To try Yixing or not?

[_JP_]

Many of the Yixing pots are really great looking, simply works of art. But is there any taste advantage to using one compared to other methods, such as iron pots or infusers?

[ouch]

I don't ascribe to what my kid calls the "magic dirt" theory. Some folks may tell you that there's a big difference between clays culled from different parts of the world, but for all I know they may be part time audio cable salesmen.

What makes yixing pots work is their shape and size, as well as their heat retention. They're perfect vessels for brewing tea.

[Proinsias]

I'd suggest a 100ml or so gaiwan. They are cheap and versatile, if you like it then yixing is the next step.

I like to brew my tea a tiny amount at a time. Iron pots and infusers have too much room for error as far as I'm concerned. With a small brewing vessel and numerous infusions I have a much better chance at getting a really good cup of tea.

[OmegaEdge]

You could try a small Kysu. They are larger than a yixing. I like brewing my tea in larger batches.

[expatCanuck]

Many of the Yixing pots are really great looking, simply works of art. But is there any taste advantage to using one compared to other methods, such as iron pots or infusers?I'd be worried about an iron pot rusting. As well, I'd be concerned about the reactivity of a metal pot.

So I don't use one.

[SCWilson]

An yixing is on my list of things to buy. I'm loving pu'erh, sheng, but I'm not having a lot of luck with pouring it from my 100ml gaiwan.

[_JP_]

I'd be worried about an iron pot rusting. As well, I'd be concerned about the reactivity of a metal pot.

So I don't use one.

What I'm currently using is a Tetsubin-Mori, which is glazed on the inside and obviously not bare metal on the outside either. It is a single cup infuser that is easy to care for. I'll probably get a gaiwan eventually and perhaps a Yixing pot as well, if only because of how they look.

http://www.rishi-tea.com/store/images/SmlGrn.jpg (http://www.rishi-tea.com/store/tetsubin-mori.html)

[expatCanuck]

I'd be worried about an iron pot rusting. As well, I'd be concerned about the reactivity of a metal pot.

So I don't use one.What I'm currently using is a Tetsubin-Mori, which is glazed on the inside and obviously not bare metal on the outside either. It is a single cup infuser that is easy to care for. ... .Nor do I care for the iron pot aesthetics. Or the weight.

But then, I'm an uptight luddite who's pretty set in his ways.

[Doc4]

Nor do I care for the iron pot aesthetics. Or the weight.

But then, I'm an uptight luddite who's pretty set in his ways.

... okay, but someone introduce me to an easygoing luddite who's open to new ideas. :tongue_sm

[Wisdom]

Given enough time, patience, and care.. a Yi-Xing teapot becomes "seasoned" and, in my opinion, gives teas (especially Oolongs) more depth and flavor. I'd definitely recommend getting a Yi-Xing teapot if you're going to commit it to one type of tea.

Don't get one on eBay, unless you know of a reputable seller.. you can taste the difference between a good and poor quality teapot and even a machine made and hand-made one.. the teapot retains all sorts of scents.
-\Visdom

[Spacegeezer]

What I'm currently using is a Tetsubin-Mori, which is glazed on the inside and obviously not bare metal on the outside either. It is a single cup infuser that is easy to care for. I'll probably get a gaiwan eventually and perhaps a Yixing pot as well, if only because of how they look.

<image snipped> (http://www.rishi-tea.com/store/tetsubin-mori.html)

I use an iron pot with enamel-coated inside for something like 90% of my tea drinking. I like its heat retention, its capacity and the fact it doesn't absorb flavours, so I don't have to remember what I've used it for in the past. I don't use it for pu er, though, and I'm not sure if it's quite right for teas that infuse at lower temperatures. I regularly use it for tisanes or dian hong with good results.



I'd be worried about an iron pot rusting. As well, I'd be concerned about the reactivity of a metal pot.

So I don't use one.

The tetsubin (bare iron kettle) is popular for boiling water because it adds iron to the water, but you don't make the tea in that pot. They're pretty easy to care for.

[Spacegeezer]

Given enough time, patience, and care.. a Yi-Xing teapot becomes "seasoned" and, in my opinion, gives teas (especially Oolongs) more depth and flavor. I'd definitely recommend getting a Yi-Xing teapot if you're going to commit it to one type of tea.

