Yixing / Clay pot purchase advice within EU

[Maerskian]

Been reading around the Yixing megathread & speeding through the Yixing advice but so far can't find anything fitting the parameters i'm looking for and even suspect i might not be alone on this so will just break away from the shadows where most readers comfortably stand :

Reading most of you talking about Yixing pots can be intimidating in a way as some of "us" aren't really seduced by the teaware collecting side and mostly curious about experimenting with tea... which leads to some Yixing testing as well, however not everybody is comfortable spending much on pots ( not for those early ones at the very least... afterwards anything can happen ) and would rather redirecting those funds towards tea.

My growing tea collection is "pushing me" towards finding one... or a couple Yixing pots fitting my needs which would be:

- around 200ml
- no patterns, no decoration, as "simple" ( i know it's relative ) as possible
- shape wide enough to allow leaves to expand
- two digit priced

Granted, i just need a functional pot... not the artisan kind, not one that's also a piece of art, no antiques... as long as it fills its purpose i'm fine, just need a pot that enhaces or equalize tea, avoid the usual contaminated clay pots and - even harder - find it within the EU limits.

So far i'm happy with my ceramic pots, have one XXL ( 550ml ) purion pot , two small ( 100ml ) purion ones as well + 7 60ml purion cups ( all Lin Ceramics ), however i need to keep experimenting with my teas so i'd like to try with Yixing... granted... if what i'm looking for even exists.

German market seems to be excluded given its nature ( would be surprised to find something affordable along the lines of what i mentioned there ), wonder if anybody might know alternatives ?

[Youzi]

Nixing or Jianshui. Ordered form china, you'll only have to pay VAT legally under 100$.

[Balthazar]

Nixing or Jianshui. Ordered form china, you'll only have to pay VAT legally under 100$.

Was gonna say the same, considering the two digits limit. I'm partial to Nixing.

[Maerskian]

Nixing or Jianshui. Ordered form china, you'll only have to pay VAT legally under 100$.

VAT these days is applied to anything & everything, no matter how small the amount.

Moreover: customs over have have the obnoxious tendency to circumvent the law: they charge you first based on whatever their criteria is... then you're free to waste your time complaining.

99.9% of the time you have a winning case & will recover the extra amount charged ( eventually, they are never in a rush for it ), however... nobody will return you time & additional headaches.

Quite honestly they "won", i don't have the time nor energy to keep fighting this nonsense and more than ever they motivated me enough to not want to throw a cent towards this bunch so for the time being EU only.

[.m.]

Look at fleemarkets, local classifieds, etc. Download pictures of catalogues for F1, especially from the Green Label era, those pots pop out once in a while, and so do old European export LQER pots. Keep your eyes open and you'll find a good pot eventually. Or go new, and be ready to spend a bit more, around $150 from a place like EoT, TWL, M&L...

[Youzi]

Nixing or Jianshui. Ordered form china, you'll only have to pay VAT legally under 100$.

VAT these days is applied to anything & everything, no matter how small the amount.

Moreover: customs over have have the obnoxious tendency to circumvent the law: they charge you first based on whatever their criteria is... then you're free to waste your time complaining.

99.9% of the time you have a winning case & will recover the extra amount charged ( eventually, they are never in a rush for it ), however... nobody will return you time & additional headaches.

Quite honestly they "won", i don't have the time nor energy to keep fighting this nonsense and more than ever they motivated me enough to not want to throw a cent towards this bunch so for the time being EU only.

I mean, that you don't have to pay import duties and ADD neither. Of course there is VAT plus customs handling fee plus shipping. But you paying that either way if you import the teapot yourself or if you buy from someone who imported the teapot. The only difference is that the vendor will add their markup too.

Since you said <100$. Then that ruled out pretty much everything locally bought within the EU.

Maybe you can check out czech teaware. That's locally made inside the EU. So no import duties.

I heard many people like them. Personally I have no experience with not Chinese teapots.

Some names I heard are: Duchek, Bero, Novak

[Maerskian]

Nixing or Jianshui. Ordered form china, you'll only have to pay VAT legally under 100$.

VAT these days is applied to anything & everything, no matter how small the amount.

Moreover: customs over have have the obnoxious tendency to circumvent the law: they charge you first based on whatever their criteria is... then you're free to waste your time complaining.

