taste that can last many many infusions as long as infusions are kept short even with relatively few leaves. Great as long as you like this taste. A disappointment if you don't. He may be specifically selecting tea with this characteristic in mind. For tillerman, balance may be king. Hojo seems to worship at a different altar.
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