tingjunkie wrote: ↑Mon Apr 22, 2019 12:43 am
Here's a good example... I bought this
90ml duo qiu from Jing Tea Shop back around 2011. I think they claimed it was from the 90's. This photo was taken back when the pot was mostly unused, but if it was daylight, I'd post an updated pic for comparison and you would see that this thing glows! In comparing this pot to the 70's Green Label QSN pot I just bought, I'd take this over the F1 every time. The way it protects high notes while adding more body and smoother mouthfeel is really amazing. Not to mention the craftsmanship blows the F1 out of the water completely. Sure, part of the difference is that the pot has been seasoned longer, but... in my experience, some pots are just outstanding performers from the get-go and only get even better with time. Jing used to carry some really killer pots 7+ years ago.
The clay of that pot does look good, personally I would prefer a 70s F1 qingshuini though... Perhaps you prefer clay with a finer grain? 70s qingshuini was usually processed to have a coarser grain on small pots. Some of the larger qingshuini pots, and the early 70s jiazinis, used clay processed to a finer grain. F1 workmanship in green label is indeed a bit sloppy, those pots are known for the clay, not for the workmanship. In the 1960s and early 70s the workmanship is better, but that does not necessarily have an impact on tea, unless you are brewing dancong or gaoshan and need a thin-walled hongni pot. Good workmanship does make pots more enjoyable to use.
Comparing the workmanship of a 90s or later to a 70s pot is not entirely fair. In the 70s, pots are fired only once in a heavy oil kiln. After the 1990s pots are fired twice in a gas kiln. After the first firing, the lid is sanded to match the body perfectly, and the pot is refired. With the techniques of the late 90s-2000s, almost every artisan could make a nicely symmetrical pot with a lid that fits well. Multiple firings can reduce the porosity of the clay
(
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... 1212000231). So it makes sense that you mention that the pot protects high notes, but I'm not sure that it is because of clay quality. I expect it will round the tea less too. Regardless of why that happens, it could be a good property depending on the tea you need to brew and the results you are looking for.
I think Jing's pots were very good in the context of what was available in the west at the time... but in the context of what is available in Asia they do not stand out much. I think they brew good tea, but in retrospect they were a bit overpriced: in the right place 10 years ago one could get a Qing lao zhuni for around $400. Still they are good enough that one can continue to use them and enjoy them, so that makes them far better than many of the other offerings that were around, that one would stop using after learning a bit more.