99.9% of the time you have a winning case & will recover the extra amount charged ( eventually, they are never in a rush for it ), however... nobody will return you time & additional headaches.

Quite honestly they "won", i don't have the time nor energy to keep fighting this nonsense and more than ever they motivated me enough to not want to throw a cent towards this bunch so for the time being EU only.

I mean, that you don't have to pay import duties and ADD neither. Of course there is VAT plus customs handling fee plus shipping. But you paying that either way if you import the teapot yourself or if you buy from someone who imported the teapot. The only difference is that the vendor will add their markup too.

Since you said <100$. Then that ruled out pretty much everything locally bought within the EU.

Maybe you can check out czech teaware. That's locally made inside the EU. So no import duties.

I heard many people like them. Personally I have no experience with not Chinese teapots.

Some names I heard are: Duchek, Bero, Novak

I have one Czech teapot ( quite happy with it indeed ) but those are usually glazed inside, not within my budget ( the one i own was a present & my uneducated guess would place it within the 200-300€ range ) and looking for a porous one.

Shipping + added costs also breaks my budget i'm afraid.

Just looking for a "beginner" simple clay teapot, a baby step not made of toxic clay like plenty of those around ebay/aliexpress or plenty dodgy euro stores ( Teasoul - Italian store - comes to mind; on one hand they still have legit Lin Ceramics stock they might have gotten years ago... on the other hand i sadly know firsthand they have plenty toxic teaware, the kind that used to be on the usuall mass marketplaces ) .

Must say i have some candidates from an Euro store i can absolutely trust on the tea-side ( small curated selection, tiny business, if they don't drink it themselves they won't sell it )... but having a hard time to admit those are indeed as good as it looks ( tea is one thing, teaware an entirely different business ) , here they are:



Labeled as "Yixing" , pretty tempting price ( surprising even ) , my order would qualify for free shipping. Fully aware it won't be the artisan kind, probably mould made (?), but as long as it's functional it'd be good enough for the time being.

[Maerskian]

Look at fleemarkets, local classifieds, etc. Download pictures of catalogues for F1, especially from the Green Label era, those pots pop out once in a while, and so do old European export LQER pots. Keep your eyes open and you'll find a good pot eventually. Or go new, and be ready to spend a bit more, around $150 from a place like EoT, TWL, M&L...

Thanks for the tips although afraid that won't work for our local/regional market although... could work ( ? )... maybe somewhere around Germany ( now i think about it, out of my many excursions looking for all kind of stuff never went around teaware-hunting there! ) .

Have my elder niece's wedding this summer so i have to go there anyways, need to locate some antique shops within nordrhein-westfalen try to organize some kind of route.

[LeoFox]

Maybe some options here? (US, but prices are dirt cheap)

viewtopic.php?f=28&t=1799
viewtopic.php?f=28&t=1963
viewtopic.php?f=28&t=2284

It seems you buy a lot of tea - since you stated that your collection is getting big. Are those teas a lot cheaper than pots?

I find that almost no matter how expensive the pots are- maintaining a continuous flow of good tea is much more costly.

[Maerskian]

Maybe some options here? (US, but prices are dirt cheap)

viewtopic.php?f=28&t=1799
viewtopic.php?f=28&t=1963
viewtopic.php?f=28&t=2284

Hmmm... afraid none of those would work :/ . On one hand overseas shipping nowadays is higher than it used to be ( check Mr.Mopar/Mr.Mopu posts related to his side tea-business, there's a reason why he always mention US shipping prices... open to ship overseas ... if we dare to ) ... then there's customs nowadays behaving in a more annoying way ( there's a chance they'd stop my potential pot then request some kind of invoce... that won't exist ) each passing day... on the other hand, more fixated on 200ml sizes and only one of those would be around there.

Those two pots i posted on that gallery above are priced at 53€ & 60€ and qualify for free shipping. Not sure how functional though ( certainly factory made ) .

It seems you buy a lot of tea - since you stated that your collection is getting big. Are those teas a lot cheaper than pots?

This could be a kind of open question more related to each tea drinker's profile.

The thing is... at this point on my tea path ( and by any means i still consider myself to be too "young" on it ) i don't feel too much magnetism coming from teaware. Love watching all those pictures, find all the details people share here & elsewhere quite interesting, always love to learn something new, also amazed at some very particular designs, certainly can understand why they work as pieces of art ... but when it comes to the collecting side or even owning one... just don't feel like it.

