Tetsubin

rainy
Posts: 25
Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2020 5:32 pm
Location: NYC

Wed Nov 04, 2020 8:09 pm

I've got my tetsubin! Unfortunately I keep getting tiny black particles in the water after boiling (almost too small to see), I've boiled around 8 times already.. I'll keep boiling tonight / tomorrow. Other than that tetsubin looks much nicer than I thought and is much larger than I expected as well, so that's good!
Attachments
IMG_3359.JPG
IMG_3359.JPG (301.3 KiB) Viewed 12611 times
User avatar
Bok
Vendor
Posts: 5782
Joined: Wed Oct 04, 2017 8:55 am
Location: Taiwan

Wed Nov 04, 2020 8:14 pm

rainy wrote:
Wed Nov 04, 2020 8:09 pm
I've got my tetsubin! Unfortunately I keep getting tiny black particles in the water after boiling (almost too small to see), I've boiled around 8 times already.. I'll keep boiling tonight / tomorrow. Other than that tetsubin looks much nicer than I thought and is much larger than I expected as well, so that's good!
Image
If I were you, I'd boil it in tea in a larger vessel that completely submerges the tetsubin, like this you also get the outside back to a darker finish without rust.
rainy
Posts: 25
Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2020 5:32 pm
Location: NYC

Wed Nov 04, 2020 8:27 pm

@Bok Thanks, that was the next question I was going to ask!! I will do that..
DailyTX
Posts: 882
Joined: Wed Jul 03, 2019 4:43 pm
Location: United States

Wed Nov 04, 2020 9:06 pm

@rainy
When you boil green tea or any tannin things, it’s natural for water to turn ink like color. I learned the hard way lol
rainy
Posts: 25
Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2020 5:32 pm
Location: NYC

Wed Nov 04, 2020 10:49 pm

@DailyTX Yep but I boiled plain water and i get tiny black particles in it...
User avatar
YeeOnTeaCo
Vendor
Posts: 64
Joined: Mon Oct 05, 2020 3:58 am
Location: Hong Kong
Contact:

Sun Nov 08, 2020 9:51 pm

We love our Tetsubins too Nanbu Kosan Iron Bowl アラレ 1.6 :D

B49-4591-4.jpg
B49-4591-4.jpg (324.6 KiB) Viewed 12529 times
User avatar
OCTO
Posts: 1120
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2018 6:25 pm
Location: Penang, Malaysia

Mon Nov 09, 2020 8:05 pm

YeeOnTeaCo wrote:
Sun Nov 08, 2020 9:51 pm
We love our Tetsubins too Nanbu Kosan Iron Bowl アラレ 1.6 :D

Image
Nice tetsubin... :) :)
thomas.vankeulen
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Nov 26, 2020 2:38 pm
Location: London

Sat Nov 28, 2020 1:12 pm

DailyTX wrote:
Mon Nov 02, 2020 2:27 pm
Victoria wrote:
Mon Nov 02, 2020 1:20 pm
DailyTX wrote:
Mon Nov 02, 2020 11:01 am
Victoria
I was thinking of boiling some sencha, I guess my TieGuanYin will do a better job if it’s oxidized. Sheng puerh seemed less effective. I’ll try to post a photo today. My question is even tetsubin is not for tea, but when boil with tea, the black partials in the tea is either rust or foreign substance that has been built up inside this tetsubin? I should boil until no black particles, right?
Sorry, it’s been a few years since I boiled tea leaves to remove rust, but I don’t remember seeing any black particles other than rust being dislodged. Are they solid or?
Initially, when I boiled Sheng puerh 2 days ago, the black particles look like scrubbing cast iron pan with an abrasive sponge. After I boiled TieGuanYin for about 2 hours this morning, the liquid had a light ink color infused with the TieGuanYin green color. The kettle is drying now. I may do another boil of TieGuanYin later.

Here are two photos of the bottom before and after. I do noticed improvement.
There is no self wrote:
Mon Apr 09, 2018 2:35 pm
Figured I'd use this thread instead of opening a new one.
I'm in need of an advice because the worst thing since my gaiwan broke has happened: my tetsubin developed a bit of rust both on the inside and outside. I really don't know how, since I haven't used it in a while and I made sure it was completely dry after the last session.
I tried scrubbing it off with a towel but it just keeps on spreading. Are there any products or methods I could use to remove it all?
I'm attaching a couple of pictures so you can see the damage. Apologies for low quality, they're from my phone.
Image
Image
Image
Just wanted to touch on this topic, for everyone that had trouble with rusty tetsubins and other metal equipment.
Adding antioxidants such as tea (as some have said boiling tea will reduce the oxidised metal, that is true). However if one wants to remove the rust alltogether I would absolutely recommend using an alkali medium for the metal, simple sodium bicarbonate works fine. Add water and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and boil it.
It will not only remove rust but also add a new shine to your kettle.
This can also be accomplished by vinegar and/or lemon juice instead of baking soda for an acidic medium instead of alkali.
Of course, just make sure to rinse it thouroughly before and after boiling fresh water in the kettle to remove any residual smells and off-flavours.
Hope this helps!
User avatar
Darbotek
Posts: 203
Joined: Fri Jan 31, 2020 5:25 pm
Location: East Texas

