Yixing

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Bok
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Wed Mar 14, 2018 2:50 am

I never got the point of Yixing cups… if you are already benefitting from a claypot, why risk ruining and further affecting the brew in an unknown quantity with clay cups? I guess that is why a lot of those are inside glazed in white.
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Ragamuffin
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Thu Mar 15, 2018 5:48 pm

steanze wrote:
Tue Mar 13, 2018 3:12 pm

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?
I think you've cured my pot! Today I soaked it in a water/baking soda mixture for a couple hours and then scrubbed out the inside. 90% improvement, I think I'll give it a round two tomorrow.
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steanze
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Thu Mar 15, 2018 5:55 pm

Ragamuffin wrote:
Thu Mar 15, 2018 5:48 pm
I think you've cured my pot! Today I soaked it in a water/baking soda mixture for a couple hours and then scrubbed out the inside. 90% improvement, I think I'll give it a round two tomorrow.
Awesome!! Happy to help :)
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Demea
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Mon Apr 02, 2018 5:49 pm

What do you all think of these?

http://jingteashop.com/pd-yixing-xiao-pin-set.cfm

They are in convenient sizes and supposedly from 90s-early 2000s pin-zini. At almost $200, it may be hard to justify getting these instead of F1 or EoT private order pots, but would be interested to hear others' thoughts.
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steanze
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Mon Apr 02, 2018 7:54 pm

Demea wrote:
Mon Apr 02, 2018 5:49 pm
What do you all think of these?

http://jingteashop.com/pd-yixing-xiao-pin-set.cfm

They are in convenient sizes and supposedly from 90s-early 2000s pin-zini. At almost $200, it may be hard to justify getting these instead of F1 or EoT private order pots, but would be interested to hear others' thoughts.
Not very good, the clay looks quite coarse.
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ShuShu
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Sun Apr 15, 2018 11:16 pm

I know that many experienced yancha drinkers prefer a gaiwan or a decent hongni to a zini in order to preserve the high notes and the floral aroma. Still, however, I feel that a good zini let me really push it to the edge and stuff a 60ml pot with almost 6g of rather cheap shuixian and enjoy a powerful cup of tea in a way that a hongni or a gaiwan just can't...

In the picture, a 60ml F1 zini filled with 6g of freshly roasted cheap shuixian from Chinatown... :D




CFE8D054-D68F-4B42-940D-5CE85B7545DE.jpeg
CFE8D054-D68F-4B42-940D-5CE85B7545DE.jpeg (333.06 KiB) Viewed 9387 times
Last edited by ShuShu on Mon Apr 16, 2018 7:16 am, edited 2 times in total.
gatmcm
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Mon Apr 16, 2018 7:05 am

ShuShu wrote:
Sun Apr 15, 2018 11:16 pm
I know that many experienced yancha drinkers prefer a gaiwan or a decent hongni to a zini in order to preserve the high notes and the floral aroma.
I think it depends on the roast, high fire oolongs can use some muting imo, I brew mine in a very similar pot, think mine is f2-5 but the clay looks alike. Low to medium roast I've found that aroma loss indeed.
Love the reflexion of the pot on the kettle :lol:
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ShuShu
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Mon Apr 16, 2018 8:04 am

gatmcm wrote:
Mon Apr 16, 2018 7:05 am
ShuShu wrote:
Sun Apr 15, 2018 11:16 pm
I know that many experienced yancha drinkers prefer a gaiwan or a decent hongni to a zini in order to preserve the high notes and the floral aroma.
I think it depends on the roast
Yes. My point, though, is that it's not just the high roasted stuff that benefits from porous clay. Even with medium roasted stuuff, I find that a zini allows me to get a very concentrated cup of tea that would otherwise go too bitter in red clay or porcelain.
gatmcm
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Mon Apr 16, 2018 2:16 pm

