Hey all.
Got my hands on some Yixings (bought some, received some) and after a whole lot of gaiwan brewing I'm ready to start some more serious experimenting. My plan is to obviously test as many combinations as I can, but I am hoping that perhaps some of you might have some thoughts on where would be a good place to start given the particular characteristics of each of the pots. I drink all kinds of teas and have everything from Anxi to Zheng Shan Xiao Chung in my cupboard.
Here's the list. I will be posting photos one by one to try to make it easier for you to reply/comment on each pot. I am particularly curious about what you have to say about the effect of cylindrical flat-bottomed teapots (like the Sang Bian and the Shi Diao) and the rare Mantianxing Zini clay because I haven't been able to find out much about them.
1. 100ml ZINI or DICAOQING Shi Diao Ti Liang / Single hole 7 sec pour / Thick wall
2. 140ml DICAOQING Sang Bian / 8 sec pour / Medium thick wall
3. 125ml ZHUNI Wen Dan / 11 sec pour / Medium thick wall
4. 120ml (MANTIANXING) ZINI Xi Shi / 8 sec pour / Medium thick wall
5. 110ml ZINI Li Xing / 10 sec pour / Medium thick wall
6. 140ml JIANGPONI Fei Yun / 11 sec pour / Medium thick wall
7. 120ml (CHAI SHAO) DUAN NI Long Dan / 10 sec pour / Medium thick wall
Let the pairing games begin!
Looking to pair some pots. Ideas on where to begin?
2. 140ml DICAOQING Sang Bian / 8 sec pour / Medium thick wall.
https://www.mudandleaves.com/store/p569 ... 150ml.html
https://www.mudandleaves.com/store/p569 ... 150ml.html
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Last edited by gradiva on Wed Apr 29, 2020 4:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
3. 125ml ZHUNI Wen Dan / 11 sec pour / Thin wall
https://www.mudandleaves.com/store/p658 ... 120ml.html
https://www.mudandleaves.com/store/p658 ... 120ml.html
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Last edited by gradiva on Wed Apr 29, 2020 4:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
5. 110ml HEI LAO (ZINI + DUANNI) Li Xing / 10 sec pour / Medium thick wall.
"(...)handmade using a mixture of original Yixing clay. The black clay is named “Hei Liao” in Chinese. Original Zini mine clay sets the base of this type of clay, and it is mixed with 40 Mu Duanni clay. The nature of Hei Liao Yixing clay is pretty mild and welcoming. It’s similar to zini clay (also known as purple clay). The clay breathes very well and welcomes a variety of teas."
"(...)handmade using a mixture of original Yixing clay. The black clay is named “Hei Liao” in Chinese. Original Zini mine clay sets the base of this type of clay, and it is mixed with 40 Mu Duanni clay. The nature of Hei Liao Yixing clay is pretty mild and welcoming. It’s similar to zini clay (also known as purple clay). The clay breathes very well and welcomes a variety of teas."
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Last edited by gradiva on Thu Apr 30, 2020 6:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
This could lead to months of comparisons and should be a lot of fun. I’ve had some of my best experiences really concentrating on nuances of the pots and tea. I don’t know if you are versed in yixing at all (if you are a past master no need to read my advice!).
I’d start by picking two basic mid-level teas, a sheng puer and a mainland oolong (unless you mainly drink one type). Before you approach any pots with head to head comparisons compare them only to the gaiwan. Two types of tea might be confusing, but you have a lot of pots and time! You’ll need to understand the trade-offs with the pots and gaiwans. I doubt that the differences, or preferences, will be clear cut. There are always trade-offs, yixing always takes before it gives back.
For pots, I’d start with modern zini #5 and maybe #4 or #2. Establish an “OK” puer pot and an “OK” oolong pot; with that grounding of pot vs. gaiwan attributes you can then compare the benchmark with the other clays & teapots with the same tea to see if the new entry pot contributes more to less to the benchmark pot. Also, don’t start worrying about proper tea matching to pot shape yet.
