After having tested out my Lishan oolong (sorry, sold out!) in a Gaiwan and a Yixing tea pot, I thought it might be interesting to compare another High Mountain tea in various Yixing Pots and a Gaiwan. I decided to test out the LaLaShan Tea and used three yixing pots that I normally brew Taiwanese High Mountain oolongs with.
After rinsing the tea, I smelled the lids and preferred the smell from the gaiwan lid the most. After the first round of tea, I decided I liked the taste of LaLaShan from the yixing pots better than the gaiwan. I compared four infusions of the tea from these three pots, and I most preferred the tea from the Yixing pot that is closest to the gaiwan (please see the picture above) because it yielded a round and smooth tea liquid. The tea liquid that I liked the least came from the middle Yixing tea pot. For the LaLaShan, the middle pot made the liquid taste bitter. I also liked the LaLaShan from the larger Yixing pot on the left. This pot and its clay made the tea taste bold.
It's quite fun to test out a tea in multiple tea ware and to notice that they will have different results. Try it out yourself and see what you discover.
5 comments:
I love trying a tea out with several pots as well. I don't know why I'm obsessed with Japanese clay teapots. I'm sure you, Shiuwen, don't have a big interest in Rou Gui 肉桂, but it's interesting to brew it in a Banko teapot and a Japanese red clay teapot (Pure Tokoname, Mumyoi, or Shigaraki clay) I only have a mumyoi right now but am seeking a shigaraki clay teapot as well, said to be far superior, and more beautiful color/texture. Anyway, banko (which tends to “eliminate” the aroma) works quite well with rou gui because it can really bring out the taste, and my mumyoi works well too because it really brings out the aroma. There are two ways I like rou gui, through its taste and through its aroma. It depends on my mood which way I want it but by experimenting with different pots I came up with another way to enjoy a favorite tea. Always experiment with your tea, especially with which pots to brew it in, you never know. PS, I like my LaLaShan in my mumyoi, much like red yixing clay. It really gives it a bolder taste as well as aroma.
-Eric Glass
Shiuwen, I'm so glad your blog is back, hooray!
Jan
To Eric,
Thank you for sharing with your experience. By the way, I do like a good Rou Gui.
To Jan,
Thank you for reading my blog. I am glad that it's back again, too!
Thanks for the test!
What clay are the pots made of? The top left one looks like a modern zhu ni, what about the other two? The top right one that you preferred looks like it's made of softer clay.
stefano
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