Musings on Yixing I

There is a joy that comes with tea ware and its use, and I have yet to find more joy than using a yixing. Why a yixing?

A simple search will be sure to yield many legends and myths about the legendary Zisha and Zhuni clays. Now I’ll admit when I first learned about yixing the idea that the pot seasons and in theory can make a subpar tea exceptional is alluring. Along with the story about the poor villager who could not afford tea, but had an ancient well seasoned pot, which produced exceptional cups of tea just by adding boiling water. The story was quite unbelievable, but perhaps that’s also a bit of the draw of these pots, it’s a challenge of sorts. I should note, I don’t expect to ever be able to produce a sufficient cup of tea from any of my yixing even if I use them for the rest of my life, yet the idea is still somehow intriguing.

There is also the unique fact that you can tell how much a yixing has been used and cared for before it’s even used. Does it have a nice glossy patina? Does it smell like clay, or does it smell like tea? These all seem to be good signs, though it should be noted a brand new yixing should always be prepped in your favorite fashion before it can start making drinkable tea.

Recently I happened to get a tea table, which opened up a new door, as I could be less careful with the water and to some extent the tea. But this lead me to a cross roads of sorts, which is the point of this essay. I always used to keep my yixings in a bowl or a pan large enough to contain them, and catch any water. This also allowed me to pour the rinse, over the pot to let it help season the outside. Now when pouring water, and placing on the lid, and all the overflowing of the water and tea, the bowl would fill, and I felt the yixing had as much opportunity to soak up as much tea on the outside as it could need.

Yet now a much simpler way seems to be to have the yixing directly on the tea table and not really worry. But this while it can cut down on the formation of a tea line on the edge of the pot somehow feels like its robbing the outside of a great chance to soak up and absorb the influence of tea. It does little to effect the inside where the seasoning actually takes place, which in theory as long as I keep using it, and using it for good tea, this should continue to happen, regardless.

I should note, I have had the chance to taste tea made from a new and only prepped yixing, verses a tea made form a yixing seasoned to near perfection. While there are dozens of factors that come into play as to why a yixing is different than a gaiwan, I can surely tell you, there is no comparison. I can only hope I have many more chances to drink tea from well seasoned pots, and hopefully produce a well seasoned pot or two of my own.