It's relatively similar ( maybe not so much ) to taking pictures, sharing notes, talking about tea... it's obvious i love reading about it ( whether it's books, Marshaln's blog or the usual tea-bloggers, thoughts overe here ) but feel more comfortable sitting on the shadows.

Long story short, i just love drinking tea and do so on a daily basis to a bigger/lesser extent. A limited amount of functional teaware is enough, already own enough ( mostly ceramic, just a few purion ones ) ... only i feel partially guilty about owning so much tea and not experimenting enough with the porous clay testing looking to be a necessary rite of passage.

Purion teapots work on that regard but seems the kind to kill aggressive notes, now it's time to test a different kind and would probaly need a couple clay pots as i also feel intrigued as to whether shu could benefit of it ( a kind that's usually quite flavorful on its own ) .

As for your question: some are ( or rather... were; price is becoming awfully relative nowadays... i'm fine as long as they are enjoyable ) , some aren't. Wouldn't say it works as a kind of metric.

I find that almost no matter how expensive the pots are- maintaining a continuous flow of good tea is much more costly.

That was my point when i started placing my abnormal-size orders some years ago fully aware i was doing it the wrong way ( awfully surprised about the high success rate to be honest, although i had plenty help from community members ), now i'm more selective & certainly no need to be very active... although it's worth mentioning i don't drink green tea ( now that'd be something to relatively worry about ) and for the most part i drink puerh ( + heicha - shu technically should be here as well - , white tea with some years on it plus some oolongs & hongcha ) .

It's true the circle keeps shrinking ( that's how i see it as i keep checking stores ) as some areas keep raising prices reaching limits i deem unreasonable plus we're stuck on this trend to turn any other area into a new "golden" one which eventually lead us to the previous point ... however that's more or less what i was expecting back then.

I'll just keep buying as far as those teas are priced within reasonable limits, the moment it doesn't make any sense i'll just stop ( which at this pace could very well be late this year according to my calculations )... don't have any real need ( had enough tea for the rest of my life - being optimistic here - ... around 100Kg ago ) although the fact my wife finally joined my habits at a remotely similar pace changed my calculations... just a tiny bit since our habits are still different enough ( recent incidents shows i do have a tendency to overleaf while she'd rather avoid that kind of ratios ) .

[Andrew S]

@Maerskian: I think that the proposed budget and the desire to get something from within the EU mean that your Yixing options are quite limited (unless you get lucky in an auction or an antique shop).

Additionally, and with apologies for not really responding to your question, I think that the difficulty that you'll have is that a low-cost Yixing pot is not likely to be representative of Yixing clay more generally.

My first pot many years ago was something that I bought for around AU$70 in a tea shop around here. It made terrible tea - it took away aromas and flavours, and gave very little back in exchange. But it would have been wrong for me to conclude based on that example that other Yiixng pots would behave in a similar fashion.

That's not to say that you need to spend a lot on a teapot, but rather to say that you may be disappointed or led astray if you spend little on a Yixing teapot.

I don't yet have any experience with Nixing or Jianshui clays, but they do seem to offer good value for money compared to Yixing (but if you need them to come from within the EU, then they would probably be hard to find).

Perhaps you can post your interest on the Tea Swap section here and see if there's anyone else in the EU who might have something that would suit you.

Andrew

[Bok]

Second that. Better to get none than a below average pot and draw the wrong conclusions.

Tea swaps are probably your best chance on getting something on a budget - or, save up for a few months? Get a decent entry level pot from EoT for example. Simple, but well designed and with what looks like good clay. They have that range of modern pots they get made and many people seem to like them.

For most other shops it’s more of a gamble to buy something without knowing anything already about clay.

[Youzi]

+1 for the tea swap or try checking out the Marketplace on the /tea discord server.

Those pots you linked are probably mass produced machine made teapots. The only thing they have to do with yixing is the name and probably the factory is located in that area.

If you want a teapot for it's functionality / ergonomic they are fine. They aren't going to kill you, but just know that you can't make assumptions about clay teapots or yixing teapots based on your experience with them, because they don't have much in common.

Staying with porcelain is a good option too. There's nothing wrong with it, and it'll always show you the true side of the tea, without any alterations.

Just some things to consider regarding prices:
A 60€ teapot imported from China, is probably retailing for 30€ there for most. ( you need to consider VAT is included in the price, and the margin of the shop 20-40%, plus you get free shipping, which means the shipping price is in the margin too)
A 30€ teapot in China, on taobao, straight from the factory is about 15€ or less.

