Tetsubin

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Bok
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Sun Mar 07, 2021 6:38 am

gatmcm wrote:
Sun Mar 07, 2021 6:18 am
Oigen is a decently known japanese brand, yes its mass produced, its a company that makes pots and pans after all...
The other Oigen products I have seen did all have the Urushi spot where it should be... that said the selection of kettles is mostly limited to one or two per season.

Maybe they have a lower quality price range that they do not market? Don’t recall seeing the shape you have II under their brand, sure it’s Oigen?
Last edited by Bok on Sun Mar 07, 2021 6:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Sun Mar 07, 2021 6:40 am

Edit: I did just see your kettle among their products, my bad! Apologies
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Sun Mar 07, 2021 6:44 am

This is the one of Oigen I wanted to get a while ago, but I was too late and it’s not in the current line up anylonger: https://www.instagram.com/p/BulGsk5HgB5 ... nqj1rk8ja8

This was the kettle which converted me to use Tetsubin for water, when I tasted the difference in coffee brewed with water from it and without during a coffee exhibition in Taipei. Night and day difference I recall!
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Balthazar
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Sun Mar 07, 2021 6:49 am

Occam's razor favors the "mass produced" hypothesis over the "Chinese and mass produced" hypothesis for Oigen. It's not like the Japanese don't know how to mass-produce things, or cover the whole range of qualities in their output :mrgreen:

Come to think of it, are there any of the "IH-bottom" tetsubins that aren't mass produced?

@Bok: Wife tastes a big difference in her coffee brewed with water from the tetsubin too. As mentioned, most of the water I consume is plain boiled water, and here too the difference with the tetsubin is (unsurprisingly) quite dramatic.
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Sun Mar 07, 2021 6:54 am

Balthazar wrote:
Sun Mar 07, 2021 6:49 am
Occam's razor favors the "mass produced" hypothesis over the "Chinese and mass produced" hypothesis. It's not like the Japanese don't know how to mass-produce things, or cover the whole range of qualities in their output :mrgreen:

Come to think of it, are there any of the "IH-bottom" tetsubins that aren't mass produced?
Yet in this case I happen to know that there is a very large proportion of “Japanese” things that are actually made in China(not too different from the rest of the world). Salaries are very high in Japan and anything fully made in Japan is very, very expensive. So if something has a reasonable price it’s almost certainly not made in Japan ;)

I was always baffled how some very similar looking cups could have a humongous difference in price in between shops. Hence hand painted in Japan vs in China...
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Bok
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Sun Mar 07, 2021 6:56 am

Another example from Taiwan: hand crafted traditional basket and bamboo chairs, often sold at the roadside by some grandpas. You might think they made them painstakingly... no. Made in Vietnam or Indonesia, too expensive to make by hand in Taiwan.
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Sun Mar 07, 2021 7:03 am

Bok wrote:
Sun Mar 07, 2021 6:54 am
Yet in this case I happen to know that there is a very large proportion of “Japanese” things that are actually made in China(not too different from the rest of the world). Salaries are very high in Japan and anything fully made in Japan is very, very expensive. So if something has a reasonable price it’s almost certainly not made in Japan ;)

I was always baffled how some very similar looking cups could have a humongous difference in price in between shops. Hence hand painted in Japan vs in China...
Agreed, and had it been sold on Amazon as just a "Japanese tetsubin" or something like that, with no recognized brand tag listing it on their official page, I would have guessed the same. Of course one can never be 100% sure about anything, but it would be quite the scandal for Oigen if they were caught lying about the origin of their products.
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Sun Mar 07, 2021 7:06 am

Bok wrote:
Sun Mar 07, 2021 6:54 am
Balthazar wrote:
Sun Mar 07, 2021 6:49 am
Occam's razor favors the "mass produced" hypothesis over the "Chinese and mass produced" hypothesis. It's not like the Japanese don't know how to mass-produce things, or cover the whole range of qualities in their output :mrgreen:

Come to think of it, are there any of the "IH-bottom" tetsubins that aren't mass produced?
Yet in this case I happen to know that there is a very large proportion of “Japanese” things that are actually made in China(not too different from the rest of the world). Salaries are very high in Japan and anything fully made in Japan is very, very expensive. So if something has a reasonable price it’s almost certainly not made in Japan ;)

I was always baffled how some very similar looking cups could have a humongous difference in price in between shops. Hence hand painted in Japan vs in China...
But the Japanese wouldn't lie about the Made in Japan label, right? Or would they?

That kinda feels not like what they'd do in Japan... :D
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Sun Mar 07, 2021 7:10 am

@Balthazar yes agreed! Just seemed to remember Oigen was cast the more traditional way, but I might be wrong about that. Love their kitchen ware, got a few of their pans and they are lovely to use.

@Youzi yes, don’t think they would do that.
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Sun Mar 07, 2021 7:14 am

Bok wrote:
Sun Mar 07, 2021 7:10 am
Balthazar yes agreed! Just seemed to remember Oigen was cast the more traditional way, but I might be wrong about that. Love their kitchen ware, got a few of their pans and they are lovely to use.

Youzi yes, don’t think they would do that.
Both oigen and iwachu has a mass produced and a hand casted lineup.

I think they use sand for the shape, casting, while they use mold for the traditional version. There's a video on YouTube, from iwachu, where they show the process for both.
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Sun Mar 07, 2021 7:40 am

@Youzi thanks! That explains it!
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Tea Adventures
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Thu May 13, 2021 12:19 pm

I have an antique tetsubin and it makes really sweet water. Sometimes it’s even too sweet...

Does anyone have experiences with the same issue? I like that it’s sweet, but for some teas, it has such a big effect on the tea that I don’t really taste the tea anymore...

I haven’t used it too much because of this. I wonder if this will change a bit by using it more and more.
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Balthazar
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Thu May 13, 2021 12:58 pm

Tea Adventures wrote:
Thu May 13, 2021 12:19 pm
I have an antique tetsubin and it makes really sweet water. Sometimes it’s even too sweet...

Does anyone have experiences with the same issue? I like that it’s sweet, but for some teas, it has such a big effect on the tea that I don’t really taste the tea anymore...
Yup :)
Balthazar wrote:
Wed Feb 17, 2021 1:55 pm
On some teas the added sweetness seems to come at the expense of some lost nuances, although it's still a bit early to conclude.
... although I haven't experienced anything quite as dramatic as not tasting the tea anymore. There are some teas where I still opt for the old stainless steel kettle, but for the majority I now use the tetsubin.
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Tea Adventures
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Thu May 13, 2021 3:35 pm

Balthazar wrote:
Thu May 13, 2021 12:58 pm

Yup :)
Balthazar wrote:
Wed Feb 17, 2021 1:55 pm
On some teas the added sweetness seems to come at the expense of some lost nuances, although it's still a bit early to conclude.
... although I haven't experienced anything quite as dramatic as not tasting the tea anymore. There are some teas where I still opt for the old stainless steel kettle, but for the majority I now use the tetsubin.
Ok thanks! And do you feel the sweetness is as intense as it was when you first used it? Or has it changed by using it on a regular basis?
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Fri May 14, 2021 2:20 am

Tea Adventures wrote:
Thu May 13, 2021 3:35 pm
Ok thanks! And do you feel the sweetness is as intense as it was when you first used it? Or has it changed by using it on a regular basis?
Yeah, I don't feel like the effect the tetsubin has on the water has been any reduced over time. I've only used mine for a couple of months though (probably boiled water in it 4-5 times per day on average). And I only have experience with one (on the lower-end price-wise) tetsubin.

Other, more experienced users can hopefully chime in.
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