The gai part of gaiwan means lid. Use it to your advantage...should fix 99% of the problem here...and a thicker gaiwan.
gaiwan or teapot?
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thetealetter
- Posts: 28
- Joined: Wed Dec 20, 2017 6:22 pm
- Location: San Francisco, CA
I've struggled with this question. I think oolong probably brews better in clay but I find it mutes some of the sweeter and floral high notes, whereas the porcelain gaiwan brings it all that out. I would love a dedicated dancong piece as well. I probably need some heavier ceramic gaiwans though as 3 out of my 4 gaiwans are all thin porcelain.
My yixing pieces ate all very new, however. Not sure they've really seasoned well yet.
My yixing pieces ate all very new, however. Not sure they've really seasoned well yet.
gaiwan to taste the tea, especially a new tea, a clear representation of the flavors, nothing to hide. convenient to use and clean. fast uniform pour. most of the daily drinking use gaiwan. gaiwans are normal.
teapot for fun and pleasurable experience. used for when I have time .clay can alter tea flavor to correct some faults of the tea after you know already the real taste of it from gaiwans. trying a new tea in a teapot is not professional and dangerous. teapots are cute.
finally one of my favorite brewing method, often ignored: boiling
for teas that are good boiled: laocong from older trees and aged wulong.
teapot for fun and pleasurable experience. used for when I have time .clay can alter tea flavor to correct some faults of the tea after you know already the real taste of it from gaiwans. trying a new tea in a teapot is not professional and dangerous. teapots are cute.
finally one of my favorite brewing method, often ignored: boiling
for teas that are good boiled: laocong from older trees and aged wulong.
I like to use a clay pot but any pot is fine especially since you will need a diantaolu for most handmade pottery, the cheapest way is buy a glass pot and a dianzilu or even your kitchen pot on the stove if you dont have anything else will work fine as long as its clean.
its pretty simple and chill: throw a few leaves in large amount of water and let them simmer for a while. something around 1g for 100ml but i never measured it, just leaves in a bunch of water is fine, worst case boil longer. You can do this after a bunch of gaiwan brews or directly if you are lazy like i am sometimes. let simmer a while like 15 minutes or whatever you want until flavor reach desired intensity, drink half of the tea and fill pot with water again, start boilng again increasing boiling time where needed. repeat over and over. 5g of laocong shuixian can do many liters of tea and go on all afternoon drinking.
not boiling certain teas is almost a crime similar to throwing away the "rinse" (aka best infusion) of certain other teas so try it if you have these boilable teas.
as other suggested is not just for wulong, many teas are good boiled especially most aged teas or teas that are smooth and flavorful and not astringent.
1g/100ml ? That’s a great way to save tea!octopus wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2018 5:23 amI like to use a clay pot but any pot is fine especially since you will need a diantaoulu for most handmade pottery, the cheapest way is buy a glass pot and a dianzilu or even your kitchen pot on the stove if you dont have anything else will work fine as long as its clean.
its pretty simple and chill: throw a few leaves in large amount of water and let them simmer for a while. something around 1g for 100ml but i never measured it, just leaves in a bunch of water is fine, worst case boil longer. You can do this after a bunch of gaiwan brews or directly if you are lazy like i am sometimes. let simmer a while like 15 minutes or whatever you want until flavor reach desired intensity, drink half of the tea and fill pot with water again, start boilng again increasing boiling time where needed. repeat over and over. 5g of laocong shuixian can do many liters of tea and go on all afternoon drinking.
not boiling certain teas is almost a crime similar to throwing away the "rinse" (aka best infusion) of certain other teas so try it if you have these boilable teas.
as other suggested is not just for wulong, many teas are good boiled especially most aged teas or teas that are smooth and flavorful and not astringent.
I try it.
good luck! remember that not all teas will be good this way so it might end up terrible if the tea isn't right. for wulong i just do laocong and aged ones.ShuShu wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2018 6:30 am1g/100ml ? That’s a great way to save tea!octopus wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2018 5:23 amI like to use a clay pot but any pot is fine especially since you will need a diantaoulu for most handmade pottery, the cheapest way is buy a glass pot and a dianzilu or even your kitchen pot on the stove if you dont have anything else will work fine as long as its clean.
its pretty simple and chill: throw a few leaves in large amount of water and let them simmer for a while. something around 1g for 100ml but i never measured it, just leaves in a bunch of water is fine, worst case boil longer. You can do this after a bunch of gaiwan brews or directly if you are lazy like i am sometimes. let simmer a while like 15 minutes or whatever you want until flavor reach desired intensity, drink half of the tea and fill pot with water again, start boilng again increasing boiling time where needed. repeat over and over. 5g of laocong shuixian can do many liters of tea and go on all afternoon drinking.
not boiling certain teas is almost a crime similar to throwing away the "rinse" (aka best infusion) of certain other teas so try it if you have these boilable teas.
as other suggested is not just for wulong, many teas are good boiled especially most aged teas or teas that are smooth and flavorful and not astringent.
I try it.
I will try it with some very good Laocong Shui Xian I have. Only problem is that it is hard to get a diantaoulu here and I don’t like cooking tea in kitchen pots....
Anyway, thank you for the advice
i see.. in this case if you have already the electric hot plate/ dianzilu the simplest solution i recommend is to buy a glass pot, they cost like 10$ on taobao and are probably available everywhere. if you also dislike glass too you can get some clay pots that work on electric plate. they exist, mostly simple factory ones but i have some nice handmade ones that somehow are safe for this too.
it must be clearly specified by the potter however, I would not use handmade clay pots on anything that isn't safe. heard too many stories of people who didnt deserve the pot they bought break them and then go complain to the potter.
kitchen pot is lame but still better than wasting laves while you wait to get the right gear
best thing ever: order diantaolu from taiwan and use all the cute pots you want! *but be careful never to spill water on it
On the topic of boiling on the handful of times I tried it I've noticed a grainy starchy kind of taste/texture that havent come out otherwise, its pleasant but I wonder why it has only come out when brewing like this, maybe the harsher brewing breaks down the plant cells more extracting components you wouldn't get otherwise
Western style doesn’t make a strong cup of yancha as kongfu does, but perhaps boiling will make that happen....
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Teachronicles
- Posts: 436
- Joined: Tue Dec 12, 2017 1:13 am
- Location: SF Bay Area, CA
Victoria, could you share a little about that second pot?Victoria wrote: ↑Sat Oct 28, 2017 2:17 pmIt really depends on the oolong. Roasted High Mountain & DongDing I use Hokujo stoneware. For LiShan or DaYuLing I use Hongni or Japanese red Shudei clay....More wabi sabe with clay pot. Simple clean with porcelain. Many people I know prefer porcelain gaiwan, I rarely use though.
Hokujo 250ml Stoneware rich in iron, preserves aroma, builds body.
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Hongni 100ml Yixing, allows sweet buttery notes to come out.
16F6DB81-D060-429B-9E09-AA6782B4A21E.jpeg