ShuShu wrote:
Mon Apr 16, 2018 8:04 am
Yes. My point, though, is that it's not just the high roasted stuff that benefits from porous clay. Even with medium roasted stuuff, I find that a zini allows me to get a very concentrated cup of tea that would otherwise go too bitter in red clay or porcelain.
Oh, for sure, depends on what you're after, sometimes I have young sheng in it, top notes are muted but it makes it so I can leaf it hard, making it very strong while keeping the astringency at bay a bit
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Brent D
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Mon Apr 16, 2018 3:35 pm

gatmcm wrote:
Mon Apr 16, 2018 2:16 pm
ShuShu wrote:
Mon Apr 16, 2018 8:04 am
Yes. My point, though, is that it's not just the high roasted stuff that benefits from porous clay. Even with medium roasted stuuff, I find that a zini allows me to get a very concentrated cup of tea that would otherwise go too bitter in red clay or porcelain.
Oh, for sure, depends on what you're after, sometimes I have young sheng in it, top notes are muted but it makes it so I can leaf it hard, making it very strong while keeping the astringency at bay a bit
I make young sheng in dark clay as well for the same reason. Never understood why everyone says young sheng should be in red/porcelain.
Teachronicles
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Fri Apr 20, 2018 7:10 pm

So I've finally decided on a pairing for my 60s shuiping. After testing for about a month, I've decided on light medium roast oolong that have had time to rest with their roasts settled. These are my favorite teas to drink and these are the ones i noticed have the most improvement when brewing in this pot. I'd say the tea is much smoother. I also noticed that I'm able to get more consistent brews in later steeps, the flavor doesn't drop off like it does in a gaiwan, this was true with goashan as well. I tested some of my favorite aged shengs, which are mostly clean stored with very little humid storage flavor, I found that I prefer more muting than this pot provides for those. I know goashan would be the obvious choice with this pot but I dont drink much of it, and when I do I really like it grandpa style. So that's a little bit of the reasoning behind my decision, I did it mostly just based on what tea I thought tasted it's best when brewed in the pot. I also just received an early 70s biandeng that I'm testing and will post pictures of when I decide on a pairing.

I'll probably also brew aged oolong in the pot as well, when I have some.
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steanze
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Fri Apr 20, 2018 9:49 pm

Brent D wrote:
Mon Apr 16, 2018 3:35 pm
I make young sheng in dark clay as well for the same reason. Never understood why everyone says young sheng should be in red/porcelain.
Well, I drink young sheng mostly for testing its aging potential. Or occasionally I enjoy young sheng if it's a good boutique production. In the first case, I don't want the clay to mute aspects of the tea, and I am not really drinking for pleasure. In the second case, the bitterness is usually not very strong, or it is good and turns into sweetness. There are a few cases of mid-aged shengs that I make in zini/qingshuini, but it is not very common.
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Brent D
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Sat Apr 21, 2018 9:11 am

steanze wrote:
Fri Apr 20, 2018 9:49 pm
Brent D wrote:
Mon Apr 16, 2018 3:35 pm
I make young sheng in dark clay as well for the same reason. Never understood why everyone says young sheng should be in red/porcelain.
Well, I drink young sheng mostly for testing its aging potential. Or occasionally I enjoy young sheng if it's a good boutique production. In the first case, I don't want the clay to mute aspects of the tea, and I am not really drinking for pleasure. In the second case, the bitterness is usually not very strong, or it is good and turns into sweetness. There are a few cases of mid-aged shengs that I make in zini/qingshuini, but it is not very common.
Out of curiosity, when do you consider a Sheng to go from “young” to “mid age”? I’ve been calling anything under 10 as young.
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steanze
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Sat Apr 21, 2018 9:17 am

Yes, more or less the same. I'd call mid-aged a sheng between roughly 8 and 16 years old
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Manttea
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Sat Apr 21, 2018 11:08 pm

would judging by tea color be indicative? yellow=young, brown=mid, red=aged?
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