Wednesday May 12, 2010 | 5 comments
If you drink Chinese tea – primarily oolongs or puerhs – and have avoided the temptation to acquire a Yixing teapot, I applaud you. They surely are a slippery slope, with as much misinformation out there as accurate information, and telling the difference can be difficult. But for those of us who have acquired one or more Yixing teapots, I hope to clarify why a certain “firm” rule is actually rather lax, and how you can break it with great results.
The “firm” rule I am referring to is this – you must use the pot for only one type of tea. Not only is this rule rather vague – dependent as it is on how you define “type” – it is also very general. Is type “oolong,” “roasted oolong,” a specific varietal, or a specific varietal from a specific vendor? Most seem to agree that it is advisable to stick to a specific sub-type of tea, such as a roasted oolong or an oolong processed in the wuyi style.
But this rule is easily broken, and in my experience, breaking it can sometimes produce great results. I acquired a pot that actually behaved rather poorly for wuyi yancha, which is what I wished to use it for, though it improved over time. I was about to give up, when I discovered it worked rather well for green tie guan yin (TGY). I actually brewed up many cups of green TGY in the pot, and was ready to dedicate the pot to that particular tea, but on a whim I used it for some wuyi. It was fantastic – none of the off flavors it had before were present – they were all gone. It was as if the pot just needed some additional seasoning before it could properly showcase the taste of the tea.
The fact is that this new pot now works so well with wuyi oolongs that I am looking for a new tea for my old yancha pot. And rinsing it only with boiling water a few times, it seems to have made the transition to aged puerh quite nicely.
To sum up the point of my post, while it makes sense – due to the porous nature of Yixing clay – to stick to a certain “type” of tea, it really is all up in the air. As long as you treat it wisely, you should really have no problem using a Yixing teapot for just about any tea you wish.
Thanks for this article and the insights, Adam! Appreciate it very much!
I was just wondering, if you could go into more detail on the “As long as you treat it wisely, …” part. What do you recomend?
Now that’s great news. I have always been one to follow the rules and resisted experimenting with my beloved Yixing pots. Thanks for giving me permission to do so.
Hi Adam,
When I read your headline this morning I thought you might be referring to the trouble finding real Yixing teapots vs all the others knock offs on the market. As this was not the thrust of the post, I politely like to add for the benefit of our readers;
Real Yixing is unique stoneware clay produced only on the Sushan Hill of Yixing City in Jiangsu Province. The clay is usually red or brown in color and very cohesive. It is also completely uncontaminated and protected. Due to the increasing demand for the teapots, the clay is now limited in quantities.
Unfortunately, Anything else is deemed fake or a knock off. This does not seem like such a big deal, but the reality is that the material used in knock offs can be dyed with a toxic pigment, the clay that was used could also contain high amounts of lead and other unwanted minerals such as mercury and arsenic.
I never take a shop owners pledge that his Yixing pots are authentic unless he can provide me legitimate documentation. All real Yixing pots should have certificates of authenticity. The artisans who craft these gorgeous little pots are working hard to reduce the knock-offs by providing certificates of authenticity and artist bios. Any shop owner selling real Yixing should have these with his collection.
Another classic case of caveat emptor
Just thought I would pass that on…
Adam it was a rather interesting post. Being new to tea, I have heard about Yixing pots and actually I am in the market of buying one. I will primarily use my pot for Pu-erh being that those tend to be my favorite. I also want to get another one for oolong now.
Could you suggest some good places to but Yixing pot. Also maybe some tips on how to pick out a good pot?
Dragon Pearls, In terms of treating it wisely, basically do not brew any artificially scented teas in a pot that you are not going to be using for those.
Michelle, Yes feel free to experiment till you find something that seems like a very nice fit, then go from there.
Brendan, Thank you for sharing that information, and yes Yixing teapots are highly counterfeited.
Jordan, I would go with Trusted Ebay vendors, or trusted vendors that sell primarily Chinese Tea. There are many stores that sell quality yixing pots in all sorts of price ranges, you just need to find the ones that have styles you want at the prices you want.