Does the material a pot is made of matter?

Post Reply
User avatar
Tillerman
Vendor
Posts: 446
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2017 4:58 pm
Location: Napa, CA
Contact:

Tue Jan 30, 2018 7:11 pm

I posted this in a FB group and received some interesting comments.

"Porcelain, clay, clay type; it doesn't really matter for the differences are purely psychological and aesthetic"
Agree, Disagree, Comment
User avatar
Bok
Vendor
Posts: 5782
Joined: Wed Oct 04, 2017 8:55 am
Location: Taiwan

Tue Jan 30, 2018 7:30 pm

From personal observation it does to certain degree.

There seem to be two key factors that are more important than material type (although some are inherent to material):

Shape
Shape or pot geometry, which affect waterflow and pour-speed, how leaves can unfurl or not.

Thermal properties
Thermal properties as they above all will affect the brew a lot. So it matters if a pot is thin-walled or not. Then finally material comes to play, how good it can retain heat or not. Some clays seem to be better than others, porcelain, silver and glass have theirs.

The other sometimes mythical properties which are attributed to certain clays are more difficult to grasp, not the least to the scarce availability. Porous or not seem to be factors that benefit/disadvantage certain teas. All in all a tricky subject and I am sure we will get some heated discussions, but I suspect a lot of it is wishful thinking and self-fulfiling prophecies… I for myself have so far come to the conclusion that the above two matter first and foremost, the material is still important but less so.
User avatar
ShuShu
Posts: 335
Joined: Mon Dec 04, 2017 9:36 pm
Location: New York

Tue Jan 30, 2018 9:26 pm

As Steanze noted on a recent post by BOK, that depends on the tea.
I think that old sheng and ripe pu-erh certainly benefit from yixing clay. IMO The same is true for highly roasted oolongs. Sometimes the clay rounds the flavor of the fire. I often drink SeaDyke's oolong as a cheap daily and brewing in a porous clay yields better results than porcelain.
An anecdote: In the last couple of days, my wife and I have been drinking DanCong in a gaiwan. An hour ago I brewed it in a thin hongni pot and she told me that she really liked better the tea we had yesterday.... :)
Surely, it has to do with the brewing, pour, etc but I have a feeling that its not just that....
User avatar
Psyck
Posts: 112
Joined: Wed Oct 25, 2017 4:41 am
Location: Bangalore, India

Wed Jan 31, 2018 12:57 pm

Tillerman wrote:
Tue Jan 30, 2018 7:11 pm
I posted this in a FB group and received some interesting comments.

"Porcelain, clay, clay type; it doesn't really matter for the differences are purely psychological and aesthetic"
Agree, Disagree, Comment
What teas and vessels did you test to arrive at this conclusion?
User avatar
Tillerman
Vendor
Posts: 446
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2017 4:58 pm
Location: Napa, CA
Contact:

Wed Jan 31, 2018 7:06 pm

Psyck wrote:
Wed Jan 31, 2018 12:57 pm
Tillerman wrote:
Tue Jan 30, 2018 7:11 pm
I posted this in a FB group and received some interesting comments.

"Porcelain, clay, clay type; it doesn't really matter for the differences are purely psychological and aesthetic"
Agree, Disagree, Comment
What teas and vessels did you test to arrive at this conclusion?
It's not a conclusion - it's a statement. I simply am asking whether people agree or disagree with the statement.
User avatar
ShuShu
Posts: 335
Joined: Mon Dec 04, 2017 9:36 pm
Location: New York

Thu Feb 01, 2018 11:15 pm

Tillerman wrote:
Tue Jan 30, 2018 7:11 pm
I posted this in a FB group and received some interesting comments.

"Porcelain, clay, clay type; it doesn't really matter for the differences are purely psychological and aesthetic"
Agree, Disagree, Comment
But the way, I learned a lot about the science in this matters from Kyarazen’s posts and especially this one which I recommend
https://www.kyarazen.com/secrets-choosi ... g-teapots/
User avatar
Bok
Vendor
Posts: 5782
Joined: Wed Oct 04, 2017 8:55 am
Location: Taiwan

Fri Feb 02, 2018 7:58 am

ShuShu wrote:
Thu Feb 01, 2018 11:15 pm
Tillerman wrote:
Tue Jan 30, 2018 7:11 pm
I posted this in a FB group and received some interesting comments.

"Porcelain, clay, clay type; it doesn't really matter for the differences are purely psychological and aesthetic"
Agree, Disagree, Comment
But the way, I learned a lot about the science in this matters from Kyarazen’s posts and especially this one which I recommend
https://www.kyarazen.com/secrets-choosi ... g-teapots/
Any post on Kyarazen is always highly recommended reading! Sadly, a lot of people still prefer the hearsay variety to articles which are more based on science and common sense...
Post Reply