On 2007-03-16, Melinda wrote:
"Will Yardley" wrote in message
...
On 2007-03-16, Melinda wrote:

Does anyone have an opinion as to which is teh best (in their
experience)? For instance, is there anyone here that has a separate
pot for darker oolongs and one for greener ones or one pot for da
hong pao and one for a li shan? I am thinking that perhaps the
greener ones need to be a lower temp, so some type of yixing that
might cool off quicker?

I think a lot of people dedicate separate pots for different types of
teas. I don't have a ton of experience with this, but for tightly
rolled greener oolongs, I think a tall-round or pear shaped pot is
the best. For really light ones, zhu ni may be a better clay choice,
at least according to people I've talked to (supposedly does less
rounding out / mellowing of the flavor, letting the "high notes"
shine through). Of course you can also use ceramic or silver.
[...]
Everyone's "formula" for figuring out what to use with what is
different, and people have varying degrees of obsessiveness about
dedicating a specific pot to a specific type of tea. I think the
consensus is to try things out and see what works for you.

I would say the same except that buying decent yixing is expensive for
me so I can't keep trying pots to experiment. The clay type is
something I hadn't thought as much of, thanks for your input!!

Right... I'm sure that's true for many of us (though I imagine you'd
find that most pots would work well with some kind of tea you drink).

My other suggestion is to find vendors who are pretty knowledgable /
trustworthy, and ask them to select a type of teapot for you. They may
not do a perfect job, but over time, they'll probably get an idea of
what you want. I've found vendors like Jing Teashop (the one in China),
Stephane of Tea Masters Blog, and Guang of Hou De to be helpful in
suggesting a pot for a certain size and certain type of tea. I'm sure if
you post information about a specific type of tea (with pictures of the
dry & wet leaves), folks on here might be able to come up with some
suggestions too.

There's an article on Guang of Hou De's blog called "How to Select
Yixings for Your Teas : Shape", which has some information about his
take on which shapes are appropriate for which types of tea... it should
be on this page:
http://houdeblog.com/index.php?m=10&...y061006-233300

But also just think about how the tea looks when it expands...

Guang also has an article called "The Polygamy Debate of Yixings" (I
can't get a link to just the post, but it should be on this page:
http://houdeblog.com/index.php?m=10&...y061025-105554

But of course, since he sells expensive pots, he has somewhat of an
interest in getting you to buy one good pot, just as vendors who sell
cheaper pots have an interest in getting you to buy lots of pots. :

w