Puzzled wannabe Yixing buyer

swordofmytriumph
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Mon Jan 06, 2020 6:33 am

I found a match for the Dicaoqing pot I got from Mud and Leaves. I tried it out with some yancha and it really improved the flavor. I have been drinking this tea for the last month or so and I did a blind test side by side with a gaiwan and the teapot and it brought out flavors I didn't know that tea had! much more complexity with the pot. All in all, I am very happy with it. Before, the tea tasted roasty with a tiny undertone of fruit. The pot brought out the flavors of cracked pepper and minerals and more fruit. I didn't taste any of that when comparing with the gaiwan.
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Youzi
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Mon Jan 06, 2020 8:35 am

swordofmytriumph wrote:
Mon Jan 06, 2020 6:33 am
I found a match for the Dicaoqing pot I got from Mud and Leaves. I tried it out with some yancha and it really improved the flavor. I have been drinking this tea for the last month or so and I did a blind test side by side with a gaiwan and the teapot and it brought out flavors I didn't know that tea had! much more complexity with the pot. All in all, I am very happy with it. Before, the tea tasted roasty with a tiny undertone of fruit. The pot brought out the flavors of cracked pepper and minerals and more fruit. I didn't taste any of that when comparing with the gaiwan.
That's great news, as I'm just looking for a new yancha pot :D

May I ask what yancha did you try with it, and if you noticed any degradation in the aroma?
swordofmytriumph
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Mon Jan 06, 2020 2:34 pm

Youzi wrote:
Mon Jan 06, 2020 8:35 am
That's great news, as I'm just looking for a new yancha pot :D

May I ask what yancha did you try with it, and if you noticed any degradation in the aroma?
I used Huangmeigui Fragrance 2019 from Lazy Cat. It was really good without the pot, but with the pot it was awesome.

That said, it’s the only yancha I have tested in it. I tend to like to test with at least three different teas before I make a “permanent assignment” lol. And that was the first yancha that I have had (that was worth mentioning anyway), so the verdict is hanging on a single blind taste test alone. I have the tea tasting box from lazy cat but those are samples, not really enough for a round of taste comparisons.

Of course this means I need more yancha! :mrgreen:
faj
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Sat Jan 11, 2020 7:16 am

I was looking at three pots from the same vendor :

https://www.mudandleaves.com/store/p491 ... eapot.html
https://www.mudandleaves.com/store/p658 ... 120ml.html
https://www.mudandleaves.com/store/p423 ... 150ml.html

All marked as modern Zhuni, all from the same maker.

I was surprised a bit by the difference in color, which seems to be too big to be attributed to lighting.

Could anyone comment a bit on that? Could it result from different firing?
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Bok
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Sat Jan 11, 2020 7:46 am

Normally Zhuni is on the orangey side. Turns dark red when used with hot water.
faj
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Sat Jan 11, 2020 10:48 am

Bok wrote:
Sat Jan 11, 2020 7:46 am
Normally Zhuni is on the orangey side. Turns dark red when used with hot water.
Yes, this is my understanding.

Looking around, I also see some mentions that Zhuni fired at higher temperature can turn maroon. I do not know if this is purely a change in appearance, or if it means effect on tea is different.

I am basically wondering what this means in terms of the quality of these pots for tea drinking.
DailyTX
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Sat Jan 11, 2020 12:13 pm

faj wrote:
Sat Jan 11, 2020 10:48 am
Bok wrote:
Sat Jan 11, 2020 7:46 am
Normally Zhuni is on the orangey side. Turns dark red when used with hot water.
Yes, this is my understanding.

Looking around, I also see some mentions that Zhuni fired at higher temperature can turn maroon. I do not know if this is purely a change in appearance, or if it means effect on tea is different.

I am basically wondering what this means in terms of the quality of these pots for tea drinking.
I noticed different mine sites can also cause color tone to be differ. Some of M&L Zhuni pots do specified it was from XiaoMeiYao mine site. Maybe anyone who has a ROC Zhuni pot can comment about color tone comparison.
faj
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Sat Jan 11, 2020 12:22 pm

DailyTX wrote:
Sat Jan 11, 2020 12:13 pm
I noticed different mine sites can also cause color tone to be differ. Some of M&L Zhuni pots do specified it was from XiaoMeiYao mine site.
Now that you mention this, only the "browner" one of the three mentions using clay from the mine you mention. Hard for me to tell if this reflects an actual difference in clay, or just a detail being left out in the description of the other two. Maybe @mudandleaves could comment.
faj
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Sat Jan 11, 2020 12:26 pm

Also, it seems to me that the white balance is off in the picture of the one that is more "orange". When looking at pictures of details, you can see that the "red" one has pictures that make it look more orange, and the orange one has pictures where it seems closer to red. They may be the same color in person and I would not be surprised. The "brown" one, though, is clearly different.
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Bok
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Sat Jan 11, 2020 6:35 pm

DailyTX wrote:
Sat Jan 11, 2020 12:13 pm
Maybe anyone who has a ROC Zhuni pot can comment about color tone comparison.
Roc and earlier Zhuni is a an orange-ish tone. A lot of them are blended with other clays as pure Zhuni can not be worked with due to lack of plasticity, at least that is how I understood it. So I have one that is more pure and this orangey and one that goes into the pale light orange but which is clearly blended with something else.
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mudandleaves
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Sun Jan 12, 2020 8:49 pm

faj wrote:
Sat Jan 11, 2020 7:16 am
I was looking at three pots from the same vendor :

https://www.mudandleaves.com/store/p491 ... eapot.html
https://www.mudandleaves.com/store/p658 ... 120ml.html
https://www.mudandleaves.com/store/p423 ... 150ml.html

All marked as modern Zhuni, all from the same maker.

I was surprised a bit by the difference in color, which seems to be too big to be attributed to lighting.

Could anyone comment a bit on that? Could it result from different firing?
Hi faj,
The difference in colour is a result of lighting. The photos of the wendan were taken during an overcast day and the teapot looks brighter red-orange then the others because of this. In person the colour is closer to that of the other two teapots. Zhuni is a tricky clay to photograph.

EDIT: We have updated the photos for the wendan.
Last edited by mudandleaves on Mon Jan 13, 2020 9:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
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mudandleaves
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Sun Jan 12, 2020 8:55 pm

All of the zhuni teapots we have in stock at present are Xiaomeiyao Zhuni. It's all from the same stock. Sometimes the teapots may appear slightly darker or lighter orange, slightly more brownish-orange after firing from another batch, this is the result of slight variations in the firing conditions.
faj
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Sun Jan 12, 2020 8:56 pm

mudandleaves wrote:
Sun Jan 12, 2020 8:49 pm
The difference in colour is a result of lighting. In person the colour is closer to that of the other two teapots.
Thanks a lot for your feedback. And the one that looks almost brown on the pictures would also be the same color too?

Out of curiosity, how is the volume measured? Is it full to the brim?
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mudandleaves
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Sun Jan 12, 2020 9:08 pm

It's filled to the top, the lid is slowly place on top, and then we pour the water out into a measuring cup.
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archimon
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Sat Jun 20, 2020 5:21 pm

@faj

So, after skimming this thread, I wonder: did you ever end up buying an Yixing pot?
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