[tomk]

Three months ago, while in Seattle, I walked into Vital Tea Leaf (two shops in Seattle and two in San Francisco) and found outstanding teas along with a lively presentation. I drink tea for good health, although the taste is pleasurable. The health benefits I measure with my pendulum; yes, I am a dowser (weird science). The Pu Erh teas, Blue People Ginseng Oolong and Angel Green teas are lowering my blood pressure and I am starting to lose a bit of bodyfat. I am thankful. Jason, Mika, Ben, and John and all of the tea vendors are knowledgeabe and very helpful. Online ordering is available.

 

[DeusEx]

This is so cool. (it's called a Sorapot)

 

[Born2bwire]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Henmyr /img/forum/go_quote.gif That is a very small teapot I just got my first gaiwan and really like to brew/steep my tea in it. Works really well

It's not the size that matters but...

 

[bass_nut]

i use hot water from my espresso machine as it has dual burner

one of my favorite tea

around 16oz of below 100 deg centigrade water in a cup... one bag of lemon twist tea and one bag of English Breakfast tea.. 1/2 to 3/4 sachet of splenda as sweetener... very good combination/mix for my taste buds

 

[selphy]

My favorite tea is Earl Grey
A long ago I use microwave but now I use kettle

 

[DrBenway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gatto /img/forum/go_quote.gif Also for people who buy loose leaves where do you get them?

I'm a life-long tea drinker -- definitely the oddball of the family, since everyone else drinks black coffee by the gallon.

I'm fortunate to live two blocks from a shop that supplies loose tea to the high-end restaurants in my neighborhood. They sell a lot of it, so while the selection is a bit limited, it's always fresh.

Favorite black teas:

Keemun
Assam
Orange Pekoe
Darjeeling (Only buy this occasionally, when I want to treat myself to something expensive. Some of the single-graden varieties are jaw-droppingly pricey. My local sells a lower grade which I don't buy.)


Favorite greens:

Gunpowder (have to source that from a different shop; my local doesn't sell it.)
Sencha
Dragon Well

Oolongs:
Formosa Oolong (can't afford the high-end grades, but my local has a nice, relatively inexpensive offering.)

As for paraphernalia, I use a glass mason-style jar (with measurement markings) to brew. Then decant into a cup. I like glass because you can watch the leaves swirl and unfold.

I've long been curious about Xixing pots, but the curing of the pots seems like a hassle, not to mention that I've seen about ten different methods for doing it. Of course every one is the "correct" way according to the person giving the instructions. Also the brewing method is a mystery to me. I know you are supposed to use more tea than you would in a standard pot, and brew time is supposed to be short (30 secs to 1 minute), but again, descriptions of how to do it leave me confused. Various YouTube vids of the method haven't helped.

I thnk I'll stick with my humble glass jar; makes a good cup of tea, and that't the point, no?

 

[Born2bwire]

Nothing special about using Yixing or in curing them. I actually have not been told by anyone to cure mine, just to keep using them. You put the tea in the pot, pour in hot water, pour out water (rinse the tea). Refill pot, wait 30 sec and serve. Then eachtime you increase by 15-30 seconds. If the tea is too strong, reduce the amount of tea and vice versa. It takes a bit of practice to get to know how much tea and how long to wait for each tea but no different from any other brewing process involving loose leaf teas.

 

[LeftyGorilla]

Yeah, curing yixings is like amp burn-in. Maybe it happens, but you don't need to do anything special for it. One thing, though the clay will absorb strong odors like jasmine or smoke.

I never put anything stronger than plum in mine. It is a lot darker now than when I first got it, but I can't say it affects flavor all that much. Mostly I run oolongs through it with the occasional puerh.

When I got mine I had a friend who managed a tea-house that served in them and she would actually clean them by boiling in water for 30-45 minutes. This took all the curing right off it. I had to do that last year when I inadvertently left some tea in too long and it molded. Oh, I thought it was over. But a few good boils and careful rubbing with a soft cloth and it came back to its natural state. Not it's cured (erm, dirty) again.

 

[DeusEx]

Anyone drink "bubble tea" (Boba)?

