Chaozhou/Shantou

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ferg
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Thu Apr 13, 2023 9:09 pm

Did I say snap happy? :lol:
You can really see the streak action going on here.

inside 6
inside 6
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inside 7
inside 7
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inside 8
inside 8
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inside 9
inside 9
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inside 10, hole pic
inside 10, hole pic
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Baisao
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Thu Apr 13, 2023 10:31 pm

ferg wrote:
Thu Apr 13, 2023 8:59 pm
wave_code Thanks for your input!
I will likely steer away from magic eraser if this is the case. Honestly, I am hesitant to use any chemicals. After reading bit more on the percarbonate here, I’m not even sure it’s necessary to go to this extent.
I want to clear something up: there is nothing wrong with using sodium percarbonate. It does not damage pots in the least and has zero accumulative toxicity. When mixed with water it becomes soda ash and hydrogen peroxide. And when you rinse them away they quicky go into solution and drain harmlessly away.

Melamine sponges do releases small particles of plastic and *may* be a small issue with a highly porous pot like yours. It is not an issue at all on glazed pots or pots that are highly vitrified.

I really dislike the scare bear posts about harmless things. People can make their own choices but there have also been a lot of neurotics on this forum spreading misinformation because they read that Mercola/Food Babe/Dr Weil/ and the whole scared of every industry say something like dihydrogren monoxide is toxic so they warn everyone away from it too.

https://dhmo.org/facts.html
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Baiyun
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Fri Apr 14, 2023 2:29 am

There is also sodium bicarbonate aka baking soda, available in any grocery store. Leaving a thick water based paste of the stuff all over the pot to sit over night and using a tooth brush on the pot the next day should go a long way. If needed, pouring white vinegar right over the pot with the agitated bicarb paste still on it will give it a bit of bubble action as it neutralises. I found that rinsing the pot with boiling water and letting it sit in hot water for a while afterwards has it come out absolutely clean with zero bicarb soapiness and no trace of vinegar. All harmless substances.
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Baisao
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Fri Apr 14, 2023 2:51 am

Baiyun wrote:
Fri Apr 14, 2023 2:29 am
There is also sodium bicarbonate aka baking soda, available in any grocery store. Leaving a thick water based paste of the stuff all over the pot to sit over night and using a tooth brush on the pot the next day should go a long way. If needed, pouring white vinegar right over the pot with the agitated bicarb paste still on it will give it a bit of bubble action as it neutralises. I found that rinsing the pot with boiling water and letting it sit in hot water for a while afterwards has it come out absolutely clean with zero bicarb soapiness and no trace of vinegar. All harmless substances.
Soda ash is sodium carbonate, not too dissimilar to sodium bicarbonate. Now add some hydrogen peroxide like we used to apply to cuts and sores and you have sCaRy ScArY sodium percarbonate.

It should go without saying that I’m not directing this sarcasm at any individual who has posted on this thread. I am irked that some neurotics posted false information and that it persists in a form that new members will read it and become falsely alarmed.
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Baiyun
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Fri Apr 14, 2023 3:42 am

Baisao wrote:
Fri Apr 14, 2023 2:51 am
Now add some hydrogen peroxide like we used to apply to cuts and sores
Or tooth whitening to stay ahead of those tea stains :D
But yes to be clear, I would not hesitate using sodium percarbonate either.

I think both are commonly used by pot dealers to clean them up and have a well confirmed history among pot heads.
Andrew S
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Fri Apr 14, 2023 5:08 am

ferg wrote:
Thu Apr 13, 2023 12:17 pm
Hello Andrew. As suggested, I’ve taken many ‘before’ pictures. Went a little snap happy. ;)

Curious if you have any input on this silver smudging on top of lid. Almost resembles a fingerprint, of some type of slurry. Apparently, an attempt has already been made to remove. It’s been further suggested I sodium percarbonate the thing and then try to use a magic eraser. I worry doing so could cause the outer coating to also come off.

I welcome any input you may have.
Ha, I'm not a source of knowledge; I'm only just starting to learn myself.

Like others have said, feel free to try to clean it off, but also feel free to start brewing away in it and get to know your pot. I like how 'honest' these old pots look, and some chips and marks seem perfectly consistent with that.

Teaware pages can sometimes look like they're only about the teaware and not about the tea that they brew, but you should try some different teas in your pot and let us know how you go.

I've had great experiences with both heavily-roasted yancha and lightly-roasted yancha in my few examples, plus some other kinds of tea that I've tried, but that's mostly a reflection on what I brew.

