Hongni for wuyi yancha teas

Trusar
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Wed Dec 26, 2018 4:23 pm

ShuShu wrote:
Wed Dec 26, 2018 2:50 pm
Well it might be helpful if you explain what do you mean by “harshness” comparing to the a gaiwan?
Brewing yancha in a pot requires extra care, especially if the pour is not too great. What are your params?
when i say harshness, i mean this harsh feeling at the back of my throat.
The pot has a single hole.
i dont have specific params, but i dont boil the water to 100 deg, its a little less, i first wash the tea leaves quickly at not so high tempreture. i then brew the tea for maybe 10 seconds to start with.
it never comes out as full flavoured as the gaiwan, but as i mentioned before its probably because its still absorbing the teas flavours.
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steanze
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Wed Dec 26, 2018 5:21 pm

Trusar wrote:
Wed Dec 26, 2018 4:23 pm
when i say harshness, i mean this harsh feeling at the back of my throat.
I have never encountered a hongni that increases harshness in the back of the throat... Did you use the same leaf/water ratio and steep time and you get more harshness in the throat with the hongni pot than with a gaiwan? If that is the case I would not use the pot, it might be a bad/weird pot. I have never observed this effect with good hongni pots across many examples from different periods.
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OCTO
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Wed Dec 26, 2018 7:00 pm

steanze wrote:
Wed Dec 26, 2018 5:21 pm
Trusar wrote:
Wed Dec 26, 2018 4:23 pm
when i say harshness, i mean this harsh feeling at the back of my throat.
I have never encountered a hongni that increases harshness in the back of the throat... Did you use the same leaf/water ratio and steep time and you get more harshness in the throat with the hongni pot than with a gaiwan? If that is the case I would not use the pot, it might be a bad/weird pot. I have never observed this effect with good hongni pots across many examples from different periods.
Absolutely agree with @steanze ! Have not encountered any good HongNi pot that increases the harshness of tea. Got to check your pot against a authentic F1 HongNi pot. That’s the closest documented surety you can get in identifying a good HongNi pot. The other way is to get in your hands, as many HongNi which you can find and have a “date” with them. You don’t have to own them, but getting an opportunity to spend time with it helps your learning journey. This might be challenging as it’s relatively hard to find that many pots in one place in the Western tea drinking community.

Also need to note that there are in circulation, recent year (year 2000 onwards) pots that are made of a new blend of clay but are coated with a layer of liquid HongNi. These pots are not HongNi pots. Looks like one, but doesn’t behave like one. But they perform pretty well with YanCha. But I won’t place my bet on this pot with my high grade YanCha.

Cheers!!
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pedant
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Wed Dec 26, 2018 9:12 pm

Trusar wrote:
Wed Dec 26, 2018 11:49 am
will it stop muting after a seasoning?
not in my experience
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Kale
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Thu Dec 27, 2018 7:34 am

While I generally agree with @steanze I wouldn't jump to conclusions about the pot just yet. I dont mean to sound condescending, but I do believe that it takes time with yancha. It takes time to understand the tea, and to learn how to brew it in the way you like it best. Interestingly, yancha is mentioned in Chinese writings about tea as a tea that is quite fragrant but tastes bitter, sour, or harsh.... anyway, personally, I have been drinking yancha for some years without even knowing about Yixing. I was quite familiar with yancha when I first brewed it in a Yixing pot and I also didn't like it very much at first... if the pot brews hot water without any undesirable flavors or odors, I would wait before jumping to conclusions...
On a more practical note, keep the "standard" ratio of 1g/15ml-20ml and VERY fast and hot steeps.... and good tea ofc
steanze wrote:
Wed Dec 26, 2018 5:21 pm
Trusar wrote:
Wed Dec 26, 2018 4:23 pm
when i say harshness, i mean this harsh feeling at the back of my throat.
I have never encountered a hongni that increases harshness in the back of the throat... Did you use the same leaf/water ratio and steep time and you get more harshness in the throat with the hongni pot than with a gaiwan? If that is the case I would not use the pot, it might be a bad/weird pot. I have never observed this effect with good hongni pots across many examples from different periods.
Trusar
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Thu Dec 27, 2018 12:06 pm

