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On the Yunnan Sourcing website it says that jian shui is made from clay from Hong He county. They say that when fired its more than twice as dense as yixing clay.
Why is clay density a good thing?Also :”The unique glazeless polish ensures the all types of Jianshui purple pottery are acid resistant, alkali corrosion resistant, breathable, moisture resistant, and insulated“I’m so curious to hear if people like these pots in practise.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.
Id be interested to learn more about Liu An tea as well, and yellow tea. Im confused about what makes yellow tea different from Oolong.
Im curious about the marketing of mini tetsubin as teapots too. In japan Ive only ever seen them used as kettles. Water boiled in an iron tetsubin is supposed to be healthy, delicious and ideal for tea.
I bought a Chinese electric hotplate that came with what I, at first, thought was an unimpressive, really flimsy, cheap, kettle. Of course I soon found that it was perfect for gong fu tea as it conducts heat very fast, boiling water almost instantly, also it is extremely light so you dont accidentally ‘ding’ the spout against delicate cups and teapots.Tetsubin typically have flat lids that easily slide off and also a metal hinged handle that a) gets very hot and b) is hard to control with precision. I personally like to keep them well away from my gong fu ceramics.Now I’m a little concerned. The reason being I’ve got this ragtag collection of tiny teapots some of which are more reputable than others.
Its one thing to find out that my teapot is an imposter (ie. not made from yixing clay) but more importantly how on earth can I tell if my teapot is actually leaching harmful substances?Another issue I’ve been wondering about is this: one of my favourite teapots is also the ugliest, for instance the lip of the lid doesn’t fit flush to the rim of the teapot neck and instead of being smooth and seamless the joint between the spout and the body is visible (although the integrity of the join is sound). Perhaps I like this ugly duckling teapot because I’m no tea expert. Do these sorts of flaws highlight an inferior product which should be avoided because it will negatively affect the infusion variables etc. or is there beauty in imperfection?I’ve just been reading the 2012 Greenpeace analysis on 18 samples of “medium grade” chinese tea from well known tea companies all of which, it is claimed, were found to contain a range of both legal and illegal pesticides. Its pretty sobering stuff. The impression I’m getting from this Greenpeace article (and from what Leo has commented) is that it is the cheaper/ lower quality (yet popular) tea brands that are likely to be tainted, so does this mean that higher quality teas are guaranteed to be a healthier, ‘cleaner’ product for both tea plantation workers and the consumer? Is there realistically any way we can be sure our daily cuppa isn’t laced with pesticides (especially highly toxic methomyl and endosulfan)?