Sun Nov 29, 2020 11:42 am

I’m looking for a smaller tetsubin as I only tend to use sub 100ml water per infusion...also TAD. Found these on Yahoo, but can’t decipher a name. Anyone familiar? They are pricey but nice(looking), the lack of an urushi plug on the bottom is new to me.
Attachments
C1BF8F89-44DE-422D-B864-56FBA5F35F29.jpeg
C1BF8F89-44DE-422D-B864-56FBA5F35F29.jpeg (81.24 KiB) Viewed 12289 times
95FA7B5A-8E72-4078-BF04-9DB1B5769054.jpeg
95FA7B5A-8E72-4078-BF04-9DB1B5769054.jpeg (239.77 KiB) Viewed 12289 times
AozoraE
Posts: 134
Joined: Mon Dec 04, 2017 10:26 pm
Location: Washington

Sun Nov 29, 2020 12:12 pm

Darbotek wrote:
Sun Nov 29, 2020 11:42 am
I’m looking for a smaller tetsubin as I only tend to use sub 100ml water per infusion...also TAD. Found these on Yahoo, but can’t decipher a name. Anyone familiar? They are pricey but nice(looking), the lack of an urushi plug on the bottom is new to me.
Looks like its made by a brand called kansei tetsubin 関西鉄瓶.
If they are pricey that would make sense because it looks like they are made with satetsu(iron sand) and not just your typical iron used for tetsubin. I'm not too versed in the differences between the two but I've seen new satetsu easily go for more than 2 or 3 times the price of your typical tetsubin :D
DailyTX
Posts: 882
Joined: Wed Jul 03, 2019 4:43 pm
Location: United States

Tue Dec 15, 2020 1:56 am

Anyone who knows tetsubin inside out can share your wisdom on how to tell iron sand vs regular iron vs imported iron vs coin iron? After some reading on tetsubin history, there was a period when tetsubins were made from coin irons which those tetsubins are now highly sought after by collectors. Iron sands seem to be the next best raw material, and it’s depleting soon. Regular iron and imported iron are more common now days. So far, I have found some YouTube videos doing a sound test for iron sand vs regular iron, and I am not sure if it’s a good way to tell.
DailyTX
Posts: 882
Joined: Wed Jul 03, 2019 4:43 pm
Location: United States

Sat Jan 02, 2021 1:16 am

If a Japanese kettle is made with copper instead of iron, is it still a tetsubin? Such as this one:
https://tw.bid.yahoo.com/item/『桑園の』日本古品 ... FlZZWRLWmo.
User avatar
Balthazar
Posts: 706
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2018 7:04 am
Location: Oslo, Norway

Sat Jan 02, 2021 1:27 am

I'd say no, based on the meaning of the first character of 鉄瓶 (lit. "iron jar/jug/flask"). Whether or not the name is used for kettles of other materials in Japan, I do not know.
gatmcm
Posts: 120
Joined: Wed Oct 11, 2017 5:06 am
Location: Porto, Portugal
Contact:

Sat Jan 02, 2021 7:56 am

Seeing as a few people here are looking for more affordable tetsubin, even considering other cast iron items, i thought id share what me and a few tea friends went for.
Amazon.jp carries quite a few affordable mass produced tetsubin, Oigen brand seems to be the most common, some of them are induction compatible too with a thick slab of iron on the bottom, they mostly end up at something like 100-200$ shipped with all fees included depending on size, just make sure the order is fullfilled by amazon, that way you pre-pay a flat amount to cover for customs which gets returned if theres no issue, a must for EU buyers like myself.
I got an H-200 and im quite happy with it, payed 117eu(~140$), few friends got the H-159 which is bigger.
These are not as aesthetically pleasing as handmade or an antique but they are functional.
User avatar
Balthazar
Posts: 706
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2018 7:04 am
Location: Oslo, Norway

Sat Jan 02, 2021 1:28 pm

Thanks @gatmcm, I've been thinking about picking one up from Amazon.co.jp for quite a while and it's really useful to see specific recommendations. Iwachu, Oigen and Ikenaga are the brands I have been considering (made in Japan)

How much water do you find you can fill the H-200 with, before overspilling when boiling becomes a problem? Do you mind sharing a few photos of yours? :) (It's this one, no?)

Are your friends satisfied with their H-159 kettles? (The size of it appeals more to me than the H-200, but the single photo from Amazon.co.jp looks kinda ... strange? Almost blue-ish.)

Edit: Too bad, seems Amazon.co.jp won't ship tetsubins to Norway :)

Edit2: Nevermind, it was only the H-200 that for some reason doesn't ship to Norway... Tried a couple of different (larger!) models from the same shop, that for some reason works fine. Not going to make an order just yet, though.
Post Reply