The clay should be good, i got it from essence of teas.
i used it again today, didnt have the harshness. i used i with DHP.
the shape of the pot seems to ball rolled oolongs. think i can use it for DHP?
has anyone tried ruby gaba tea before?
Trusar
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Thu Dec 27, 2018 1:04 pm

steanze wrote:
Wed Dec 26, 2018 5:21 pm

I have never encountered a hongni that increases harshness in the back of the throat... Did you use the same leaf/water ratio and steep time and you get more harshness in the throat with the hongni pot than with a gaiwan? If that is the case I would not use the pot, it might be a bad/weird pot. I have never observed this effect with good hongni pots across many examples from different periods.
i never really measure out the tea, i just do it by eye. the pot is around 100 ish ml.
i will keep brewing and confirm, weather it is actually harsh, mineral effect or the way i brew the tea or something.
Trusar
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Thu Dec 27, 2018 2:09 pm

ok the harshness is gone. Maybe it was me.
so far the pot mutes all the teas, i think strip oolongs is the best was to go, i think the pot may be a bit restrictive for ball roled oolongs.
so far the DHP & dong ding was muted the least.

i think DHP and Wuyi rock yanchas are the way to go.
the black tea also did will ,but the taste was very muted.
this means strongest tasting tea will be the best one to brew because after seasoning it will be even stronger and fuller tasting.

i know someone said that it wont stop muting, but after a day of 2 of extensive seasoning my zini pot stopped muting, so im hoping it will be the same with this one.

just out of curiosity has anyone tried brewing coffee in a yixing or chaozhou clay pot?
Trusar
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Fri Dec 28, 2018 2:23 pm

this hongni seems to give the tea a metalic taste. is this what other people get?
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steanze
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Fri Dec 28, 2018 3:02 pm

Trusar wrote:
Fri Dec 28, 2018 2:23 pm
this hongni seems to give the tea a metalic taste. is this what other people get?
It can happen with modern hongni that has iron oxides added. Good older hongni does not do that.
Trusar
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Fri Dec 28, 2018 4:03 pm

but essence of teas said it was from 1987 to 1992, is that modern or old?
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pedant
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Fri Dec 28, 2018 4:52 pm

Pretty sure that your hongni doesn't have iron added. Correct me if I'm wrong ofc
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Victoria
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Fri Dec 28, 2018 5:32 pm

Only one of my hongni pots mute Taiwan oolong; a somewhat thick bodied Neiziwahong clay houhin (zini purple clay inside, with a coat of hongni red clay outside), made for export to Japan. It softens the hard edges of medium/low grade oolong (in a good way).

Did you get your pot from Essence of Tea? I have a similar one, I call him my little iron hat warrior, the compact form reminds me of a helmet. It’s Zini Yu Li by Liu Xiu Di 120ml, late 80s Factory 1. I use it for heavy roasted yancha mostly. Although, ideally for yancha I would recommend a teapot with a wider lid opening, to not break the dry leaves going in. For darker roasted yancha, zini clays works well for me, or thicker walled hongni pots like the one you pictured above. You probably need to season your pot for a week or so, using it as a pitcher for yancha sessions, if that doesn’t work you’ll need to reset the pot. Sometimes pots that haven’t been used for several decades, and have been stored in humid conditions, develop a musty metallic flavor when water is added, but thankfully there are remedies.
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steanze
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Sat Dec 29, 2018 1:09 am

Trusar wrote:
Fri Dec 28, 2018 4:03 pm
but essence of teas said it was from 1987 to 1992, is that modern or old?
Well it depends on perspective... but in that period they did use nenni ore with iron oxide added.
Trusar
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Tue Jan 01, 2019 4:15 pm

Victoria wrote:
Fri Dec 28, 2018 5:32 pm
Only one of my hongni pots mute Taiwan oolong; a somewhat thick bodied Neiziwahong clay houhin (zini purple clay inside, with a coat of hongni red clay outside), made for export to Japan. It softens the hard edges of medium/low grade oolong (in a good way).

Did you get your pot from Essence of Tea? I have a similar one, I call him my little iron hat warrior, the compact form reminds me of a helmet. It’s Zini Yu Li by Liu Xiu Di 120ml, late 80s Factory 1. I use it for heavy roasted yancha mostly. Although, ideally for yancha I would recommend a teapot with a wider lid opening, to not break the dry leaves going in. For darker roasted yancha, zini clays works well for me, or thicker walled hongni pots like the one you pictured above. You probably need to season your pot for a week or so, using it as a pitcher for yancha sessions, if that doesn’t work you’ll need to reset the pot. Sometimes pots that haven’t been used for several decades, and have been stored in humid conditions, develop a musty metallic flavor when water is added, but thankfully there are remedies.
The metalic odour and flavour has gone.
i will use a gaiwan and then put the tea from the gaiwan into the pot, and then pour into the teacup. Hopefully after a lot of this, it should absorb the tea flavours, and make the tea fuller in later brews to come

thank you kindly
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