I used to assume that CZ pots were too 'porous', 'muting' etc, but it really is more complex than that. I've found that nice clay doesn't mute tea, but instead interacts with it, and it's fun to learn how it makes teas present themselves differently.

Andrew
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Bok
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Fri Apr 14, 2023 6:23 am

Andrew S wrote:
Fri Apr 14, 2023 5:08 am

I used to assume that CZ pots were too 'porous', 'muting' etc, but it really is more complex than that. I've found that nice clay doesn't mute tea, but instead interacts with it, and it's fun to learn how it makes teas present themselves differently.
Hear hear! I wish we could frame that and hang it on the wall of the virtual tea room.
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ferg
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Fri Apr 14, 2023 10:45 am

Thanks everyone for your input! I will reconsider the percarbonate treatment.

@Bok Before I got this route, can you please confirm if you’ve already percarbed? If so, I don’t see the point in repeating.
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Bok
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Fri Apr 14, 2023 10:47 am

ferg wrote:
Fri Apr 14, 2023 10:45 am
Thanks everyone for your input! I will reconsider the percarbonate treatment.

Bok Before I got this route, can you please confirm if you’ve already percarbed? If so, I don’t see the point in repeating.
I did. Twice. I think it might be an impurity in the slurry they used to coat it. I’ve seen similar blackish grey discolourations before on Shantou ware.
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ferg
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Fri Apr 14, 2023 10:58 am

Ok, thanks @Bok! Definitely no point in repeating in that case. Good to know you’ve seen this before, and not necessarily unique to this piece.
Andrew S wrote:
Fri Apr 14, 2023 5:08 am

Teaware pages can sometimes look like they're only about the teaware and not about the tea that they brew, but you should try some different teas in your pot and let us know how you go.

I've had great experiences with both heavily-roasted yancha and lightly-roasted yancha in my few examples, plus some other kinds of tea that I've tried, but that's mostly a reflection on what I brew.

I used to assume that CZ pots were too 'porous', 'muting' etc, but it really is more complex than that. I've found that nice clay doesn't mute tea, but instead interacts with it, and it's fun to learn how it makes teas present themselves differently.

Andrew
Hey @Andrew S, well spoken. I should brew up some teas in it soon. Only issue is only sitting on that sheng I broke up and samples from Moody, old sheng and some high fire yancha from a local Hong Kong teahouse. I’ll soon have more variety of teas coming from EoT, ChaWang, and Hojo to experiment with.
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ferg
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Fri Apr 14, 2023 5:48 pm

The remaining pics, because I haven’t put up enough already. :roll:

Some serious wabi sabi, or sloppiness, going on here, depending on one’s perspective.

Don’t mind the cat hair...

lid 1
lid 1
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lid 2
lid 2
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Look at that sludge! :shock:

lid 3
lid 3
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Pot bottom looks quite primitive. Apparently, according to a CZ potter, the tools they used back then to construct were not great compared to today.

bottoms up
bottoms up
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close up
close up
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Andrew S
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Fri Apr 14, 2023 7:46 pm

ferg wrote:
Fri Apr 14, 2023 5:48 pm
Pot bottom looks quite primitive. Apparently, according to a CZ potter, the tools they used back then to construct were not great compared to today.
It does seem that there are lots of rough old Chaozhou pots out there, but I think that they were certainly capable of making some elegant ones, just as Yixing potters were more than capable of making plenty of rough ones.

Beyond that, I'm not sure why the craftsmanship was so different between the two regions. Perhaps someone here has some answers.

Was it perhaps that CZ pots were used for rougher methods of brewing and thus simply needed to be practical devices rather than works of art? Or was it that they commanded lower prices, such that a higher quality of craftsmanship would have been wasted on them?

Andrew
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Bok
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Fri Apr 14, 2023 9:21 pm

The finer examples make it less often to the open market. Some sort of “neglected, looked down upon distant cousin” vibe…

Below an example of a fine specimen of Shantou.
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Andrew S
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Fri Apr 14, 2023 9:29 pm

Bok wrote:
Fri Apr 14, 2023 9:21 pm
The finer examples make it less often to the open market. Some sort of “neglected, looked down upon distant cousin” vibe…

Below an example of a fine specimen of Shantou.
Image
Hold on, I think I 'recognise' that spout...

Andrew
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Bok
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Fri Apr 14, 2023 9:36 pm

@Andrew S ha! Indeed quite similar! Mengchen stamp?
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