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I need a small vessel to brew old sheng for myself ( I have a bigger one when I brew for 2-3 people).
I prefer not to invest in another pot (I usually don't brew old sheng for myself too often) but would like to avoid the iffy storage stuff.
Do you think that a yixing gaiwan - particularly the $20 stuff you can find on Dragon Tea House, would do the job? Any alternatives?

No. The clay on yixing gaiwans is really bad.
Old sheng is the type of tea that most benefits from a yixing pot, zini/qingshuini are ideal clays if you want to round some storage flavors. If I had to get 1 yixing, I'd get it for old sheng. I don't know of any worthwhile alternatives. Oolongs can be brewed in a gaiwan just fine

steanze wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 23, 2018 8:26 am

No. The clay on yixing gaiwans is really bad.
Old sheng is the type of tea that most benefits from a yixing pot, zini/qingshuini are ideal clays if you want to round some storage flavors. If I had to get 1 yixing, I'd get it for old sheng. I don't know of any worthwhile alternatives. Oolongs can be brewed in a gaiwan just fine

Thanks
I have a small zini biandeng that I use for yancha, I guess that brewing old sheng in it every once in a while won't hurt

I would avoid that. Yancha leaves a quite strong roasting flavor, you don't want that to mess with your sheng. I'd still prefer a gaiwan in that case.

steanze wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 23, 2018 8:39 am

I would avoid that. Yancha leaves a quite strong roasting flavor, you don't want that to mess with your sheng. I'd still prefer a gaiwan in that case.

So, between the old sheng and yancha you think that old sheng benefits more from yixing? Am I right?
But yixing also has a great impact on yancha don't you think? I may be wrong since I drink yancha exclusively from yixing so perhaps I just got used to the taste...

In my view, old sheng benefits more from yixing than yancha, although yancha benefits too. Also, if the yancha is good, I prefer it in a hongni pot.
But if you drink old sheng only rarely, and you like the yancha in the zini biandeng, then you can use a gaiwan for old sheng for the time being and later on you can get a yixing.

What do you consider "old" Sheng?
I use a zini for shu and a hongni for sheng, but my sheng is never very old.

Brent D wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 24, 2018 8:28 am

What do you consider "old" Sheng?
I use a zini for shu and a hongni for sheng, but my sheng is never very old.

About 15-20 years... mostly stuff from very early 2000s.