Yixing for noobs

Thank you!

Thanks!

Welcome. All are good just shop for what you want.

Thank you!

I thought that I was going to have to spend $150 or more to get a whole gongfu set. I see that is not the case. Thanks for the leads!

A whole gongfu set you say? http://crimsonlotustea.com/collections/gongfu-tea-starter-sets/products/puerh-tea-gongfu-starter-set-free-shipping

If you’re curious about the pot in the above Starter Set, I just recently emailed CLT about it and was told it’s around 210ml, slipcast, not-high quality/rare stuff (thus the price!), but “more than sufficient to brew with though”. The whole Starter Set (including a ripe puerh sample) seems like a pretty good deal from these beginner eyes!

I bought this one and really like it – http://crimsonlotustea.com/collections/teapots/products/jianshui-zitao-clay-teapot-fangu-style-polished-black

Those are gorgeous, thank you!

Crimson Lotus is going back to China next week. they always source beautiful high quality pots. i suggest you to wait. drink pu, get to know it. dont just buy pot because you think you cant brew puerh in anything else. simple glazed gaiwan or small pot is fine too. read a lot about yixing and jian shui pots.

Ok. I’ll check them out when they come back. Actually, I just wanted a pot because I wanted a pot. I love teapots. My pu will get here way before the pots do, and I’ll probably have to brew it in a dollar store mug with a saucer on top ;) I figure it is, after all, just tea. Thank you for your help!!

Last year they were shipping tea and pots while they were on a sourcing trip from China. so you dont have to wait that long ;D

For me personally 240ml is too big. If you want it for gongfu style steeping – you will need a LOT of leaf in a pot that big.
For sure it depends on your needs and how you want to use it. I’m just cautioning the size…. :)

I’ve never bought from them – I’ve heard others mention them. Personally I would trust AllanK’s recommendations – I’m not an expert on clay pots. I just buy the cute ones from reputable sellers and hope for the best. :)

Do you think the pots are ok, though? If I found a smaller one?

I have bought five or six pots from that seller and have always gotten good quality. She ships her more expensive pots in a really nice padded gift and storage box.

Is it for shou or Sheng? Shou pot could be 150ml for 1 person. I use this size and happy with it. Shou is easier to drink. I would suggest you CLT or YS Jian Shui pot is great for shou. I wouldn’t steep young Sheng in it but aged is fine. It’s clean clay free of heavy metals and additions. You don’t want to poison yourself

Oh no! Just bought one from the eBay seller I listed above. You think I’m going to get poisoned???

+1 boychik Size was my main consideration when buying an Yixing. I like 150ml for Shou and 100ml for aged sheng / roasted oolong – I don’t think I will need more than 3 clay pots. I also believe clay pots should be among the last things to purchase for gongfu brewing; one should practice for months with gaiwans first to understand the teas and fine tune the various brewing parameters.

Oof. Guess I’ve done it all backwards and incorrectly. It was so much easier to toss leaves in my Brown Betty, brew, and drink. This puehr thing is hard. :(

I don’t think you will go wrong with this seller. She is perhaps the best Yixing seller on EBay.

175 ml is still rather big for gongfucha. What kind of Tea were you planning to use for your first one? This may affect both the clay, firing, shape and size you choose. This article has some decent advice http://www.thechineseteashop.com/how-to-choose-teapot.html. Personally my favourite pots are between 80- 120ml with 120 seeming too big sometimes. My only larger pots are used for black tea or sharing a Tea with others.

yyz Great resource, thanks for that link!

Is 100ml big enough to bre for 2-4 people?

Thanks for reminding me about those! I remember seeing another post of yours talking about them…

100ml is good for 1 to 2 people in general, unless you use the smallest 20ml teacups. For 2-4 people I would get something bigger, like 250ml.

They have larger pots at around 160 to 200ml for $40 to $48.

It really depends how you steep and sessions. If you got a couple hours and want to use 17grams of tea for a single session, a 250ml works. I’ve been in a session with a 100ml and 6 people, you just get a tasting and plow through all the sessions sooner, and also got a window to try other teas. You can always combine steepings into a pitcher.

If you are gonna solo drink ever, better to just get small. The idea is to use the pot often, if you are only dragging it out once in awhile to have with friends, it’s not gonna get the most use if that makes sense.

unless you test the pot for lead, you’ll never know really. More or less, don’t buy the $5 junk clay pots on aliexpress/ebay. I got one and it was actually just coated in matte paint, which is probably worse. http://oolongowl.com/the-5-aliexpress-yixing-tea-pot/

Other factor to consider is you should never use soap or dishwasher your unglazed pot. Plenty horror stories around of yixing tasting like dishsoap. Not being able to properly wash unglazed tea ware is a dealbreaker for some.

+1 Oolomg Owl. That’s why I try to get things from our vendors on here. I think they take steps in choosing what they carry.

AS/OO Yikes! great write up on it :)