Gongfu Sipdown (600)!
Finished this one off in my Yancha dedicated yixing pot last night; really nice session too! The tea was really good, but I had set everything up on my bed and was brewing while cozied up in bed, playing music and just relaxing. It was one of those moments were all the things come together in a way that can only be described as sublime.
Song Pairing #1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GdgUWx7yi0
Song Pairing #2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-Y83Z9nNUY&list=LL1M1wDjmJD4SJr_CwzXAGuQ&index=11&t=0s
Only around seven infusions from this tea; I’m still working on seasoning this yixing pot and it’s still experiencing flavour ‘suckage’ – so kills the length of sessions, a little bit. It was delicious though! First few infusions were channeling buckwheat honey notes; sweet in a darker/denser way with those intense roasty qualities and a hint of a molasses-y note. Mineral too – but less so than other Da Hong Pao I’ve had. Those buckwheat/molasses “dark” qualities softened through steeping, but this was still pretty roasty all the way though – nutty notes as well, sort of a chestnut element? Very woody throughout as well. Not as fruity as expected, but there was still that sweetness coming through from those denser honey notes.
Pictures: https://www.instagram.com/p/BvHXp_AlWVI/
Did you season your pot by boiling it in tea as well?
I have with some of them, but not all of them.
And how many yixing pots do you have and for which types of tea?
(And I am sorry for driving you crazy :)
I have yixing pots for the following types of tea: Smoked Lapsang Souchong, Houjicha, Yancha, Yiwu/Fruitier Sheng, Chinese Black Teas (particularly very chocolate-y ones), Woodier and/or Sweet Shou, and Jin Shuan/Unflavoured Milk Oolong. I also have an unglazed Shibo that I use only for Taiwanese Black Teas, but it’s not made from yixing clay.
Thank you, Ms. Strange. I have copied and emailed this to myself, so hopefully I do not ask you this again.
Is there an advantage to using an unglazed Shibo over a yixing pot for Taiwanese Black teas? Or it simply a preference thing?