Yixing

[Bok]

Do you mean aesthetically too crude for a nicer tea session? Could you expand on what you mean by that, I'm just curious.

That for one – but that is just personal snobbery, not essential: finest pot for finest tea.

But I also meant that the pour might not be ideal, or spilling over when wanting to pour fast due to lid fit. Wall thickness might be an issue, although small pots cool down faster, so that would probably compensate if the case.

[klepto]

Questions:

1.) How much leaf should I use in a yixing teapot?
2.) Should I keep the lid on between steepings?
3.) What is the most minimalist way to care for my teapot?

[Bok]

Questions:

1.) How much leaf should I use in a yixing teapot?
2.) Should I keep the lid on between steepings?
3.) What is the most minimalist way to care for my teapot?

I think your question do more concern tea brewing than Yixing per se... all of the above is not different to any other clay pot.

1. Depends on the tea you drink.
2. Also depends on the tea and the teapot(shape, size, thickness, clay etc.)
3. Do nothing, just rinse with water. Is it the best way? Probably not. In that case rinse with hot water after use and dry completely before putting the lid back on.

[Balthazar]

Questions:

1.) How much leaf should I use in a yixing teapot?
2.) Should I keep the lid on between steepings?
3.) What is the most minimalist way to care for my teapot?

My two cents:

1) Hard to answer without knowing what kind of tea you are brewing. A very crude rule of thumb: Use more leaves the less the leaves will expand.
2) I'd generally say no, especially if you are taking extended breaks between the steepings and live in a humid and warm environment.
3) If you don't care about evenness of patina or anything like that: Removing the leaves once they are spent and your session is finished and rinse the teapot with hot (preferably boiling) water. This is what I do.

[Jules_Ludwig]

Questions:

1.) How much leaf should I use in a yixing teapot?
2.) Should I keep the lid on between steepings?
3.) What is the most minimalist way to care for my teapot?

1.) This depends on the size of the pot and the tea you wanna drink. If it comes to Pu-Erh, I find the best method not to overdose the tea to much. I think that the leaves are more able to get the benefits of the clay in that way.
For a 130ml pot I usually use 5gr. of tea. I can not tell it precisely though, because i don't use a scale anymore.
But once I had a wonderful Dancong which was heavily overdosed in a 100ml pot. So, it depends, as always...

2.) I always keep the lid on, no matter which tea I'm drinking. The energy of the tea should stay in the pot and of course I want to keep the temperature.

3.) You mean take care like maintain the pot? After using it, you should remove all the leaves and rinse it with hot water. That's basically it. Now is also the perfect time to keep the lid off the pot, that it can dry nicely, which is very important to avoid mold.

[klepto]

Questions:

1.) How much leaf should I use in a yixing teapot?
2.) Should I keep the lid on between steepings?
3.) What is the most minimalist way to care for my teapot?

I think your question do more concern tea brewing than Yixing per se... all of the above is not different to any other clay pot.

1. Depends on the tea you drink.
2. Also depends on the tea and the teapot(shape, size, thickness, clay etc.)
3. Do nothing, just rinse with water. Is it the best way? Probably not. In that case rinse with hot water after use and dry completely before putting the lid back on.

For sure I don't want mold on my teapot. The other things can be figured out with experience. Thanks to those who answered my questions.

[Mark-S]

Thanks a lot for your advice on what tea I could use.

But I also meant that the pour might not be ideal, or spilling over when wanting to pour fast due to lid fit. Wall thickness might be an issue, although small pots cool down faster, so that would probably compensate if the case.

The lid fit is nearly perfect and it does not spill at all. However, I don't know if it pours fast enough, because I have no idea what's normal for this size.

They confirmed it's a green label pot.

[Bok]

Thanks a lot for your advice on what tea I could use.

But I also meant that the pour might not be ideal, or spilling over when wanting to pour fast due to lid fit. Wall thickness might be an issue, although small pots cool down faster, so that would probably compensate if the case.

The lid fit is nearly perfect and it does not spill at all. However, I don't know if it pours fast enough, because I have no idea what's normal for this size.

They confirmed it's a green label pot.

Yeah saw it, I was pretty spot on then

I don’t think that pot will have pour speed problems. Good for Yancha is something along 6seconds.

[Mark-S]

Unfortunately, there's a problem with the pouring speed. Only if I tilt the lid the stream flows evenly. I did some research and found this tutorial:

http://phyllsheng.blogspot.com/2016/09/ ... nials.html

Maybe I'll try this but if I do I'll definitely practice this on some fake pots first.

[Balthazar]

They confirmed it's a green label pot.

One commenter seems to believe it's NZWH. How did you determine that the inside is coated with Hongni? (I'm terrible at discerning these things...)

Good luck with fixing the lid (it'd be cool if you could document the process, if you choose to do it).

[Mark-S]

How did you determine that the inside is coated with Hongni? (I'm terrible at discerning these things...)

Because of the color. I'm also not that good, but in this case it's obvious in my opinion.

[Mark-S]

I bought a diamond needle file now. Hopefully the tip is small enough, because the hole is so tiny. If this does not work I'll try the wire approach.

[Balthazar]

Because of the color. I'm also not that good, but in this case it's obvious in my opinion.

Agreed!

And again, good luck with the lid. Come to think of it, all the "tuition pots" we have bought over the years do serve a purpose as they are perfect to use for practicing on pot reparations

[Mark-S]

And again, good luck with the lid. Come to think of it, all the "tuition pots" we have bought over the years do serve a purpose as they are perfect to use for practicing on pot reparations

Thanks & that's true. I've got two shui ping pots I can destroy before trying it on the genuine one.

[.m.]

I bought a diamond needle file now. Hopefully the tip is small enough, because the hole is so tiny. If this does not work I'll try the wire approach.

Patience is the key: if you decide to do anything like this go slowly and with precision. Also less is more. And do not file on the outside, it would be very visible.
Btw. NZWH/NWLH develop natural patina nicely, getting "smoother" and deeper in color with use.