Yixing

[Teachronicles]

Nice!
Here are some more pictures of Xu Yuefeng's modern zhuni pot, upon request from Victoria.

- Size of pot: 180ml
- Clay type: Xiao Meiyao modern zhuni
- Firing temperature: Med/High fired
- Walls: thin
- Pour speed: ~11 seconds
- What year/decade the pot was made? 2010s
- If known, the craftsman or factory: Xu Yuefeng
- What type of tea you make with it? Green oolongs (mostly Taiwanese)
- What is the effect of the pot on tea? Why do you like to brew a certain tea in it, and what does it do for that tea? The thin walls and dense clay make the tea "crisp" and preserve the aroma. The shape and size gives room for the gaoshan oolong leaves to unfold.

The pot almost looks like rubber in the 3rd picture

[steanze]

Would you say the rich deep color of the clay is pretty accurate on screen? Looks very similar in tonal depth (different clays) to my Jozan III.

That's an interesting comparison. Jozan III's clay has a smoother texture. I'd say that Jozan III's clay is a bit more orange, the early F1 hongni is a bit redder, but they are quite close in terms of hue. Hard to tell without the same light so here's a side by side forgive the not so good white balance of the evening picture.

yozan_vs_F1_small.jpg (193.8 KiB) Viewed 27376 times

[steanze]

New pot, just arrived today. 60s hongni shuiping 85ml. The seller actually told me it's from 58, the start of factory 1 but idk how you'd verify that. Haven't tested firing yet, soaking in water now. Will probably use for aged sheng.

Fantastic pot there! The level of clay and workmanship of the early F1 hongni is really really nice.

[Victoria]

Would you say the rich deep color of the clay is pretty accurate on screen? Looks very similar in tonal depth (different clays) to my Jozan III.

That's an interesting comparison. Jozan III's clay has a smoother texture. I'd say that Jozan III's clay is a bit more orange, the early F1 hongni is a bit redder, but they are quite close in terms of hue. Hard to tell without the same light so here's a side by side forgive the not so good white balance of the evening picture.
yozan_vs_F1_small.jpg

Wow, nice side by side. Soon I’ll start a new thread on Jozan, hope you can share yours there too. Nice ridges on yours.

[steanze]

Wow, nice side by side. Soon I’ll start a new thread on Jozan, hope you can share yours there too. Nice ridges on yours.

Sure! Yes, I like that about it, it looks like wind through the sand

[Bok]

I think so too, but I also double checked with steanze and dr lu. It wasn't cheap so I wanted to be sure.

Very nice clay! I am sure it cost a pretty penny, those pots are already not cheap in Taiwan.
I myself just can not for the life of it buy a ”standard” shuiping shape, no matter how good the clay is, I have seen this shape just too much. It’s like the blue jeans of yixing teapots, haha

How does it brew? Any notcieable difference to what you are using normally?

[Teachronicles]

I think so too, but I also double checked with steanze and dr lu. It wasn't cheap so I wanted to be sure.

Very nice clay! I am sure it cost a pretty penny, those pots are already not cheap in Taiwan.
I myself just can not for the life of it buy a ”standard” shuiping shape, no matter how good the clay is, I have seen this shape just too much. It’s like the blue jeans of yixing teapots, haha

How does it brew? Any notcieable difference to what you are using normally?

Haha I don't have that problem, being in the US, I love the shuiping shape. Haven't brewed anything yet, but I'll post when I do.

[d.manuk]

Does anyone know where I can get yixing teacups?
I'm not looking for porcelain to be on the inside of the teacup.

[Ragamuffin]

Ok yixing lovers, I'm in need of some help... I have a late 90's zini shuiping that I recently got from Chawangshop (I posted a picture a page or two back), and for some reason it's ruining my tea. The first time that I used the pot I did not notice it, possibly because I was drinking cheap yancha in it, but in the past three sessions that I've done (with three different teas) it made my tea taste like cat piss.

The first infusion is fine, the teas taste the way they should, but as soon as I open the lid for the next infusion it smells like urine and the subsequent infusions taste of it. The pot smells fine when dry or when wet with hot water. I tried pouring boiling water in it and left it overnight, but in the morning the water smelled and tasted just fine. It seems to only produce bad smells/flavors when brewing tea.

It isn't caused by the teas or water; they taste fine when brewed in other pots/gaiwans.

Anyone have any ideas on what wrong or how to fix it?

