Yixing – one pot one tea variety

Tieguanyin bouquet and browned should never share the same Yixing pot. Browning gives a tea a distinctive taste character that do not exist in the greener or bouquet versions. It really does not matter whether the two teas come from the same cultivar or not, it is the proximity of taste profiles that should be the main concern.

I am interested in exploring the Yixing pot with oolong too. How to choose one made from good genuine Yixing clay? I have heard that imitation or low quality ones can be harmful to health.

Ive heard that chaozhou clay teapots, which have thinner walls, are sometimes preferred for preparing phoenix dancong oolong. But i dont know exactly why this should be so.

I have answered about infusing with Chaozhou teapot in another discussion, and would like to talk about its clay character here. The way they make these pots is hand-throwing, ie putting a lump of wet clay on a pottery wheel and turn to form. The clay itself is inevitably less dense than the slab-built clay method as employed in Yixing. 

I have one I bought in Chaozhou 6 or 7 years ago. By Zhang Yen Ping, or so is the name in the seal. Could it be not safe too? 

Does it mean pots that are thicker and squarish are more likely to be genuinely Yixing? So many round ones on the internet!

Slab-built real Yixing zisha teapots can be any shape, normal 2 – 3 mm thick, some parts thicker. But this same can be counterfeit Yixing pots too. So it is not shape or thickness, it is clay quality and workmanship real or not real. Chaozhou pots thin and light. I think it is not good for making tea. If I make dancong tea, I prefer gaiwans so no need for zisha teapots. Thin teapots I think meaningless.

Very meaningful discussion. I have never even imagined this kind of specialist knowledge in the use of teapots. Why is a high density teapot chosen for a low temperature infusion? Does dancong refer to Phoenix oolong?