Yixing For Oolong ?
- Thread starter ambrose
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I tend to prefer gainwan for oolong just because it is really hard to come across super dense thin yixing over the internet.
I tried some regular grade AA tiekwanyin I have in my friend's 80s pot from taiwan and the tea tasted nothing like how it usually tasted with my yixing. His yixing is quite thin but very dense. It feel much harder and feels more glassy than clay. Mine, I think is fired at a lower temperature.
The best option I think is the black hene from YS. I don't know if Scott still carries them. Daohongpao pots are great but for oolong, DHP pots brew the tea too soft and mushy. Light Roast Oolong matches very well with yixing with crispy feel.
Well, I am not too confident about what I am saying. So take it with some caution. I am quite confused about what I know about tea these days.
I tried some regular grade AA tiekwanyin I have in my friend's 80s pot from taiwan and the tea tasted nothing like how it usually tasted with my yixing. His yixing is quite thin but very dense. It feel much harder and feels more glassy than clay. Mine, I think is fired at a lower temperature.
The best option I think is the black hene from YS. I don't know if Scott still carries them. Daohongpao pots are great but for oolong, DHP pots brew the tea too soft and mushy. Light Roast Oolong matches very well with yixing with crispy feel.
Well, I am not too confident about what I am saying. So take it with some caution. I am quite confused about what I know about tea these days.
I always use a yixing for Oolong teas. It,s true that pot to tea matching is an issue. For greener Oolongs you typically do not want a pot that is made from heavy, dense clay. It would hold heat too well and cook the leaf. You would want a lighter pot (lighter directly translates as doesnt hold heat as well) From my experience Wuyi (Yancha) and some Dan Congs really need that high heat retention of the pot in order to brew correctly. Also from my experience, Gaiwans just cant retain heat well enough to brew Wuyi Oolongs, you really need everything to be screaming hot for these teas. If you thought brewing sheng was tricky just wait till you try your hand at some of these Oolongs. Assuming we are talking about higher grade teas, they are capable of being sublime or bland and uneventfull, and to a large degree it has a lot to do with how you brew them.
I prefer to use a gaiwan for just about everything, but I do use yixing once I know a tea fairly well. I've found that for lighter oolongs, the less porous the better. I've found this specific pot to perfectly fit my needs for lighter oolongs; http://cgi.ebay.com/Hong-Ni-Clay-Sh...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4a9c15fc04
I really don't like brewing baozhong in anything but a gaiwan, however. I've never been a fan of baozhong brewed in any yixing I've ever tried them in.
I'm not a big light oolong tea drinker though, so when it comes to the darker stuff such as the more traditional high-fire wuyi's and such, I find I like a little porous clay to round out the astringency. The way I brew my wuyi's with a very high leaf-water ratio is aided by such porousness. I wouldn't go so far as to suggest a duanni pot, but anything that's not duanni, claiming to be zhuni, or hong ni should fit the bill. I've found that wuyi's aren't super picky about the clay you brew them in. Just make sure with long striped darker oolongs you go with something that has a large opening with a wider bottom- something like a shi piao shape should do quite nicely. I'm a big fan of shi piao shapes in general as they tend to be very versatile as a shape for most teas I drink. My aged pu'er pot is a very nice "new" zhuni shi piao pot made in early 2000, for example.
These are obviously just my opinions from only about two or three years of experience, so take these suggestions as you will.
Also, I had to edit this post because I almost forgot to address your question of black tea. Do not mix black tea in a yixing with any other tea. In fact, I've found most hongcha and heicha to taste inferior in anything but a gaiwan or glass teapot. I haven't reared a pot for decades so I cannot say this with any certainty, but I think the whole, 'clay taking on the flavors and enhancing depending on what teas you brew in it' thing to be a little blown out of proportion, but it will affect your teas in the short term unless you rinse them out thoroughly. What kind of black teas do you normally brew up?
I really don't like brewing baozhong in anything but a gaiwan, however. I've never been a fan of baozhong brewed in any yixing I've ever tried them in.
I'm not a big light oolong tea drinker though, so when it comes to the darker stuff such as the more traditional high-fire wuyi's and such, I find I like a little porous clay to round out the astringency. The way I brew my wuyi's with a very high leaf-water ratio is aided by such porousness. I wouldn't go so far as to suggest a duanni pot, but anything that's not duanni, claiming to be zhuni, or hong ni should fit the bill. I've found that wuyi's aren't super picky about the clay you brew them in. Just make sure with long striped darker oolongs you go with something that has a large opening with a wider bottom- something like a shi piao shape should do quite nicely. I'm a big fan of shi piao shapes in general as they tend to be very versatile as a shape for most teas I drink. My aged pu'er pot is a very nice "new" zhuni shi piao pot made in early 2000, for example.
These are obviously just my opinions from only about two or three years of experience, so take these suggestions as you will.
Also, I had to edit this post because I almost forgot to address your question of black tea. Do not mix black tea in a yixing with any other tea. In fact, I've found most hongcha and heicha to taste inferior in anything but a gaiwan or glass teapot. I haven't reared a pot for decades so I cannot say this with any certainty, but I think the whole, 'clay taking on the flavors and enhancing depending on what teas you brew in it' thing to be a little blown out of proportion, but it will affect your teas in the short term unless you rinse them out thoroughly. What kind of black teas do you normally brew up?