I’d suggest that this is better than trying to do “pot tasting.” That is, having a session with one pot and two types of tea. While it’s a lot of fun to do it’s so subjective that it confuses the head to head comparison that will teach you more about the clays. This is something you can do later after you know more about the difference between pots as fine-tuning, Dan Cong vs yancha, green perfume vs. woody puer etc....
I’d start by picking two basic mid-level teas, a sheng puer and a mainland oolong (unless you mainly drink one type). Before you approach any pots with head to head comparisons compare them only to the gaiwan. Two types of tea might be confusing, but you have a lot of pots and time! You’ll need to understand the trade-offs with the pots and gaiwans. I doubt that the differences, or preferences, will be clear cut. There are always trade-offs, yixing always takes before it gives back.
For pots, I’d start with modern zini #5 and maybe #4 or #2. Establish an “OK” puer pot and an “OK” oolong pot; with that grounding of pot vs. gaiwan attributes you can then compare the benchmark with the other clays & teapots with the same tea to see if the new entry pot contributes more to less to the benchmark pot. Also, don’t start worrying about proper tea matching to pot shape yet.
I’d suggest that this is better than trying to do “pot tasting.” That is, having a session with one pot and two types of tea. While it’s a lot of fun to do it’s so subjective that it confuses the head to head comparison that will teach you more about the clays. This is something you can do later after you know more about the difference between pots as fine-tuning, Dan Cong vs yancha, green perfume vs. woody puer etc....
This is great, @gld. Thank you for taking the time to write such a thorough reply. What you are proposing makes a lot of sense. I was precisely thinking about narrowing the first stage to the Zini pots, and so your suggestion to start with only two of them and with two teas provides me with a much more streamlined plan. Couple of questions, though: why sheng and mainland oolong? Does it matter if it's green or dark oolong? (I would normally assume dark if only because I've read over and over again that greens generally match better with zhuni, but then again, perhaps you are nudging me towards leaving any preconceived notions behind?). And regarding the pots: are you saying one tall and one low profile? I suppose then that I will start with the Zini Li Xing (#5) and the Dicaoqing Sangbian (#2) because they seem the most different of all the Zini pots on the list.
(Regarding your question about my previous knowledge: I have been combing through old posts in different forums and devouring a few blogs, all the while trying to visit as many tea shops as possible so I can get my hands on and inspect as many Yixing pots as possible. So I suppose I have the basics, but needless to say I still feel like a complete and total newbie. I am looking forward to putting to play whatever theoretical and practical knowledge anybody might share.)
(Regarding your question about my previous knowledge: I have been combing through old posts in different forums and devouring a few blogs, all the while trying to visit as many tea shops as possible so I can get my hands on and inspect as many Yixing pots as possible. So I suppose I have the basics, but needless to say I still feel like a complete and total newbie. I am looking forward to putting to play whatever theoretical and practical knowledge anybody might share.)
Mhhh, this is going to be a touchy topic…
From what I can tell from your images, the clays all don’t seem right. So I would not work under the premise of what you read about how a certain clay should behave, when testing them.
Maybe the first two Zini are sort of what they supposed to be, but the “Zhuni” is if at all Zhuni, definitely not pure! Something is blended in there. The black ones do of course have some sort of additives in it, otherwise I couldn’t explain the colour. The last Duanni also seems to be made of I don’t know what…
To sum it up, all these clays look blended with something, might be just other clay, sand, other non-mixing clays and additives. Hard to be sure. Might still be ok pots, but I wouldn’t take them as a benchmark for Yixing clay in any way. Sorry to be blunt here.
From what I can tell from your images, the clays all don’t seem right. So I would not work under the premise of what you read about how a certain clay should behave, when testing them.
Maybe the first two Zini are sort of what they supposed to be, but the “Zhuni” is if at all Zhuni, definitely not pure! Something is blended in there. The black ones do of course have some sort of additives in it, otherwise I couldn’t explain the colour. The last Duanni also seems to be made of I don’t know what…
To sum it up, all these clays look blended with something, might be just other clay, sand, other non-mixing clays and additives. Hard to be sure. Might still be ok pots, but I wouldn’t take them as a benchmark for Yixing clay in any way. Sorry to be blunt here.