So just take these into consideration when you are looking for value purchases.

[enjoi]

Mabye an option:
https://www.chenshi-chinatee.de/de/yixi ... lsieb.html but generally i think the same as @Andrew S and @Bok

[Maerskian]

Maerskian: I think that the proposed budget and the desire to get something from within the EU mean that your Yixing options are quite limited (unless you get lucky in an auction or an antique shop).

Indeed. In fact i was expecting to confirm my realistic options are zero.

Additionally, and with apologies for not really responding to your question, I think that the difficulty that you'll have is that a low-cost Yixing pot is not likely to be representative of Yixing clay more generally.

My first pot many years ago was something that I bought for around AU$70 in a tea shop around here. It made terrible tea - it took away aromas and flavours, and gave very little back in exchange. But it would have been wrong for me to conclude based on that example that other Yiixng pots would behave in a similar fashion.

That's not to say that you need to spend a lot on a teapot, but rather to say that you may be disappointed or led astray if you spend little on a Yixing teapot.

Was secretly hoping for angles like this one based on personal experience so can't thank you enough for sharing. It's the kind of realistic picture i needed to confirm i certainly need to reflect about it some more time, learn more about clays & different models... and then invest some time checking different option, after all it's not a real need ( will expand a little bit while replying to youzi ) and more about experimenting.

I don't yet have any experience with Nixing or Jianshui clays, but they do seem to offer good value for money compared to Yixing (but if you need them to come from within the EU, then they would probably be hard to find).

The main issue is not availability... they are around, mainly on German shops which ranges from the usual German prices ( tied to their taxes/income ) to what - from distance & maybe lack of knowledge - feels like bubble prices. Feel fortunate to say this: it's not that i can't afford 'em, just that i don't want to.

Also more than aware of what Youzi mentioned below ... which applies for teaware & tea... and i'd say it's no suprise for anybody around, yes, we know we are paying "westerner" prices and sometimes this can get even worse on India or as a "farang" with no buddhism background ( unless you run into the scarce few critical locals ) or neighbouring countries around jumping into the tea/sheng band wagon .

Perhaps you can post your interest on the Tea Swap section here and see if there's anyone else in the EU who might have something that would suit you.

Andrew

Thanks for mentioning this option. Stopped considering the second hand realm for almost anything years ago although it's true each particular hobby tends to have a different demography and teaple should be different, so worth checking... even though there doesn't seem to be much of a market around here to be honest ( if i take Scott Wilson's market share percentages for Europe back in 2020 - close to 30% - and take into account the percentage of yixing users will be even less... then we can deduct a tiny secondhand market, probably non-existent at some given points in time ) although the Discord community always have been busier so at some point i might try asking there.

Thanks again for mentioning all this.

Second that. Better to get none than a below average pot and draw the wrong conclusions.

Agreed, as explained above.

Tea swaps are probably your best chance on getting something on a budget - or, save up for a few months?

Already saving ... but that's going to more sheng ( some shu if possible ) . From my perspective the door is about to close, there will be teas around only not at the kind of prices i'd feel comfortable paying for.

Sheng & some shu is my main priority for this year. Still have some decent options around so i'll just take what i can then most probably forget about it unless there's something awfully interesting in sight... which can happen on the hundreds range, although at this pace looks like the two-digit range will just resort to the latest visual trick ( smaller cakes/higher prices ) which in the end will be a hurdle i won't need nor be willing to jump.

Maybe i could focus on a decent pot once i'm done; clearly it looks like there's no such thing as a truly functional - as in affecting the tea in a positive way - pot within affordable ranges.

Get a decent entry level pot from EoT for example. Simple, but well designed and with what looks like good clay. They have that range of modern pots they get made and many people seem to like them.

As mentioned earlier... that won't work for too many reasons, plus the only size that'd fit my needs from their stock is sold out. I tend to use around 18-20gr leaf for my sessions nowadays, my 200ml & 300ml pots feel better for such amounts.

For most other shops it’s more of a gamble to buy something without knowing anything already about clay.

This is arguably one of the few things i had burned in my mind along the existence of toxic clays, that's what prompted me to make this thread. With this and few other notions i catched around on different communities can say i'm surprised about this final conclusion ( best to wait it out a little bit, invest some time, maybe a more serious budget... later, when i feel ready ) .

