I am sorry we have not responded earlier.

It is always a pleasure to know that the understanding and experience we share can be of use. Thank you indeed for your feedback. It is the encouragement we need to continue our work.

Let’s focus in the gaiwan question.

Most certainly one can do without a gaiwan. Much as one can do with out a teapot. Or a cup, for that matter. In martial arts novel, there is a saying that when a swordsman is so good in his arts that anything can be a sword. Any vessel can be used as an infusion ware or as a cup.

*HOWEVER*, there are more useful infusion ware and there are less useful ones. As there are better swords and there are not so good swords.

A gaiwan is actually a versatile design. It may not be as good as a teapot for longer infusion duration from the perspective of heat lost, but heat lost may not be a bad factor when you actually want it to balance your overall infusion temperature. To simplify the idea, a 95°C infusion temperature maybe the result of either a consistent 95°C throughout the duration, or it can be the mean temperature between, say 100 in the beginning and 90 at the end.

The art infusing with a thinner and smaller vessel is very different from a thicker and larger one. So is the infusion effect. That basically means a same tea may taste quite differently.

Additionally, between 20 seconds and 5 minutes there are lots of room for play.

Most importantly, different teas really manifest themselves quite differently in the same infusion setting. Change the setting, the same tea tastes differently.

5 grams of Honey Orchid in a 150 ml gaiwan infused for 1 minute is very different from 2 grams of it in a same capacity taster mug for 5 minutes. Both can be good, but one may appeal to you better than the other.

This is but one example.

I think many use the gaiwan because it is convenient and not really knowing what the extent one can use it to make different infusion effects of a same tea. As I have always said, many who sell tea do not really know what they are selling anyway.

In terms of infusing within the 150 ml capacity, the gaiwan indeed is a very usable tool. It has a lot more versatility and possibilities to approach a tea using different variables, techniques and tricks. For a person who wants to explore more the nature of various tea, it is quite indispensable.

As Longjing 43 puts it, a good gaiwan is cheaper than a good teapot. It is also much easier to find.

This teapot design is basically a traditional pumpkin form. The speed of pouring, however, is not determined by the form, but by the passage of the spout. 20 second for 200 ml is slow.

The speed of pouring affects the control of infusion time. To reduce its influence, use a longer infusion duration.

The material and pot shape affects the infusion manner and thus influence the choice of tea variety. If this pot is what it looks like in the photo, which is a qingshuini, meaning a generic clay, ie a general purpose clay. Such clay is good for toning down astringency, bitterness, and over-firing. It is not good for teas which aromas are key to the taste profiles.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 6 months ago by Tea Guardian.

This is an interesting question that perhaps we should do a lot more research to answer.

Normally we choose water which Na and SO4 contents are as low as possible, ideally below 10mg/l; all the other metals less than 20 or about. However, I can say for now that if the metals have to be scientifically optimised with corresponding datas for each tea, no two Wuyi or Phoenix oolongs would have the same requirements. That is because the salt contents interact not only with various catechins, but also with the innate mineral contents in a tea. Since no two selections even under the same tea name variety would have the same amounts of these two sets of variables, each tea selection is bound to require a different “ideal” water for its best taste.

In practice, I think it is best to maintain the constant in the water variables so as to judge the ever so huge variations in tea substances in different tea selections. That generally applies to all teas.

@Herb, to lower the firely tones in a high fired oolongs there are many “secret recipes” employed and suggested by various teashops. However, we find the simple way of storing it for a few years in air-tight containers the best in mellowing the fire and truthfully retaining the natural taste of the production.

To infuse the tea well, employ a good Yixing teapot and give the leaves two rounds of blanching before infusion. Use shorter infusion time in the beginning and longer for the more truthful taste of the tea.

@mpham787, There is huge difference between the two infusion vessels as to how they render either kind of the two Phoenix oolongs.

The teapot is better at giving longer infusion duration that focus more on the length and roundness of a tea, while the gaiwan for shorter time and more on the bouquet characteristics.

Generally speaking, Phoenix oolongs are better off using the gaiwan than the Yixing pot, unless a selection is still quite freshly fired or over-fired before it is mellowed down.

In situation where the taster prefers a very strong infusion, however, a pot has its merits to render the strength and round the sharper edges of the taste profile which could become quite obvious when over-steeped.