 

[DrBenway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Born2bwire /img/forum/go_quote.gif Nothing special about using Yixing or in curing them. I actually have not been told by anyone to cure mine, just to keep using them. You put the tea in the pot, pour in hot water, pour out water (rinse the tea). Refill pot, wait 30 sec and serve. Then eachtime you increase by 15-30 seconds. If the tea is too strong, reduce the amount of tea and vice versa. It takes a bit of practice to get to know how much tea and how long to wait for each tea but no different from any other brewing process involving loose leaf teas.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeftyGorilla /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yeah, curing yixings is like amp burn-in. Maybe it happens, but you don't need to do anything special for it. One thing, though the clay will absorb strong odors like jasmine or smoke. I never put anything stronger than plum in mine. It is a lot darker now than when I first got it, but I can't say it affects flavor all that much. Mostly I run oolongs through it with the occasional puerh. When I got mine I had a friend who managed a tea-house that served in them and she would actually clean them by boiling in water for 30-45 minutes. This took all the curing right off it. I had to do that last year when I inadvertently left some tea in too long and it molded. Oh, I thought it was over. But a few good boils and careful rubbing with a soft cloth and it came back to its natural state. Not it's cured (erm, dirty) again.

Heh, I like the comparison to burn-in. I'm encouraged to hear that you have gotten good results without having to jump through hoops. I think I'll order one and see what happens. It makes complete sense that using the pot over time will produce the same patina that seasoning is supposed to yield.

Here are some of the curing instructions I've run across:

Holy Mountain Tea Company sells lots of very cool-looking Yixing pots. Here's what they say about seasoning Yixing pots.

Necessiteas describes no less than three(!) methods for seasoning Yixing pots.

 

[Born2bwire]

All those seasoning instructions are pretty much the same though. Rinse in boiling water, make a pot of tea, let it sit for a long time, and then discard. I have done that with my pots when I bought them but I think it will take many months of regular use before they actually will take on any flavor. Just make a sacrificial pot of tea when you first get it and let it sit overnight. That should help flush out any odors and bad flavors from the clay.

I hate the idea of ordering the pots online. I had a friend pick me up a full tea set when he was in Guangdong. I got a lot for the money but it was not very high quality. I ended up buying some pots here in HK. I have no doubt that it is much more expensive than the Mainland, but I can inspect what I am getting and make sure that I am happy with them. I will eventually build up a tea set from parts I think, but it will be more costly. I spent as much on the entire tea set from the Mainland as I did on my most recent pot and this pot is slightly smaller too.

The description in Wikipedia on how to do the Gong-fu ceremony is pretty much what I have been taught and observed over here. Everybody does it differently but it is pretty much the same.

1. Fill teapot with the hot water (temperature depends on type of tea).
2. Pour out teapot into cups and pitcher.
-This you can skip, some people use the first infusion to heat the pot-
3. Fill teapot with requisite amount of tea.
4. Fill teapot halfway with hot water, pour out immediately into cups (and/or pitcher).
5. Empty cups and/or pitcher.
6. Refill teapot fully with water. Wash outside of teapot with hot water. Wait 15-30 seconds for first infusion.
7. Pour into pitcher/cups and serve.

Repeat steps 6 and 7 but extending the infusion time each time.

In the end, you will get many infusions. I had a Dragon Well green tea last night that I had 8 infusions on (maybe 700 ml (don't drink the first infusion) of tea so a little tea yields a lot of fluids) but the flavor ran out after about the 4th or 5th infusion. The last three infusions or so had little to no flavor. So even though you use more tea than you normally would, you can get more mileage out of it than most people tend to do.

 

