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[teaware] Easy way to start your Yixing teapot
[teaware] 宜興壺簡易開壺法
About Yixing teapots:
The origination of Yixing
(pronounced Yee-Shing) teapots can be traced back to the Sung Dynasty
(960-1279) in Yixing region of Jiangsu, China. This area is blessed to
have the best clay to make teapots, including popular Zi-Ni (purple
clay), Ju-Ni (red clay), Hei-Ni (black clay) and others, all are called
Zi-Sha (means purple clay). The porous nature of clay makes Yixing
teapots famous for its "breathable character". The inside of teapots is
left uncoated for better absorbing the aroma, color, and flavour of
tea. The saying "One teapot never serve two teas" says it all: most of
tea connoisseurs have different teapots for different teas. Yixing
teapots are generally small sized, it's a good idea to have small cups
to go with it. But most of Yixing teapots don't come with cups, it is
fine to use any other cups. Yixing teapot serves a great personal pot
for one person's consuming.
Yixing is not the only place make teapots.
There are many other regions in China and Taiwan produce top quality
teapots. When you choose a teapot, you'll want to understand its
material, and first import thing is "you like it".
Using: Yixing teapot is great for any style of tea
except "steamed style green tea" (Japanese green tea). You may follow
the instruction of tea for the amount of tea leaf. A general idea is if
the tea leaf is loosely rolled, such as Baochong Oolong, you can use up
to 1/4 teapot of tealeaf; if the tea leaf is tightly rolled, such as
Dongding Oolong, you may start from 1/5 teapot of tealeaf; if the tea
leaf is rolled into tiny tight balls, such as Gunpowder Green Tea,
you'll start from just enough to cover 2/3 of the bottom of the teapot.
Starting from smaller amount of tealeaf, and adjust according to your
personal taste.
First you'll put tealeaf, and pour hot water to
about half teapot, then discard the hot water, you may use this hot
water to warm the tea cups. This step is to warm the teapot, also
lightly wash and soften the tealeaf.
You start to drink from the second infusion. Most of tealeaf provides at least 3 infusions or more.
Yang Hu: By dedicating one teapot to one style of
tea, it will absorb the characters of that particular tea, and the
appearance of tea pot will become warm and polished. This is called
"Yang Hu", means to "cultivate the pot".
Care and clean: It is important that you clean your
Yixing teapot with water, don't use any soap or detergent to clean it.
Allow it to dry naturally.
First Time Using: It
is important to have a good start of your Yixing teapot, in Chinese is
called "Kai Hu" (starting teapot). There are many ways to "Kai Hu",
some are extremely complicated for high valued teapots. We'll introduce
a simplest method to start your teapot.
1. Find a soft toothbrush, a natural toothpaste (no breaching, no tiny grains, as they'll hurt the pot).
2. Brush the teapot in and out, and rinse with warm water.
3. Collect some boiled water in another tea kettle, and pour on the Yixing teapot to do another rinse.
4. Put some tealeaf (the style you're going to use with this pot) in it, infused with boiled water for a few minutes.
5. Pour hot water on your teapot again for the last rinse.
6. Discard the tealeaf and water.
7. Now it is ready for your first infusion.
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