Yixing

[PamelaOry]

Interesting! I suggest to try more than one session in each pot, and to write down some notes. Some variation from session to session can also be due to factors other than the pot, so it is useful to replicate your tests and see what findings are consistent.

Good point. I will.

[LeoFox]

Interesting! I suggest to try more than one session in each pot, and to write down some notes. Some variation from session to session can also be due to factors other than the pot, so it is useful to replicate your tests and see what findings are consistent.

Good point. I will.

Have you simply tried putting something like 6g / 100 ml - boiling water - pour water in and decant it immediately - basically minimal steeping time? This is how i started out with dc- though closer to 7-8g/ 100 ml - letting it go out like 10 times before starting to increase time of steeping - maybe to 20 seconds at 10th brew depending on taste.

Also, that tea is about 0.5$/g? If so- that is still relatively cheap for dc - which means it can probably only handle this kind of fast brew. Slower more intense brews - require better material to be palatable

[PamelaOry]

@LeoFox,

I didn’t realize Dancongs were a more expensive type of tea. I just assumed it was comparable price wise to the other teas I bought there. I’m sure they are not top shelf, but also not cheap either. Now I’m curious to try expensive Dancong, lol! But, it’s going to have to wait until my budget recovers from all my recent splurges.

I did brew very similarly to how you suggest, in both my Shuiping and the Xishi. Will try in the Giawan today and see what I get.

Thank you!

[LeoFox]

LeoFox,

I didn’t realize Dancongs were a more expensive type of tea. I just assumed it was comparable price wise to the other teas I bought there. I’m sure they are not top shelf, but also not cheap either. Now I’m curious to try expensive Dancong, lol! But, it’s going to have to wait until my budget recovers from all my recent splurges.

I did brew very similarly to how you suggest, in both my Shuiping and the Xishi. Will try in the Giawan today and see what I get.

Thank you!

You will not be able to beat a gaiwan in terms of speed - so it is the best choice for the touch and go method suggested.

For decent dancong - look at the offerings of teahabitat

[PamelaOry]

@LeoFox, ok will do!

In other news can anyone help me better understand this new-to-me pot? When I thought both of mine were fakes, I shopped around and found this one that I thought was about the size of my Xishi pot. Boy was I off! It’s giant compared to my other two and it’s very heavy. Given how much tea I brewed in Xishi pot, I can’t imagine how much tea this bad boy would make. Maybe for when my whole family is joining me for tea?

[Baiyun]

@PamelaOry It is a good idea to measure the volume of your existing pots and then shop for other pots based on the volume you prefer or would like to try. Volume is really high on my list when it comes to pot preferences. You can't really eyeball it reliably when online shopping because proportions can be scaled.

That said, it is not necessary to completely fill and douse your pot for each infusion, just go with a drier brewing style and partially fill your pot with water if you desire less overall liquid per session, particularly when drinking alone and with a tea that can go for many infusions. More so if you wish to have a few teas that day.

Whilst something can be said about filling and dousing a pot to water seal it, brewing dry style has its own charm, and depending on leaf quantity allows you to vary the water level a bit between infusions to further influence the extraction on the go. I brew my pots at 80-90% full with a bit of adjustment available in either direction, and they are in the 75-120ml range.

[steanze]

In other news can anyone help me better understand this new-to-me pot? When I thought both of mine were fakes, I shopped around and found this one that I thought was about the size of my Xishi pot. Boy was I off! It’s giant compared to my other two and it’s very heavy. Given how much tea I brewed in Xishi pot, I can’t imagine how much tea this bad boy would make. Maybe for when my whole family is joining me for tea?

It is fun to buy pots! But my suggestion would be to go a bit slower at the beginning, and observe what pots others are posting, because it will take some time to learn what is authentic and what is fake, and to distinguish the quality of different pots. Personally I think this last pot you posted might be the least promising of the three. The way the seals were stamped under the lid gives me the impression that the clay was a bit slurry, and that's not great for a Yixing pot. Considering the size, if it does not have off odors, you can use it to brew shou puerh or liubao with a low tea/leaf ratio (~3g/100ml).

[PamelaOry]

@Baiyun, that’s a good idea. I need to get a measure in ml. As that’s what most pots will say.

In other news can anyone help me better understand this new-to-me pot? When I thought both of mine were fakes, I shopped around and found this one that I thought was about the size of my Xishi pot. Boy was I off! It’s giant compared to my other two and it’s very heavy. Given how much tea I brewed in Xishi pot, I can’t imagine how much tea this bad boy would make. Maybe for when my whole family is joining me for tea?

It is fun to buy pots! But my suggestion would be to go a bit slower at the beginning, and observe what pots others are posting, because it will take some time to learn what is authentic and what is fake, and to distinguish the quality of different pots. Personally I think this last pot you posted might be the least promising of the three. The way the seals were stamped under the lid gives me the impression that the clay was a bit slurry, and that's not great for a Yixing pot. Considering the size, if it does not have off odors, you can use it to brew shou puerh or liubao with a low tea/leaf ratio (~3g/100ml).

Yeah, I had a feeling as I was looking at it. I can send it back, which I might do. It’s bigger than I thought and it feels too heavy to easily pour with. At the end of the day, my goal was to have a pot to use and it turns out I can use the ones I have! My other goal is to learn, and getting this pot has educated me some too! Lol

[Bok]

@PamelaOrynot only very large, but also a bit too thick walled. Risking to "cook" your tea leaves...

[Baiyun]

Following up on the previous discussion, the lateral flow tests for lead showed no elevated lead levels in water coming out of my pots. Due to the fragility of the test type, I did not use tea or acid to tease it further, just filtered tap water.

For each pot, I poured in boiling water into preheated clay and left it in the pot for 24h. I then shook it up a bit, decanted into borosilicate glass, and took a sample from each, with the Gaiwan as a control.

The way this test works, unlike many immunochromatographic tests, two visible lines means negative. Positive (i.e., lead present at >10ppb) would be indicated by just a single control line and an invisible test line, but lower levels approaching 10 would also show as a reduction in line visibility of the test line.

pb.jpg (212.2 KiB) Viewed 7356 times

The test involves shaking up a small sample of water with a powder compound. If there are lead ions present in the sample, these bind to the compound and compete with the solutes forming the red testing line, making the intensity of the test line inversely proportional to lead ion content. At 10ppb, no test line would be visible.

I have some surface swabs on the way also but shipping delays appear in full force.

[OCTO]

The way this test works, unlike many immunochromatographic tests, two visible lines means negative. Positive (i.e., lead present at >10ppb) would be indicated by just a single control line and an invisible test line, but lower levels approaching 10 would also show as a reduction in line visibility of the test line.

Please forgive me..... I can't help it.....

Are we expecting a baby pot soon??

[Baiyun]

It was just too difficult to find those sub 50ml pots...

[WhisperingFrog192]

Modern Yixing for a change. Red jiangponi?

[DailyTX]

It was just too difficult to find those sub 50ml pots...

Here is a handsome baby pot
viewtopic.php?f=30&t=1404&start=210

[.m.]

What is the one next to it? A Wedgewood or some other antique european redware?