As a tea noob, I'm starting to ponder the differences between gong fu brewing with a gaiwan and a yixing. Consider with me, if you will:
1. Heat loss: Gaiwans are commonly made with thinner materials which don't hold temperature very well (perhaps most commonly, porcelain). Yixings as a breed are made of clays which do hold their temperatures better (here ignoring that there are those which hold heat better than others). That means that the temperature at which your leaves are steeping is nearer your starting temperature for a longer period of time in a yixing than in a gaiwan. This was "smack in the face" obvious when I did my first infusion with a yixing which I had pre-warmed.
2. Pouring times: I can empty my gaiwan with very little mess in about 5 seconds (as in, it's barely dripping anymore). My first yixing takes 12 seconds or so to completely empty. Consideration number one here is that you adjust your timing accordingly - you start pouring sooner. However, what you then end up with is tea which is slightly stronger later in your pour. If the tea you pour in the beginning infused for about 20 seconds, then the tea you are finished pouring infused for 30! It occurs to me that you're getting flavors from a wider range with a yixing, and thus, the resulting cup of tea is different. Perhaps not as strong as if it were somehow all evacuated at precisely 30 seconds. Perhaps more complex. I don't really know.
3. Material Absorbency: Simply put, the porcelain neither imparts nor absorbs any flavors worth noting. However, yixings are known to absorb and impart flavor. I'm not sure if the nuances of a particular sheng are going to "rub off" on my next tea, or if it's more of the general commonality of shengs at large that lingers in the walls of the pot. But something's going on there, and I imagine it's another flavor-changing component.
Now, I'm not saying I can detect the effects of all of these nuances - I just have a mean engineering streak that forces me to consider them. I can say, however, that it seems as though I'm getting hotter, yet smoother tea from my yixing right now than I ever did with my gaiwan. I wonder if that's because the pot is still absorbing and not yet imparting. I wonder if it will become stronger tea once the clay is quenched.
I wonder if I'm just a little nuts.
1. Heat loss: Gaiwans are commonly made with thinner materials which don't hold temperature very well (perhaps most commonly, porcelain). Yixings as a breed are made of clays which do hold their temperatures better (here ignoring that there are those which hold heat better than others). That means that the temperature at which your leaves are steeping is nearer your starting temperature for a longer period of time in a yixing than in a gaiwan. This was "smack in the face" obvious when I did my first infusion with a yixing which I had pre-warmed.
2. Pouring times: I can empty my gaiwan with very little mess in about 5 seconds (as in, it's barely dripping anymore). My first yixing takes 12 seconds or so to completely empty. Consideration number one here is that you adjust your timing accordingly - you start pouring sooner. However, what you then end up with is tea which is slightly stronger later in your pour. If the tea you pour in the beginning infused for about 20 seconds, then the tea you are finished pouring infused for 30! It occurs to me that you're getting flavors from a wider range with a yixing, and thus, the resulting cup of tea is different. Perhaps not as strong as if it were somehow all evacuated at precisely 30 seconds. Perhaps more complex. I don't really know.
3. Material Absorbency: Simply put, the porcelain neither imparts nor absorbs any flavors worth noting. However, yixings are known to absorb and impart flavor. I'm not sure if the nuances of a particular sheng are going to "rub off" on my next tea, or if it's more of the general commonality of shengs at large that lingers in the walls of the pot. But something's going on there, and I imagine it's another flavor-changing component.
Now, I'm not saying I can detect the effects of all of these nuances - I just have a mean engineering streak that forces me to consider them. I can say, however, that it seems as though I'm getting hotter, yet smoother tea from my yixing right now than I ever did with my gaiwan. I wonder if that's because the pot is still absorbing and not yet imparting. I wonder if it will become stronger tea once the clay is quenched.
I wonder if I'm just a little nuts.
as long as youre enjoying your brew 
