Hojo just posted another round of available teapots!

[swordofmytriumph]

Hojo just posted a bunch of Watanabe Tozo’s Teapots today! Found out on his FB page. Hooray teaware! I must share the happiness!

[nasalfrog]

Nice! New Kobiwako/Junzo pots as well.

[Janice]

TAD TAD TAD!!!

Just the other day as I sipped a delicious Japanese green tea which I had prepared in my 110 ml Junzo kobiwako pot I thought about how a smaller companion would be an ideal addition to my tea ware collection. I just sent an email to Hojo about a 70 ml pot with an interesting shape. Fingers crossed that it’s still available, but if it isn’t I’ll ask for a y0 ml pot.

Now to decide what teas to add to my order....

[swordofmytriumph]

Now to decide what teas to add to my order....

If they still have it, and you like oolong, get the deep fermented Li Shan. It was AMAZING. It has a much deeper flavor than typical Li Shan, and it is also bug bitten. It was really tasty.

[Bok]

Now to decide what teas to add to my order....

If they still have it, and you like oolong, get the deep fermented Li Shan. It was AMAZING. It has a much deeper flavor than typical Li Shan, and it is also bug bitten. It was really tasty.

Although fermented is probably a wrong translation, Oolong will be highly oxidised, not fermented. A common erroneous translation. Aged tea or Puerh can be fermented. Unless this is an aged Oolong?

[swordofmytriumph]

Now to decide what teas to add to my order....

If they still have it, and you like oolong, get the deep fermented Li Shan. It was AMAZING. It has a much deeper flavor than typical Li Shan, and it is also bug bitten. It was really tasty.

Although fermented is probably a wrong translation, Oolong will be highly oxidised, not fermented. A common erroneous translation. Aged tea or Puerh can be fermented. Unless this is an aged Oolong?

Oh good point Bok! I hadn't thought about that. No, it's not aged.

[swordofmytriumph]

Has anyone had any luck with any of Hojo's pots smoothing out roasted oolong? If so which of his clays should I be shopping for? I've been looking for a pot that smooths out that bitter metallic note that roasted oolong sometimes has (aka my inexpensive "daily drinker" type roasted oolong). It's the only thing I don't already have a pot for. If there isn't anything he has that works fairly well for this, I will probably just end up going the zini route.

[Ethan Kurland]

Has anyone had any luck with any of Hojo's pots smoothing out roasted oolong?

Not replying to your ? exactly: Rather asking a ?, do you really like rough roasted oolong? I have stopped using rough roasted oolong. I draml fairly cheap roasted oolong prepared in my Taiwanese pot (porous inside/glazed outside) then moved up to better quality, then concluded top quality was really what I need for roasted oolong & that it cost no more. Getting several infusions (or more) of the best roasted tea (which is also aged 5 years making it smooth), means the cost is the same per cup. If I cannot finish the use of the leaves in one day, I make sure all the liquid is out of my pot (glazed inside & outside for this smooth tea) or take the leaves out of the pot. No problem using those leaves 16 hours or so later.

Not ?ing why you like to drink various qualities of roasted oolong (I've been there). Just reminding you that if one must invest in several pots that cost hundreds of dollars each, one might do better getting teas that don't need specific pots to taste okay. For roasted oolong, I am no longer interested in less than the best. (Just how my life went. I still enjoy cheap black tea sometimes.)

Of course, there is pleasure in owning teaware (& cookware) for many situations, but now I like not needing so many things. Cheers

[swordofmytriumph]

Not ?ing why you like to drink various qualities of roasted oolong (I've been there). Just reminding you that if one must invest in several pots that cost hundreds of dollars each, one might do better getting teas that don't need specific pots to taste okay.

I had never really thought about it this way before. You've got a good point.

[Bok]

Has anyone had any luck with any of Hojo's pots smoothing out roasted oolong? If so which of his clays should I be shopping for? I've been looking for a pot that smooths out that bitter metallic note that roasted oolong sometimes has (aka my inexpensive "daily drinker" type roasted oolong). It's the only thing I don't already have a pot for. If there isn't anything he has that works fairly well for this, I will probably just end up going the zini route.

Problem is, Zini is not Zini. There are so many variables that it would be difficult to say Zini clay will do xyz. Maybe, maybe not.

A better clay choice would be a good hongni in my opinion. Far more versatile, with good and not so good teas. I also do appreciate Chaozhou clay for a variety of roasted teas in all price segments.

And so much else depends on your personal preferences, experiment, experiment and then some more.

[Janice]

Now to decide what teas to add to my order....

If they still have it, and you like oolong, get the deep fermented Li Shan. It was AMAZING. It has a much deeper flavor than typical Li Shan, and it is also bug bitten. It was really tasty.

Is this the tea you mean? I have limited experience with Taiwanese oolongs so is this a good place to begin. It’s a $1/gram.

“Deep Fermented Li Shan cha

Mi Xiang means muscatel or honey flavor in direct translation. This tea was made only from the leaf attacked by green fly. It gives extremely sweet flavor. Some people think its flavor is more like ripe mango.We oly have limited stock.”

[Ethan Kurland]

get the deep fermented Li Shan. It was AMAZING. It has a much deeper flavor than typical Li Shan, and it is also bug bitten. It was really tasty.

If it is not roasted, that is a difficult tea to find for top quality. In Taiwan it seems that the best of such leaves get roasted. This year I sampled 2 well-oxidized, high mountain oolongs from Taiwan that were not roasted. Nice but not deep enough in flavor.

Janice quotes a description that sounds like a well-oxidized oolong that I had from Thailand several years back. Was not expensive but suddenly became unavailable.

[swordofmytriumph]

Now to decide what teas to add to my order....

If they still have it, and you like oolong, get the deep fermented Li Shan. It was AMAZING. It has a much deeper flavor than typical Li Shan, and it is also bug bitten. It was really tasty.

Is this the tea you mean? I have limited experience with Taiwanese oolongs so is this a good place to begin. It’s a $1/gram.

“Deep Fermented Li Shan cha

Mi Xiang means muscatel or honey flavor in direct translation. This tea was made only from the leaf attacked by green fly. It gives extremely sweet flavor. Some people think its flavor is more like ripe mango.We oly have limited stock.”

That’s the one.

[swordofmytriumph]

If it is not roasted, that is a difficult tea to find for top quality. In Taiwan it seems that the best of such leaves get roasted.

Yeah. A while back, I posted asking for higher oxidized tea recommendations that were similar, this was the tea that prompted that request, it opened up a whole new world for me. Wish it wasn’t so hard to find.

[Victoria]

I’m curious, how are shipping costs to USA from Hojo for tea and or teaware?