Hey @Bok, thanks for chipping in. I have a feeling that my pictures might be a bit too on the contrasty side and therefore a bit misleading.
For example, the Zhuni Wen Dan I bought directly from mudandleaves along with the Dicaoqing Sangbian.
The “mantianxing Zini” XISHi I bought from lukevecent (who apparently a lot of people vouch for around here) and it’s not black but a deep brownish purple, very similar to the little pear, which is from KongMountainTea along with the Jiangponi. None of them have any weird smell or produce any funny taste in boiling water. In my opinion, they pass the “hot rock test”, but hey, maybe you are right and I will have at least two whammies in there.
I will take some extra pics in a different light, including of the inside of the “wood fired duanni” (also gifted to me). I think with that you get a better sense of what the clay actually looks like beyond what I was told is a “naturally occurring glaze”.
For example, the Zhuni Wen Dan I bought directly from mudandleaves along with the Dicaoqing Sangbian.
The “mantianxing Zini” XISHi I bought from lukevecent (who apparently a lot of people vouch for around here) and it’s not black but a deep brownish purple, very similar to the little pear, which is from KongMountainTea along with the Jiangponi. None of them have any weird smell or produce any funny taste in boiling water. In my opinion, they pass the “hot rock test”, but hey, maybe you are right and I will have at least two whammies in there.
I will take some extra pics in a different light, including of the inside of the “wood fired duanni” (also gifted to me). I think with that you get a better sense of what the clay actually looks like beyond what I was told is a “naturally occurring glaze”.
Last edited by gradiva on Wed Apr 29, 2020 2:54 am, edited 2 times in total.
@sporad Welcome to the Forum!sporad wrote: ↑Tue Apr 28, 2020 12:42 pmHey all.
Got my hands on some Yixings (bought some, received some) and after a whole lot of gaiwan brewing I'm ready to start some more serious experimenting. My plan is to obviously test as many combinations as I can, but I am hoping that perhaps some of you might have some thoughts on where would be a good place to start given the particular characteristics of each of the pots. I drink all kinds of teas and have everything from Anxi to Zheng Shan Xiao Chung in my cupboard.
Let the pairing games begin!
I adopt a same approach in pot selection to pot pairing, to bring it one step further, you can search up on the much debated approach of Pot Affinity.
1. Always have a neutral and white porcelain brewing vessel in hand. Be it a porcelain teapot or a porcelain gaiwan. This is very important. This will be what you will consider as your reference point or benchmark. You will need this to know if the teapot enhanced or degraded your tea.
2. Start with the end in mind. Specific clays will have their own specific characters. I will leave it to you to explore that. Only by setting your GPS, will you know if you're heading the right direction.
3. Line your teapots up with their lids open.
4. Brew your choice of tea in the Porcelain Pot/Gaiwan and pour into a pitcher. This is to make sure your brew is even. Then pour the tea into every pot, leaving some in the pitcher. Using a same porcelain cup, start tasting every brew that pours out from every pot. Using the brew in the pitcher as a reference point.
By doing so, you are able to do a more accurate side-by-side comparison as you have eliminated all other variances by turning them into a constant. The differences in the brew in all pots are unique in their own way.
5. There is no right or wrong in the pairing... important objective is to find the pot that pours the best brew that you enjoy the most.
By far, this is the closest you can get to finding the best tea & pot match you can ever get. Do remember, what tastes best to you, might differ from others. Always challenge the so called norm.
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Here's an illustration on how your tea tray will look like... it's fun to explore. Happy journey!!
Cheers!!
While wood firing can alter a clays appearance quite considerably, it is usually not as uniform as on your pot, the result will look more like what you see on Bizen ware or Taiwanese woodfired pottery. Uniform appearance means it has been at least put in a protective box, but then that would defeat the point of wood-firing, at least in the modern sense. Back in the days, they also used wood fire for Yixing of course, but with protective cases. But maybe the specific potter your pot is from was only after the darker colour/shininess... benefit of the doubt applies
