Re-boil the water every 2-3 brews - and no long pause in between rounds.
Yixing
@Balthazar
This shape looks like a F1 design. I remember a while ago, I posted a pair of flat pots, and one of the members posted one that looked like yours.
Edit: founded on page 37
Chadrinkcat linked a photo there
@Mark-S
You have pointed out correctly that there are recommendations not to reboil water to brew tea. That's the "dead water" school of thoughts.. but it's ok to reboil a few times as you won't be able to taste a very distinct difference in your tea between a freshly boiled water and one that is boiled over few times.
Cheers!!
First of all: I can't believe this thread has grown by 100 pages in a couple of months. Well done everybody

Thanks for digging that up, the shape does indeed look very similar. The pot was gifted to my wife's family by a well-off acquaintance either in the late 90s or early 00s, so I assumed that it was made after F1 had shut down, but it might not. It came with a certificate from the potter and a information booklet, which I'm unfortunately not able to locate now.. I always assumed such "showoffish" presentations precluded F1. Also, the lid fit is really just perfect, which is not the case for any of my F1 pots (although it might be sample bias, I don't have any rare ones).
Here are some more photos:




Last edited by Balthazar on Sat May 09, 2020 10:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
+1 to bothOCTO wrote: ↑Sat May 09, 2020 9:34 amMark-S
You have pointed out correctly that there are recommendations not to reboil water to brew tea. That's the "dead water" school of thoughts.. but it's ok to reboil a few times as you won't be able to taste a very distinct difference in your tea between a freshly boiled water and one that is boiled over few times.
Cheers!!

But what about during the brew? it seems to me that my gaiwan rapidly drops in temperature so I guess I am now wondering if it makes sense to compensate heat loss with steeping time...
If we are still talking about yancha, I assume you are preheating the vessel and mostly doing flash-steeps, at least for the first few brews? It seems doubtful that the temperature inside will drop enough during a brew for the effect to be noticeable when flash-steeping. For later and longer steeps, you might need to adjust the steep time according the the heat properties of the vessel you are using. Experimentation is key.
I occasionally transfer the tea from the gaiwan to a preheated teapot for later steeps for this reason.
I occasionally transfer the tea from the gaiwan to a preheated teapot for later steeps for this reason.
Those extra images, I would guess it’s after F1Balthazar wrote: ↑Sat May 09, 2020 10:02 amFirst of all: I can't believe this thread has grown by 100 pages in a couple of months. Well done everybody![]()
Thanks for digging that up, the shape does indeed look very similar. The pot was gifted to my wife's family by a well-off acquaintance either in the late 90s or early 00s, so I assumed that it was made after F1 had shut down, but it might not. It came with a certificate from the potter and a information booklet, which I'm unfortunately not able to locate now.. I always assumed such "showoffish" presentations precluded F1. Also, the lid fit is really just perfect, which is not the case for any of my F1 pots (although it might be sample bias, I don't have any rare ones).
Here are some more photos:
![]()
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My thoughts too. Looks nicely made thoughDailyTX wrote: ↑Sat May 09, 2020 11:56 amThose extra images, I would guess it’s after F1Balthazar wrote: ↑Sat May 09, 2020 10:02 amFirst of all: I can't believe this thread has grown by 100 pages in a couple of months. Well done everybody![]()
Thanks for digging that up, the shape does indeed look very similar. The pot was gifted to my wife's family by a well-off acquaintance either in the late 90s or early 00s, so I assumed that it was made after F1 had shut down, but it might not. It came with a certificate from the potter and a information booklet, which I'm unfortunately not able to locate now.. I always assumed such "showoffish" presentations precluded F1. Also, the lid fit is really just perfect, which is not the case for any of my F1 pots (although it might be sample bias, I don't have any rare ones).
Here are some more photos:
![]()
That shape is like 300 years old, so... 

The below photos are of a teapot that's supposed to be made of "Nian Gao Tu" (年糕土) clay. It's siginificantly less red in real life than it appears on these photos (only have my mobile phone at hand, unfortunately).
Anyone know much about this clay? Its my go-to pot for Taiwanese oolongs and TGY, as it seems to be less muting than probably any other pot I own. Kyarazen provided some info back in 2015, but the clays origin still seems to be a bit of a mystery


Anyone know much about this clay? Its my go-to pot for Taiwanese oolongs and TGY, as it seems to be less muting than probably any other pot I own. Kyarazen provided some info back in 2015, but the clays origin still seems to be a bit of a mystery


@Balthazar
It's a special blend of clay as all other clays in F1. The material should probably be from the mines which were active during that production of Niangaotu. I don't know which years were niangaotu common at, so I can't tell from which mines it could've come from.
It's a special blend of clay as all other clays in F1. The material should probably be from the mines which were active during that production of Niangaotu. I don't know which years were niangaotu common at, so I can't tell from which mines it could've come from.
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Following the link to teachat that @Balthazar posted, I read through the whole thread and saw this comment from kyarazen.
I'm curious 1. If that is true, that not many hongni pots were made in the qing dynasty, that most were zhuni and 2. If that's true, then why? Was it the preferred material for teapots? Was there simply more of it closer to the surface in the mines which made it easier to gather? And then from that, was hongni deeper and so harder to access with the technology available? Which is why we don't see more of it till later?
I'm curious 1. If that is true, that not many hongni pots were made in the qing dynasty, that most were zhuni and 2. If that's true, then why? Was it the preferred material for teapots? Was there simply more of it closer to the surface in the mines which made it easier to gather? And then from that, was hongni deeper and so harder to access with the technology available? Which is why we don't see more of it till later?