+1 for the tea swap or try checking out the Marketplace on the /tea discord server.
[/quotes]
Thanks. As explained on my answer above think i'll have to explore this option, only later.

Those pots you linked are probably mass produced machine made teapots. The only thing they have to do with yixing is the name and probably the factory is located in that area.
If you want a teapot for it's functionality / ergonomic they are fine.

That's what i was guessing too; what i was wondering was ... if they were truly "functional" for what they are .

Ceramic mould-made pots only need to be functional as in pour properly, sit properly ( i.e.: not trembling, moving... ) & add nothing to tea plus withstand thermal changes. However if they are made of such a particular material as clay... "functional" has a different meaning for if they doesn't really add some - positive - change to tea... then shouldn't be considered as such, matter of fact they'd be worse than ceramic versions in pragmatic terms.

They aren't going to kill you, but just know that you can't make assumptions about clay teapots or yixing teapots based on your experience with them, because they don't have much in common.

Indeed, that was Andrew S point which he made crystal clear, can't be stressed enough so thanks for pointing that out.

Staying with porcelain is a good option too. There's nothing wrong with it, and it'll always show you the true side of the tea, without any alterations.

Fully aware of it, in fact... it's abundantly clear there's several different profiles of tea drinkers with a vast array of preferences ( the ones that won't bother with huang pian, those that doesn't drink shu, young sheng drinkers, the ones that won't drink sheng younger than 10yo, oolong drinkers that won't bother with puer, those that won't bother much with white teas, green tea drinkers and their polar opposites, etc... ) which combine with each person's particularities ( health issues of any kind, people that can't drink tea on an empty stomach, etc... ) thus creating a large range of different profiles by combining all those, so the first task while walking your own tea path i'd say it is all about learning what is your own profile by exposing yourself to different kinds,techniques , experiments.

Still consider myself to be on my early steps so i try to challenge my own opinions as much as possible and doubt myself as much as possible at this point ( as strange as it may sound ), although in all my current naivety still remain convinced tea "should" ( note the arrogance ) be tasted as it is... with no equalizers ( like clay pots are ), and so far i have no issues with it... that's how i want it so far, fortunately don't have issues with drinking a couple liters of tea a day nor doing it on an empty stomach or challenging myself to a long session with strong/astringent teas... nor plain/humbles ones... in fact some days i fee like one or the other.

That said, i'd rather build my opinion on first hand experience and for that "have to" ( almost mandatory ) try brewing with different clay pots, see how it goes. Doesn't make much sense to pile some hundreds Kgs of tea and not "playing" with it.

Just some things to consider regarding prices:
A 60€ teapot imported from China, is probably retailing for 30€ there for most. ( you need to consider VAT is included in the price, and the margin of the shop 20-40%, plus you get free shipping, which means the shipping price is in the margin too)
A 30€ teapot in China, on taobao, straight from the factory is about 15€ or less.

So just take these into consideration when you are looking for value purchases.

Yes, fully aware of it since buying tea... or even earlier on related to plenty services. Westerner prices, plus each step along the chain implying they need to take their cut ( as it's only natural on some cases ) .

This kind of considerations is what made even harder for me to buy some Thai "sheng" some time ago considering the "farang" vision combined with regular Chinese tea market prices... coming from a place that - to my knowledge - doesn't have the slightest correlation to Chinese maocha prices nor its close to the reputation from the usual famous places ( let along GDP considerations and such ) . Same seems to apply to Vietnamese "sheng" these days, also playing with price-mimicking, see if it goes through.

Mabye an option:
https://www.chenshi-chinatee.de/de/yixi ... lsieb.html but generally i think the same as Andrew S and Bok

Thanks for the tip... although already knew about Chenshi's ( grabbed their two perma-store-pic shengs just 2 months ago... fortunately just before the - *ahem* - price raise ).

Can't deny that pot could have been an option for... later, however as they already state clearly:

impact on taste:
minimal

which defies my purpose :/ .

Only reason i feel motivated to try clay pots is to have experience on how they influence/equalize teas... not their aesthetic value ( which they have ), so this wouldn't be what i'm looking for.

Thanks anyways, even if it doesn't work for me we all know the old rule on the net ( more readers than people writing ) so maybe somebody on the shadows just found what they were looking for and that's good.