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Maybe if it were not for this Yixing I would agree with the Gaiwan method. I bought this from Hou De a couple of years ago. Bian Yian of Erh Pu, made in the 80,s of fairly light weight Zhuni clay. Perfect for Tieguanyin or Taiwan Green Oolongs and even some of the greener Dan Congs. The ring of this pot is very high pitched, not the dull heavy thud sound of heavier pots. The story behind the Erh Pu pots are that the potters of Erh Pu used the red clay that is native to that area (common red clay) the pots that they made are the Changzou style. The Yixing potters rounded up some of the most talented Erh Pu potters and brought them to Yixing to work with the higher quality Yixing clays, Zhuni, Hongni and Duanni. If I remember correctly that is basically what the Bian Yian pots are. I didnt know any of this information untill Bill of "Ancient Tea Horse Road" blog had commented on my blog "Tea Goober" telling me about this pot. More by luck than judgement a aquired this Yixing not knowing anything about it. Bill said it is a very nice pot with history, I like to beleive that
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That's a real nice looking pot. It seems you take a very good care of the pot seeing by its shiny patina.
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- #9
Thank you everyone for all the insight 
I decided to go with the gaiwan, since they seem to have more positives than negatives for me at the moment. I do have one at hand but I decided to pick up a new one a white long guan crystallized celdadon with the matching cups of course
To be perfectly honest my yixing does benefit some of my puerh but I am finding while "fixing" its taking off the edges of the tea, rounding them out and I am finding the teas are too monotone.
Im going back to brewing everything in my gawian and awaiting the new one and a bunch of new teas I just ordered.
Thank you again everyone, I just love how I know I can rely on you guys for advice when I feel confused.
I decided to go with the gaiwan, since they seem to have more positives than negatives for me at the moment. I do have one at hand but I decided to pick up a new one a white long guan crystallized celdadon with the matching cups of course
To be perfectly honest my yixing does benefit some of my puerh but I am finding while "fixing" its taking off the edges of the tea, rounding them out and I am finding the teas are too monotone.
Im going back to brewing everything in my gawian and awaiting the new one and a bunch of new teas I just ordered.
Thank you again everyone, I just love how I know I can rely on you guys for advice when I feel confused.
I have a very small yixing pot that I use for oolongs ONLY, since is pours perfectly sized single cups (or two small ones, either way). Gaiwans are nice too, however. I'm pissed because last year a guest that was watching our house while we were on vacation used it for a pot of earl grey...now, it's simply an ornamental pot, damn it...
Why not try boiling it out and starting over again?
I still do use it, as the EG scent and flavor finally left, but I'd hate to boil it out and remove all the beautiful layers of color (this pot is a lighter, tan yixing clay, not as reddish as most), and the little bits of love imparted by literally hundreds of steepings of hundreds of dollars worth of great oolongs. I just brewed a few amazingly strong pots of "meh" oolongs and left them overnight a couple of times, and that seems to have "mostly" done the trick.
Thank You! Actually my pots dont really get much in the way of special treatment. I dont painstakingly brush them or baby them in any way. The only effort I put into the patina is that the water used to rinse the leaves gets poured over the pot as a way of helping to pre-heat it. This pot if left fallow for several months will return to a dull shine. With regular use it comes alive and just glows with inner beauty. But that applies to all Yixing I think, you gotta use them regularly for several years and that patina happens all by itself.
Thank you everyone for all the insight
I decided to go with the gaiwan, since they seem to have more positives than negatives for me at the moment. I do have one at hand but I decided to pick up a new one a white long guan crystallized celdadon with the matching cups of course
To be perfectly honest my yixing does benefit some of my puerh but I am finding while "fixing" its taking off the edges of the tea, rounding them out and I am finding the teas are too monotone.
Im going back to brewing everything in my gawian and awaiting the new one and a bunch of new teas I just ordered.
Thank you again everyone, I just love how I know I can rely on you guys for advice when I feel confused.
You have been using this pot everyday since you got it right? Remember a couple of days ago when I mentioned that they need some down time to dry out? This is one of the reasons why, the clay is completely saturated and water logged by now. Let it dry completely (several days with the lid off) and try it again. I think you will notice a big difference. With time and regular use you will come to cherish your Yixing and be at a loss if ever you were have to do without it.
It could have been worse. See link for further horror!
Yeah, that's grounds for murder right there, lol...
!!!
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I might be able to top that horror story. I had bought a cake of 2000 Kunming Lan Yin ($125.00) having left it on the kitchen counter one day (still un-opened) my sister decided that it smelled bad (smoke and camphor) so she plugged in one of those smelly room spray things right above where I left the cake sitting. I still remember the name of the scent "Green Bamboo" she said that "that thing" smelled like moth balls and dung and couldnt take it anymore. But I lucked out in that the smell didnt last very long and in a couple of weeks time I couldnt smell it anymore. Ever since that day my sister is scared to death to touch anything tea related, got her right where I want her.
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- #19
wow that sounds horrible guys 
I put the yixing to dry for a while Ill revisit it at another time. In the meanwhile I am greatly enjoying the brew im getting out of the gaiwan.
So what do you think happened with the yixing? It started to make everything monotone and dull but bold. The brew out the gaiwan is sharp and crisp although not as bold.
I put the yixing to dry for a while Ill revisit it at another time. In the meanwhile I am greatly enjoying the brew im getting out of the gaiwan.
So what do you think happened with the yixing? It started to make everything monotone and dull but bold. The brew out the gaiwan is sharp and crisp although not as bold.
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wow that sounds horrible guys
I put the yixing to dry for a while Ill revisit it at another time. In the meanwhile I am greatly enjoying the brew im getting out of the gaiwan.
So what do you think happened with the yixing? It started to make everything monotone and dull but bold. The brew out the gaiwan is sharp and crisp although not as bold.
See above post for answer to your question. It,s water logged and needs to dry out.