Don't get one on eBay, unless you know of a reputable seller.. you can taste the difference between a good and poor quality teapot and even a machine made and hand-made one.. the teapot retains all sorts of scents.
-\Visdom

My local has some particularly amazing pots that he has priced at $300-$400, and even from a distance you can see that they're amazing pots. I don't think they improve your tea significantly, though :) The other local tea shop had some for $10-$20, and those ones looked like they might have had some melamine or something in them :P

[Jim]

得到它什麼有您得到丟失？

[_JP_]

得到它什麼有您得到丟失？

That's easy for you to say!

But I'm not lost.

[Jim]

Thats funny! When I babelfished it from English to Trad Chinese I originally wrote "why not, what have you got to lose?"

[_JP_]

Translating is like converting currency. You always lose a little bit along the way.

[Howard Newell]

Not unless you transliterate, but I'm not certain that would work well with Chinese to English.

I'd recommend picking up a decent yixing because of the amount of heat they retain. I've tried pre-warming kettles and mugs before brewing tea, but yixing blows it all out of the water.

[_JP_]

I would think that the iron tetsubin holds heat better than a clay yixing can.

[Howard Newell]

Iron doesn't have a very high specific heat capacity. That's why it transmits heat so well and we use it for pots and pans. Try touching a pizza pan that's been out of the oven for two minutes, and then try touching a pizza stone that's been out of the oven for two minutes, and you'll see what I mean :biggrin:.

[Spacegeezer]

Iron doesn't have a very high specific heat capacity. That's why it transmits heat so well and we use it for pots and pans. Try touching a pizza pan that's been out of the oven for two minutes, and then try touching a pizza stone that's been out of the oven for two minutes, and you'll see what I mean :biggrin:.

I can tell you from experience that my iron/enamel kettle maintains its temperature much longer than one ought to steep their tea for. The other side of your example is to try touching a pizza stone that's been /in/ the oven for two minutes vs. a pizza pan that was in there too. Clay doesn't heat up very fast, so a clay pot can be more difficult to pre-warm effectively. Overall I think the pot adds a pretty small element to the tea, after considerations such as water temp, the leaves themselves, the size of the pot, the leaf-water ratio and how much the leaves move as water is poured into the kettle. I think clay is used mainly because it was relatively cheap and available, but that tradition has kept it in use - along with the fact that the clay pots are visibly "living", changing with time and use. Perhaps clay quickly cycles through a few temperatures when you are infusing the tea causing the pot to absorb, filter and release oils like a temperature cycle in a whiskey barrel. I guess that's why I use an iron/enamel pot so much, because then I know that it's doing more or less nothing to the tea and I can focus on the other elements. I'd like to run a yixing, but mainly because it gains a visible history.

[Howard Newell]

Iron is a conductor, whereas clay is not. As soon as you pour boiling water into the kettle, it's going to heat up the metal, and the metal is going to quickly conduct heat from the water to the outside,and your water will cool. The clay yixing acts as an insulator so that the water retains its temperature for longer and you get a better brew. Like I said before, I can have a 20oz kettle with boiling water in it, and pour it out and have the kettle completely warm in about two minutes. Considering an yixing's smaller size, if I filled it up with boiling water and poured it out, the inside would be uncomfortably hot.
It's very easy to think an iron pot would be hotter than an yixing, but it's impossible to know without actually owning one or taking someone's advice that it performs better.

[ouch]

I recall being impressed watching a special about the heat shielding tiles of the space shuttle. The narrator withdrew a tile from a blazing kiln and, while it was still glowing white hot, picked it up in his bare hand.

[_JP_]

.
It's very easy to think an iron pot would be hotter than an yixing, but it's impossible to know without actually owning one or taking someone's advice that it performs better.

I can't argue that!

To take this thread a step further, does anyone know a good source for an inexpensive yixing pot? I'm interested in the 100ml size. How about the low cost ones at puerhshop.com, they any good? I'm not interested in spending something $80 for a yixing, or getting a rare collectible like I've seen at some places.