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A customer has been corresponding with us about the choice of Yixing teapot and I think we should share and continue the discussion here for the benefits of more people.
The teapots in concern
Left: Virtue Bell by Xu Yan Ping, right: Minute Celeste by Yixing Factory#1Here are some excerpts of the discussion:
The original question
I am interested in these teapots to infuse either Longjing or Puerh. Could you please let me know the quality of the teapot clays and their pouring time?
The initial response
The pour time of Virtue Bell is 16 sec and that of Minute Celeste is 11. As for the clay quality in respect to tea, I’ll let Leo reply to you.regards,Siu
My followup
As for the two teapots you asked, with their general higher density, both can be used for Longjing. As you may have realized, it is a bit easier using the zhu-ni one to make a fuller body. The duan-ni one is of even higher density than the zhu-ni, as you would find in any other genuine similar quality. I’d not used the duan-ni one for puer, unless it is a very matured shu cha which is already very soft and which I want to preserve its remaining sharpness. As with any good zhu-ni teapot of practical forms, Xu Yan Ping’s is a good general purpose one for any tea.
The customer responded
Regarding the teapot Zhu-ni teapot, I do concern about its slow pouring time. I do have some small genuine teapots that I use for Raw Puerh and Oolongs, and I was told that a teapot with fast pouring is best tool for Gong-Fu cha.Since Longjing requires a long infusion, I don’t know whether the fast pouring theory is applicable. Please share with me your thoughts.
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In terms of pouring speed, these pots are above average. The larger one, the zhu-ni one by Xu Yan Ping, with a 200 ml capacity, pours at 12.5 ml/s, is actually even faster than the smaller one which is at 11.8 ml/s. The classic and most popular shuiping design, for example, seldom goes above 10 ml/s. Most Yixing pots are in the range of 8 ~ 10 ml/s.
However, some people are concerned with how long it takes to empty the pot because they think that the pot cools down while pouring and the remaining of the pour, since it is still infusing the leaves, but now at a lower temperature, will not be infusing in an optimum condition, and thereby lowers the quality of the overall infusion.That is a valid concern under these conditions:- The infusion time is short, e.g. 30 sec etc, so the 10~20 seconds become relatively significant.
- The pot is not thick enough or not of genuine Yixing clay, so it is not holding enough heat to stablize the temperature during pouring. The Chaozhou hand-thrown clay teapot, for example, is not good for this reason.
Since you are using the pot for Longjing or Puer, which I think better quality is brought out only through enough infusion time, so I think the pots are good for you.Here is one reason why Yixing teapots were not intended for ultra fast pouring:In Chaozhou, where they used to put out 3 cups, no more, no less, regardless of the number of people to be served, every time tea is infused in a small pot, the tea was poured around the 3 cups in a circle. The pouring time had to allow the tea maker enough time to even out the concentration in each cup by going around the cups with enough repetitions. This was where the term “General Guan going round the city wall” (關公巡城) came from.I think I should do a demo later when this busy tea season is over. -
@Leo – an interesting explanation. Do you think slow pouring teapots work OK with Mi Lang Xian dan cong?
I haved tried to infuse Mi Lang Xiang with my Yixing ShuiPing using the top drop technique. My results are on a par with the results that I used with a Gaiwan.
Thanks
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Beautiful photos!
Dear Mr Leo,If I could take such beautiful pictures I would not sell only one piece of tea pot per set of photos. Please consider selling more for your labor cost efficiency. Please also consider making a real shop which I can visit next time in Hong Kong. I want so much to touch them. So very beautiful pots.Sincerely yours,Hokusai -
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@ Lamppost, that really depends on the infusion time you set for your top drop.
I’ll use my own practice to explain it here. When I choose to top drop for an infusion, I normally have decided that I would give it a full infusion duration, i.e. 5m for smaller vessels, 7 to 10 for large ones. To sustain a good temperature throughout such length, the vessel has to hold heat quite well. (other readers pls note: heating with a candle under the pot won’t work unless it is a very basic quality tea) In your case, the Yixing pot would have to be very thoroughly preheated. I would also use a slightly higher temperature in because I know it will get cooler. In bigger vessels, this is a lesser worry.To me, a balanced amount of astringency in the tea is important. So is aroma. Both have to be brought about with heat. The trick is knowing how much over that mean of 85°C. It varies with the heat retainment properties of that pot you are using and the immediate environment, and your personal preference, of course.If your Yixing teapot is giving you the same infusion quality as a gaiwan, there are things that you may want to ask:Is the pot a genuine Yixing clay or an imitation? Certain clays continues to absorb the substances in tea.Is the pot too thin or too small? Heat retention is a key factor in good infusion. Thinness of material and smallness in size are not good in heat retention. One way round it is by introducing a hot water bath for the teapot during infusion. The original meaning of chahai, before the intermediate teapot was popular, refers to that container for the hot bath. And the original intent of the Shuiping teapot style was exactly for submerging into the hot bath. However, that’s a lot of work for a small cup of tea.Another way is to use a shorter infusion time for smaller pots, say 2-3 minutes. To make sure you have a full enough body, you may have to break some of the leaves before dropping. That way you have more surface areas for infusion, but that also means easier release of bitterness and astringency. Milan Xiang is certainly not the easiest tea in the world for this technique.One good way to experiment with your own setup is to use less tealeaves in the beginning and very gradually increase the amount the other time you make tea. Do the same with temperature and duration. Do them all separately though, ie, change only one variable in one series of experiment., otherwise, you never know which is the contributive factor to the taste effect.Have fun. -
@ Tea Soul, that is a very fine zhu-ni pot. I have had it in the storage for a number of years and I believe I cannot buy the thing again at the original price, but marked it up accordingly anyway. My overall markup scheme is much lower than shops in HK (I believe that’s where you are?) or cities in China but competitive with the internet shops in China. Last time I saw similar things in HK in one of those Chinese emporiums, it was a few times the price. Their markup scheme is suicidal in the long run. As the Cantonese saying goes, killing the chicken for the eggs.
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@ Hokusai, I think your proposal is a great idea. However, it is not always possible to get two similar ones at the same time. I’ll try. I have no intention of opening a physical shop for retail any time soon. I will have to take care of what’s on the plate first. I hope you can feel the pots with the photos and buy from there 😉
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That sold zhuni pot is slab-bulit, ie without mould, if that’s what you mean by all handmade. Those that are produced with half-moulds are handmade too, don’t you agree? The Chinese term “手工壺” is not a precise term, I think. All new pots will be higher in price not only because the dramatically increasing price at the source, but also the value of the Chinese Yuan.
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