P.S. I think "Cat Piss Aroma" would make a great name for a new Dancong varietal

[steanze]

Does anyone know where I can get yixing teacups?
I'm not looking for porcelain to be on the inside of the teacup.

Hi! You can get yixing teacups in places like dragon tea house. But before you do that: why would you like to get yixing tea cups?
In my experience, yixing teacups are usually pretty bad:
1) usually the clay quality is very very low
2) usually they are mass produced and have little artistic value
3) the effect of the clay is really not that necessary - better to use a yixing teapot that usually has better clay
4) they restrict your use of the cups to only one type of tea.

There are so many other beautiful teacups out there...

[steanze]

Ok yixing lovers, I'm in need of some help... I have a late 90's zini shuiping that I recently got from Chawangshop (I posted a picture a page or two back), and for some reason it's ruining my tea. The first time that I used the pot I did not notice it, possibly because I was drinking cheap yancha in it, but in the past three sessions that I've done (with three different teas) it made my tea taste like cat piss.

The first infusion is fine, the teas taste the way they should, but as soon as I open the lid for the next infusion it smells like urine and the subsequent infusions taste of it. The pot smells fine when dry or when wet with hot water. I tried pouring boiling water in it and left it overnight, but in the morning the water smelled and tasted just fine. It seems to only produce bad smells/flavors when brewing tea.

It isn't caused by the teas or water; they taste fine when brewed in other pots/gaiwans.

Anyone have any ideas on what wrong or how to fix it?

P.S. I think "Cat Piss Aroma" would make a great name for a new Dancong varietal

Sorry, I have no idea. I never encountered something similar. Is it a new pot or an old pot? Did you try scrubbing the inside with baking soda?

[d.manuk]

Hi! You can get yixing teacups in places like dragon tea house. But before you do that: why would you like to get yixing tea cups?
In my experience, yixing teacups are usually pretty bad:
1) usually the clay quality is very very low
2) usually they are mass produced and have little artistic value
3) the effect of the clay is really not that necessary - better to use a yixing teapot that usually has better clay
4) they restrict your use of the cups to only one type of tea.

There are so many other beautiful teacups out there...

I wanted a clay cup for shou because I feel like it would be a good fit for the tea type. It's very a staining tea and the clay would be good at retaining some heat and clay is heavier than porcelain so it would feel hefty in the hand. Maybe it's not a good idea, idk.

Yes, those cups at Dragon Tea House don't look like good quality I would not want to buy one.

[Teachronicles]

Hi! You can get yixing teacups in places like dragon tea house. But before you do that: why would you like to get yixing tea cups?
In my experience, yixing teacups are usually pretty bad:
1) usually the clay quality is very very low
2) usually they are mass produced and have little artistic value
3) the effect of the clay is really not that necessary - better to use a yixing teapot that usually has better clay
4) they restrict your use of the cups to only one type of tea.

There are so many other beautiful teacups out there...

I wanted a clay cup for shou because I feel like it would be a good fit for the tea type. It's very a staining tea and the clay would be good at retaining some heat and clay is heavier than porcelain so it would feel hefty in the hand. Maybe it's not a good idea, idk.

Yes, those cups at Dragon Tea House don't look like good quality I would not want to buy one.

I'm not sure about yixing but bitterleaf teas often has some jianshui cups. I think those would work similar to yixing in terms of heat retention. Not sure about the quality of clay.

[Teachronicles]

Here's a pot I got a while back. It's a modern yixing from mudandleaves. As far as I can tell it's hongni, of ok quality. I like the shape a lot and its the only pot I have in this shape.


Pot

- Size of pot in ml or oz.:150ml
- Clay type: hongni
- Firing temperature: high fired
- If the pot is thin-walled, medium, or thick? Thick
- How long is the pour? Haven't used yet
- What year/decade the pot was made? Not sure
- If known, the craftsman or factory: not known
- What type of tea you make with it? Undecided

[Bok]

I wanted a clay cup for shou because I feel like it would be a good fit for the tea type. It's very a staining tea and the clay would be good at retaining some heat and clay is heavier than porcelain so it would feel hefty in the hand. Maybe it's not a good idea, idk.

Why not go for some sort of rougher clay cup? Japanese or Taiwanese for example. Those get more beautiful with use, especially the staining kind of tea. Hefty feeling and heat retention is also better with thicker clay.