Redpill me on Yixing clay teaware, /ck/

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People will claim that one type of ceramic is better than another for tea. They are liars. You can also use a metal teapot, or a glass one. It changes nothing.

>>7299180
Ceramic absorbs some flavour, which over time can enrich your teas if you're not using different types in the same pot. Metal goes cold more quickly. Glass is better if you want to use just one pot for different types of tea, but is more prone to breaking if you're using it on a very cold morning and don't warm it up a bit first.

>>7299246

Can you not just enrich your tea by using more tea leaf in that case?

Can you really attribute something like the tea being better tasting to the pot instead of something like the small variations in the amount of leaf you use between any given batch. You know those fuckers that have super trained palates that taste test water. Do you think they could tell the difference between a cup of tea brewed in a clay pot, a seasoned clay pot, and a glass pot?

Potter here. First, read this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yixing_clay

It's pretty straightforward. Yixing teapots are fired hot enough that the clay is vitrified, but unglazed ceramic is never 100% water tight. Even high-fired porcelains and bone chinas are only going to be 99.5% water tight, hence the use of glazes. I'm gonna guess that Yixing clays are 98% watertight. So take a look at an old ceramic cup or bowl with those fine crackle (or crazing) lines in the surface of the glaze. See how they can get stained with tea oils over time? At some point long ago, some Chinese dudes noticed the buildup of tea oils, and decided they liked the idea of leaving them in there, so they could savor the flavor rather than glazing the clay and losing the funky essence of years of shit. Sure, why not? So, they're only used with the same type of tea, and never washed with soap. They get swished out with hot water only.

You'll also notice Yixing teapots are relatively small. They were originally personal travel teapots. They are meant to be fucking packed to the brim with tea leaves, filled with hot water, lidded, then left to steep for a very short time. Maybe a minute, during which time hot water is poured over the outside of the teapot in loopy streams. By the time the outside stays shiny when wet, the clay's small amount of porosity is saturated. This serves as a timing method for the first steep, as well as maintains the water temp. inside. Pour and drink. Strong tea, short steep. Remember if you're pouring into multiple cups to alternate between them as you pour so each cup is the same. The water doesn't mix as much in there as a bigger Western teapot. The tea leaves are usually re-steeped at least 3 times, but often 5 or more.

>>7299283
and yes, in some cases you'll immediately be able to tell if you cross-contaminate Yixing teapots. Say you've got a designated Lapsang souchong pot and you made some white tea in it.

>>7299396
I take that back. I was exaggerating a little about the amount of tea leaves in the pot. They have to have a little room to expand, but after steeping, it should look like at least 50% of the interior volume in there is wet tea leaf. And the steep time may need to be as little as 30 seconds. You're just going to have to fuck with it until it steeps right for you. The first cup you make should be the caffeine jolt of a double espresso without being bitter.

>>7299396
You sound like you know your stuff. Do types of tea differ greatly from region to region? Like say I have a Yixing pot for gunpowder tea that I normally buy from a company that sources from the east (for example), and I go to brew another company's gunpowder tea that sources from the west, would that count for cross-contamination?

>>7299430
No, it's probably fine then. It's more like drastic tea type cross-contamination that is noticeable. Don't do jasmine green in a black tea teapot, etc. The more similar a tea is to another one, the less likely a person will actually be able to taste that. I'm sure there are goobers that say they can taste contamination from one gunpowder to another, but real world? No, I call bullshit. Realistically, you just have one for greens, oolongs, whites, etc.

>>7299437
Thanks for clearing that up for me. Do you have a favourite online retailer for pots?

>>7299246
>Metal goes cold more quickly.
Wrong. Cast iron teapots have the best heat retention of any material.

>>7299467
And cast iron teapot owners have the best anal retention of any tea drinker.

>>7299283
It's actually a lot easier to taste seasonings in a pot than tasting the differences between water from different sources, in my opinion.

After using yixing clay pots for maybe a decade now, I think I prefer something unseasoned because I would prefer to savour the tastes of an individual tea from different suppliers, its freshness in some cases, and its year. The only thing is that I break glass easily. I like bone china but generally don't like the aesthetics.

I do like to drink plain water from my pots now, though.

Plus having one yixing pot per tea type is ridiculous for the average person in my opinion.

The kind of the pot is a problem of the feelings.
The taste of the tea depends on how to serve.
If you have basic knowledge of Sencyhado, you can taste splendid tea.
However, you need a large quantity of tea leaves for it.