Yixing

[DailyTX]

My hongni biandeng got lonely. Now it has two chubby little hongni shuiping friends.

And there I was, only a few short months ago, thinking that there really isn't any need for more hongni pots... That may well still be true, but the logical part of me has been overpowered by the teapot part of me.

At least one day, I might be granted official membership in the small-pot-clan...

Andrew

@Andrew S
Lovely trio

[wave_code]

A couple new additions I'm finally getting a chance to clean up and will start putting to use. Got these through Emmett a little while ago but they have been in transit/storage while moving.

The first is the more exciting one I suppose. Especially for me- first time getting to try out a green label It also still needed a bit of cleaning up and the sticker boiled off, but thats fine by me. Much more pleasant and balanced in terms of shape and proportion than the other guava, volume to the lid is about 150ml so it should prove pretty versatile for solo or 2-3 person brewing. Looking forward to getting to know this pot and clay, but I anticipate this will become the main liu bao pot. This was supposedly the most high fired of the few that were available - I'm guessing the discoloration on the underside of the lid is firing marks?

The second guava is supposedly F2 - was in pretty rough shape but cleaned up nicely, around 130ml to the lid, working volume more like 90-100ml. The clay is different from other F2 pots I have and have seen, so maybe its just somewhere in the more 90s to later range? If anyone has any ideas or if the seals help I can put them up, but I guess anytime after the 80s there was probably so much variation in clay and color it is impossible to know. Its got a lot of tooling on the inside and the lid is pretty wobbly - not sure if this is typical for guava pots in general though since these are the first I've gotten. For 30 bucks it seemed worth a shot- maybe this pot will be for fu/heizhuan since its got a pretty fine multihole filter and is a good shape for leaf expansion

Cheers to @OCTO, @Bok, @Chadrinkincat and everyone else on here for providing so much info and tips on clay and buying suggestions - your patience and guidance is appreciated.

[Bok]

@wave_code that inside spot looks more like dirt from ink or other colouring, not from firing. Firing discolouration in F1 pots is very rare and wouldn’t look like this.

[Andrew S]

Good to see another guava around here; it's a fun and practical shape (and I think that stickers were always meant to come off, especially for tea drinkers rather than teapot collectors).

I look forward to seeing posts of these two pots brewing liu bao and other heicha in the future, and hearing about your experiences with them.

Andrew

[wave_code]

thanks @Andrew S

@Bok hmm, ok interesting... to my eyes its very much 'in' the clay, its smooth and part of it like it was fired in to the clay. I suppose ink or something similar if it absorbed in to the clay would look that way too though too, but I feel like something like that would have feathered out more since its a semi-porous material. either way after a thorough boiling and some scrubbing it shows no sign of change. I also tried a sodium bicarbonate/citric acid soak and scrub also made no change, so I don't think its going anywhere. Could it just be a discoloration a less well blended part of clay? Maybe that became more evident only after firing? Cosmetically it doesn't bother me at least.

[steanze]

thanks Andrew S

Bok hmm, ok interesting... to my eyes its very much 'in' the clay, its smooth and part of it like it was fired in to the clay. I suppose ink or something similar if it absorbed in to the clay would look that way too though too, but I feel like something like that would have feathered out more since its a semi-porous material. either way after a thorough boiling and some scrubbing it shows no sign of change. I also tried a sodium bicarbonate/citric acid soak and scrub also made no change, so I don't think its going anywhere. Could it just be a discoloration a less well blended part of clay? Maybe that became more evident only after firing? Cosmetically it doesn't bother me at least.

mm I agree with @Bok on this one, it's a strange pattern to come out of firing/blending issues. Looks more like ink or some other sort of stain

[wave_code]

good to know!- thanks both for your input. It seems pretty stable and worked in there, who knows could have been there for decades, and its only that one spot in the lid, so as long as it is not coming out in my tea I'm not too bothered.

[Chadrinkincat]

@wave_code

Definitely looks like ink to me. Maybe this pot was used as water dropper for calligraphy.

The F2 looks a lot like mine which came with original packaging. This box is similar style to 70-80’s F1 boxes so my guess would be it is an early F2 pot rather than 90’s. Clay on mine looked like a cheap knockoff of 70-80’s zini that wasn’t process as nicely. Lower fired with a gritty sandpaper feel.

[wave_code]

Its funny the stain only wound up on that one spot if someone was using it as a suteki, but fine by me - made for a very affordable entry in to green label clay as a result.

@Chadrinkincat yes, yours looks very very similar- interesting to know its probably an earlier F2. The outside of mine is pretty smooth, a bit rougher inside with small mica spots here and there. And yeah, when you put the two side by side it basically looks like one is a bootleg of the other - trying to match the clay color and texture but not really getting it correct. Mine still had a slightly wooden pencil smell inside yesterday so I'm giving it another soak, though maybe this clay just has a stronger mineral smell when wet than some of my others. Is yours also a multi-hole or single hole spout?

[Balthazar]

@wave_code: Nice looking pots, have you had the chance to test them with some different teas yet?

[wave_code]

the F2 has seen a bit of shu, but it was one I recently picked up so I couldn't tell much of what the pot was doing if anything, just that if it gets overfilled the pour is very sloppy due to the loose lid. so in a way, a good pot for training myself to focus a bit more on how I am brewing than just fill to the lip and push down on the lid while dumping everything out. the green label has been getting warmed up being used as a pitcher and should start seeing more use as an actual pot very soon. I picked up a lot of new liu bao samples recently, so that combined with the new pots and how drastically different my water is here from where I was living a couple weeks ago its been so many changes at once and I have been verrry patiently trying to keep the number of variables per session down so I know what is actually doing what I recently have been able to pick up quite a few older teas than I have been able to previously, but being in small quantity they are very tempting but I have been trying to make sure I hold them for the right moment- which should be very soon, and I think the green label will be ideal for them.

[DailyTX]

Something fun to start the weekend. Which zini clay do you like more

[Andrew S]

Fun game indeed; I vote... clay one! But that's just me.

Can I hazard an uneducated guess that they're 70s/80s, 90s, and more recent, respectively? Not that I have any idea. Just want to learn what they are.

And I'll see if I can get my camera close enough to some of my lids for next time.

What do you use each one for?

Andrew

[DailyTX]

@Andrew S
2 out of 3 are supposedly from the 80s, 1 of them maybe late 80s early 90s.

[Chadrinkincat]

Andrew S
2 out of 3 are supposedly from the 80s, 1 of them maybe late 80s early 90s.

#3 heixingtu? If so this would be my 1st choice