Does brewing gyokuro in a too large pot have negative effects on the outcome, or is it more about tradition?
Puzzled wannabe Yixing buyer
This is entirely true. However, given there is no way anyone can try every tea with every pot to achieve the perfect tea/teapot/personal taste match, there is a natural tendency to develop generalizations, rules of thumb. They are not perfect, in some cases they can be outright counterproductive, but the hope is that, on average, they will bring people closer to something decent faster than blindly trying every potential combination.
By partly relying on consensus opinion within groups of people, you lose something unachievable (perfect choices based on complete first-hand information), but you gain something often useful (less time required to identify decent, if imperfect, options).
@absence, mostly because if the vessel is too big and the water might not cover all the leaves. This is rarely the case when making sencha, which uses more water per leaf.
-
- Posts: 429
- Joined: Sun Dec 16, 2018 5:19 am
- Location: Seattle, USA
My teapot from Mud and Leaves has arrived!
- Attachments
-
- 89AB2C38-E267-4FB6-8224-F222EDA9723B.jpeg (147.31 KiB) Viewed 6403 times
-
- 5828845C-CE66-4184-9BFA-F7BD0C9A8FFF.jpeg (194 KiB) Viewed 6403 times
-
- 56DE7DA8-1D42-47D7-8E86-7419F35FDE82.jpeg (169.35 KiB) Viewed 6403 times
-
- Posts: 429
- Joined: Sun Dec 16, 2018 5:19 am
- Location: Seattle, USA
I did the water test, pouring hot water over the top, and it performed admirably. The water formed nice droplet/trails over the surface, and it absorbed the water left on it fairly quickly.
Smells good for a new teapot, sharp hot clay smell.
The walls seem nice and thin, I don’t have a way of measuring though.
Feels really nice in the hand and balanced.
I’m really happy with it so far. Haven’t made any tea in it yet. As much as I want to, my nose is somewhat off today, so gonna wait to test it otherwise the results would be skewed.
My experience with yixing is very little, what is the line on the lid? It seems really smooth on the bottom edges and rough closer to the top. How is this effect created?
Smells good for a new teapot, sharp hot clay smell.
The walls seem nice and thin, I don’t have a way of measuring though.
Feels really nice in the hand and balanced.
I’m really happy with it so far. Haven’t made any tea in it yet. As much as I want to, my nose is somewhat off today, so gonna wait to test it otherwise the results would be skewed.
My experience with yixing is very little, what is the line on the lid? It seems really smooth on the bottom edges and rough closer to the top. How is this effect created?
- Attachments
-
- EBFDF54E-8F9D-4B08-89A3-727B83E83AEF.jpeg (234.51 KiB) Viewed 6403 times
-
- BD9D722F-1C99-408F-B70D-E4B650F2C9B8.jpeg (150.22 KiB) Viewed 6403 times
-
- EB7E0C05-66D2-4356-97E6-AC59B2320599.jpeg (158.62 KiB) Viewed 6403 times
-
- Posts: 429
- Joined: Sun Dec 16, 2018 5:19 am
- Location: Seattle, USA
Here are three more close ups of the clay.
- Attachments
-
- DDFF2AB8-DE1B-4549-89CA-688DFAB26F4F.jpeg (171.72 KiB) Viewed 6403 times
-
- 97B4B30F-A9C9-4788-8927-437B5BCE7BC1.jpeg (198.38 KiB) Viewed 6403 times
-
- 62685AC6-9DEA-4978-A200-F71D7B255A82.jpeg (135.9 KiB) Viewed 6403 times
It looks as if the skirt of the lid was grinded at the rough part after a bisque firing to improve the lid fit.swordofmytriumph wrote: ↑Tue Nov 05, 2019 1:17 pmMy experience with yixing is very little, what is the line on the lid? It seems really smooth on the bottom edges and rough closer to the top. How is this effect created?
Thanks for the pictures. I am curious to see comments by others, as my total absence of experience makes me unable to form any meaningful thought.
How is the pour? Any impression regarding the size? Lid fit and workmanship?
-
- Posts: 429
- Joined: Sun Dec 16, 2018 5:19 am
- Location: Seattle, USA
Thanks!.m. wrote: ↑Tue Nov 05, 2019 1:37 pmIt looks as if the skirt of the lid was grinded at the rough part after a bisque firing to improve the lid fit.swordofmytriumph wrote: ↑Tue Nov 05, 2019 1:17 pmMy experience with yixing is very little, what is the line on the lid? It seems really smooth on the bottom edges and rough closer to the top. How is this effect created?
-
- Posts: 429
- Joined: Sun Dec 16, 2018 5:19 am
- Location: Seattle, USA
I knew I had forgotten something important! The pour is 10 seconds and it is 140 ml in size. It doesn’t dribble at all. The lid fits absolutely perfectly. Out of all my pots, this lid fits the best. It barely budges once you put it on. Workmanship is really nice. Overall, I can’t find anything wrong with it.
+1.m. wrote: ↑Tue Nov 05, 2019 1:37 pmIt looks as if the skirt of the lid was grinded at the rough part after a bisque firing to improve the lid fit.swordofmytriumph wrote: ↑Tue Nov 05, 2019 1:17 pmMy experience with yixing is very little, what is the line on the lid? It seems really smooth on the bottom edges and rough closer to the top. How is this effect created?
They can also be ground after firing to make a better fit if the skirt is too wide or the seat isn't square. This is according to some info from the 80s. This does look to be after bisque firing though.
I think it's enough to try it with the kinds of tea you drink, no need to try it with teas you won't drink.faj wrote: ↑Tue Nov 05, 2019 10:45 amThis is entirely true. However, given there is no way anyone can try every tea with every pot to achieve the perfect tea/teapot/personal taste match, there is a natural tendency to develop generalizations, rules of thumb. They are not perfect, in some cases they can be outright counterproductive, but the hope is that, on average, they will bring people closer to something decent faster than blindly trying every potential combination.
By partly relying on consensus opinion within groups of people, you lose something unachievable (perfect choices based on complete first-hand information), but you gain something often useful (less time required to identify decent, if imperfect, options).
After 3-5 different teas you can get a really good idea about the pot.
You are right. Still, buying every pot is a tall and expensive order... So you need to narrow down the list of what to buy... Or increase your cupboard space and earning power!
For a beginner, it is difficult to know what to start with. As some contributors have mentioned, experimenting with water and getting new/better teas might very well be a quicker path to a better overall experience. It is difficult to figure out if you should actually purchase any pot at all to start with. So many variables, so little time (and money)...
The smooth part is the "surface" the rough part is "under the surface". All pots with a good fit are like that.swordofmytriumph wrote: ↑Tue Nov 05, 2019 1:17 pmMy experience with yixing is very little, what is the line on the lid? It seems really smooth on the bottom edges and rough closer to the top. How is this effect created?
This is how they do it:
https://youtu.be/GKrOZccp6mY
@Baisao