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Please share your experiences, observations and journey with your porcelain gaiwan.

Cheers!!

I just received 2 nicely made GaiWan from JingDeZhen. Pitched them against my other Gaiwans made from other regions to compare their brewing profiles and impact it has on tea! In the line up are Gaiwans made in Anxi, DeHua, ChaoZhou and JingDeZhen.

Tea was brewed in a glass GaiWan to maintain neutrality.
Stay tuned! There definitely is a difference!

Cheers!!

Had the perfect soft evening light to highlight the differences in white hues between different Gaiwan made from different regions and quality.

Beautiful light. Looking forward to your report. Such subtle differences appear with only pictures.

I look forward to reading your comparison.

For me, having a high flare out at the top of the gaiwan is important since I have no tolerance for hot fingers so I'm happy with my basic gaiwan. It doesn't get much use though since I have dedicated pots for the teas I like to drink.

OCTO wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 18, 2018 8:08 am

Had the perfect soft evening light to highlight the differences in white hues between different Gaiwan made from different regions and quality.

4487A1A4-466B-49A3-B88B-62DAF2431719.jpeg

Nice shot. I'd pick the ones on the left

And there I was thinking that at least one thing in the jungle of teaware was for sure – the neutrality of porcelain...

Sigh... more things to explore, empty our pockets and fill the cabinet.

Bok wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 18, 2018 10:30 pm

And there I was thinking that at least one thing in the jungle of teaware was for sure – the neutrality of porcelain...

Sigh... more things to explore, empty our pockets and fill the cabinet.

I always assumed the glaze would be neutral but the thickness and possibly the shape could make a difference. Am I wrong again?

Janice wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 19, 2018 7:21 am

Bok wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 18, 2018 10:30 pm

And there I was thinking that at least one thing in the jungle of teaware was for sure – the neutrality of porcelain...

Sigh... more things to explore, empty our pockets and fill the cabinet.

I always assumed the glaze would be neutral but the thickness and possibly the shape could make a difference. Am I wrong again?

Apparently yes, wrong. Brother @OCTO will enlighten us with his findings

So a bit late, but now I did my own comparisons of porcelain.

Jingdezhen vs Dehua porcelain gaiwan, same approximate shape/thickness/volume.
Brewed was Winter Duckshit Dancong in a lightly processed version.

I am sorry to say that there is a very evident difference in taste between the two. Already the wet leaves of the emptied gaiwan smell much more fragrant in one of them. The first sips and subsequent steeps confirm that Jingdezhen emphasises the aroma and high notes very clearly compared to Dehua.

So for anyone who thought to be on the safe and neutral side with porcelain - think again. All porcelain is not created equal!

Will further investigate with older porcelain and other changeable parameters.

Sigh... it never ends!

Bok wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 12, 2019 9:37 am

I am sorry to say that there is a very evident difference in taste between the two. Already the wet leaves of the emptied gaiwan smell much more fragrant in one of them. The first sips and subsequent steeps confirm that Jingdezhen emphasises the aroma and high notes very clearly compared to Dehua.

Thank you. You provide useful information.

I assumed that there is no significant difference. Because there is a difference, some of us will deliberately choose which porcelain to use (or buy) by what we want from the leaves. (Not me, most likely. Lately I have been using the teapot from your pottery master in Tainan for everything.)

I have recently started using a Jingdezhen gaiwan and have really been enjoying it. One thing I noticed is that the finish on my Jingdezhen gaiwan is more of a matte finish (which in the description was done intentionally) and not the high shine polished finish of my other gaiwan. Also, it is a medium thickness which really holds the heat in well. My only gripe is that the knob on the top of the lid can get rather hot after the 3rd steeping or so.

This is pretty interesting. It's pretty clear that porcelain doesn't dissolve any minerals into the liquid, so it must be something with shape or heat retention. I've heard it being said that thinner porcelain emphasizes aromatics more. But you did say that they're approximately the same thickness and shape. I'd say to try to see how the pitch/sound changes between the clay. Might indicate firing differences, or just the porcelain itself being different. As noted, porcelain between regions does have a different color. Wouldn't be crazy to think that one would retain heat better.

OCTO wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 18, 2018 8:08 am

Had the perfect soft evening light to highlight the differences in white hues between different Gaiwan made from different regions and quality.

in this pic and the first one, can you indicate which gaiwans are from where?