[DrBenway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Born2bwire /img/forum/go_quote.gif All those seasoning instructions are pretty much the same though. Rinse in boiling water, make a pot of tea, let it sit for a long time, and then discard. I have done that with my pots when I bought them but I think it will take many months of regular use before they actually will take on any flavor. Just make a sacrificial pot of tea when you first get it and let it sit overnight. That should help flush out any odors and bad flavors from the clay. I hate the idea of ordering the pots online. I had a friend pick me up a full tea set when he was in Guangdong. I got a lot for the money but it was not very high quality. I ended up buying some pots here in HK. I have no doubt that it is much more expensive than the Mainland, but I can inspect what I am getting and make sure that I am happy with them. I will eventually build up a tea set from parts I think, but it will be more costly. I spent as much on the entire tea set from the Mainland as I did on my most recent pot and this pot is slightly smaller too. The description in Wikipedia on how to do the Gong-fu ceremony is pretty much what I have been taught and observed over here. Everybody does it differently but it is pretty much the same. 1. Fill teapot with the hot water (temperature depends on type of tea). 2. Pour out teapot into cups and pitcher. -This you can skip, some people use the first infusion to heat the pot- 3. Fill teapot with requisite amount of tea. 4. Fill teapot halfway with hot water, pour out immediately into cups (and/or pitcher). 5. Empty cups and/or pitcher. 6. Refill teapot fully with water. Wash outside of teapot with hot water. Wait 15-30 seconds for first infusion. 7. Pour into pitcher/cups and serve. Repeat steps 6 and 7 but extending the infusion time each time. In the end, you will get many infusions. I had a Dragon Well green tea last night that I had 8 infusions on (maybe 700 ml (don't drink the first infusion) of tea so a little tea yields a lot of fluids) but the flavor ran o\ut after about the 4th or 5th infusion. The last three infusions or so had little to no flavor. So even though you use more tea than you normally would, you can get more mileage out of it than most people tend to do.

I agree that it's better to buy in person, rather than online. I live in NYC; there must be shops that sell Yixing pots around here. Maybe Chinatown or the Flushing Main Street area in Queens. I've seen a few on display at some of the coffee chains (Oren's I think, possibly others) but those places typically treat tea as a minor afterthought, so I'd rather not buy there.

The step that gives me pause in your method is step 3 (fill teapot with requisite amount of tea.) I've noticed that Yixing pots come in a variety of sizes, and I assume that means "the requisite" amount of tea will vary accordingly. This is a little daunting to me. I've found that every pot I use, including my humble Mason jar, wants a different amount of leaf. The proper amount can only be determined through trial and error. And of course this varies with different varieties of leaf.

Is there some rule of thumb to use as a starting point? If I get, say, a 5 ounce pot, how much tea should I use? I understand that some trial and error will be involved, but I'd appreciate having a starting point.

 

[Born2bwire]

I'm at a blank there myself since most of what I know about that comes from the internet(s) too. What I hear is about 1/3 of the pot but that kind of sounds ridiculous. A more scientific reading I have heard a lot is 10 g of tea to 200 ml of water. Personally, I use pinches myself and eyeball it for what I know. At least I put in enough tea to cover the bottom. With green teas, which people usually use a porcelein gaiwan for I think but you could use your clay pot like I do, I put in more tea than Puer. In the end, you get an idea for it quickly because what I have read is that you adjust the amount of tea to taste and not so much the timings.

If you are in NYC, I am sure there are some Chinese tea houses where you can get some teas and teaware. They might even have tea tasting and you can observe and talk to them about how to prepare it. The tea house I went to the other day served samples of their tea for me to try before I bought.

 

[DrBenway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Born2bwire /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm at a blank there myself since most of what I know about that comes from the internet(s) too. What I hear is about 1/3 of the pot but that kind of sounds ridiculous. A more scientific reading I have heard a lot is 10 g of tea to 200 ml of water. Personally, I use pinches myself and eyeball it for what I know. At least I put in enough tea to cover the bottom. With green teas, which people usually use a porcelein gaiwan for I think but you could use your clay pot like I do, I put in more tea than Puer. In the end, you get an idea for it quickly because what I have read is that you adjust the amount of tea to taste and not so much the timings. If you are in NYC, I am sure there are some Chinese tea houses where you can get some teas and teaware. They might even have tea tasting and you can observe and talk to them about how to prepare it. The tea house I went to the other day served samples of their tea for me to try before I bought.

We have a couple of branches of the Ten Ren company here; one in Chinatown and one (I think) in Queens.) I used to buy my grean teas there (Chinatown location) but since I moved uptown years ago I've been too lazy to return. I think you have given me a reason to check them out again.

 

[jthomas_null]

Someone gave me a Trinitea automatic tea brewer and although I was skeptical at first, I love it now. The convenience has won me over, I find the ability to fire-and-forget while I'm working at home invaluable. The carafe it brews into is terrible; but I always decant into a thermos.

As far as teas go, I know they've been mentioned in this thread, but I can't recommend Upton Tea enough -- their selection is staggering, and their prices are extremely reasonable.