Can a Yixing teapot be used in a microwave?

I refer to a well-done, prolific teadrinking FAQ. Some of what I see range from the uber-scientific, to the "It's just TEA for cripes sake... JUST ENJOY IT!

DJM

Try the RFDT FAQ

Mike Petro

Daniel J. MorlanQ8aof.38455$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr25.news.prodigy.net12/15/05

Hi there Daniel,

First, by all means let's talk about it because gung-fu is a dynamic living approach to tea, and even as a revisit we will find new things to talk about. Now having said that, nearly all, if not all, web sites will describe some version of this: A little teapot filled with leaf to the point that the wet leaf will reach the very top and possibly push against the lid, hot hot water, quick quick steeps, little bitty cups, sometimes one for smelling and one for tasting, a pitcher to receive the fast brewed tea, and multiple steeps, which is to say you pour more water over the wet leaves and do it all again, in an effort to create the longest sentence in the English language. (Sorry.) There will be mention of rinsing the tea, the cups, and the other stuff. All this however according to some sources is *not* Gung-fu -- yet. Gung-fu uses all this and does all this, but proceeds in a carefully orchestrated series of steps through the five required steeps. These steps vary precisely from steep to steep.

As a Westerner, I know I will never accomplish Gung-fu, and therefore I use two largish mason jars to brew tea, which is quite good enough for the likes of me. (I do on occasion make believe with a Gung-fu pot, but it's just for show, I assure you.)

BTW, please do *not* put your YiXing pot in the microwave. It hurts their feelings, to say the least, and they are more sensitive than most people I know.

Luck, Michael

Now having said that, nearly all, if not all, web sites will describe some version of this: A little teapot filled with leaf to the point that the wet leaf will reach the very top and possibly push against the lid, hot hot water, quick quick steeps, little bitty cups, sometimes one for smelling and one for tasting, a pitcher to receive the fast brewed tea, and multiple steeps, which is to say you pour more water over the wet leaves and do it all again, in an effort to create the longest sentence in the English language, unfortunately, you lose.

/Lew

James Joyce has both of you easily beat -- although it's debatable whether _Finnegans Wake_ is actually written in English.

Still, I seem to recall some sentences in _Ulysses_ that well exceeded the above, so he's still got you both beat.

stePH in cup: Twinings Earl Grey

snipped-for-privacy@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com12/15/05

the keys. given. We have a lot to talk about. Michael

Someone once related this anecdote to me: it was announced that _Finnegans Wake_ had been translated into French.

One man spoke up and asked "From what?"

stePH in cup: Twinings Earl Grey NP: Ars Nova, "Morgan"

snipped-for-privacy@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com12/15/05

from language in general that includes music

I've been drinking 2000 Raw Fu Hai Pu'erh from Jing Tea Shop. This is a leather-soft tea, friendly and welcoming as a well kept old leather chair, persistent through steeps, with a gentle unassuming finish, and a slight slight sweet undertone. It reminds me of a 1999(ish) brick I've come to know rather well made to commemorate Hong Kong's return to China.

Michael

I don't get it. Haven't read any Joyce. Is Finnegan's Wake a good place to start, then? :)

Oops. Went to wikipedia and answered my own question. I'll have to make it through Tender Buttons first. :)

Gee whiz... I get so excited to see so many replies to my initial post. :(

DJM

Jason F in Los snipped-for-privacy@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com12/15/05

No. Joyce's book of short stories (Dubliners) is a good place to start. Then on to Portrait of The Artist as A Young Man, then to Ulysses, and then to Finnegans Wake. (By that time you will understand why no apostrophe is indicated.) You will also have read the books in the order in which Joyce wrote them, and you will be wading in deeper and deeper as you go. Or, if you find yourself hooked, you could do it as I did: all backwards. Reading Finnegans Wake is a group effort. You will want to have people familiar with various musics, especially Celtic, various languages, especially most of them, various literary traditions, especially Celtic, various religious tradtions, expecially Roman Catholic, and with lots and lots of pondering and deconstructing time. You might also want a couple concordances, but they are not necessary. Failing a group, read FW aloud, not too fast, and more than once, to say the least.

I'm drinking Zheng Shan Wild green Pu'erh 2005 from Six Famous Tea Mountain. It's got not a trace of off note, but it is quite light in good things as well, showing no smoke, no flower, and no fruit, except that last in the finish where it lingers for a bit on the back top of the tongue and the back of the mouth. I have no complaints, but at the same time I cannot recommend that you go out and buy it. Better to spend your money on a decent copy of FW, and make sure the paper is decent since it will have to withstand your thumb prints and your copious notes.

Michael

Michael

Michael Plant wrote: > No. Joyce's book of short stories (Dubliners) is a good place to start. Then

If you like the style of Joyce and Pynchon, you might like a new author named David Foster Wallace. Infinite Jest is probably a good place to start for his fiction, or his nonfiction can be found online if you look hard enough.

I'm drinking a rather disappointing Sencha I picked up from a foreign supermarket. Is it normal for tea to develop a goopy film at the bottom of the cup? I usually get that, but the degree to which I get it with this tea is incredible.

Steve

snip

Thanks, Steve. I'll look into him as soon as time permits.

I'm more concerned with the goopy film you "usually get," than this one Sencha experience of yours. It is not normal, and I can't imagine why you get such a thing. Could be your water. Are you in a place in North America where the water is particularly awful, or perhaps you are in England? Please describe the goop in more detail.

Best, Michael

Oh, the water is superb here. The Washington, DC metro area has the finest water supply a general lack of caring by the government on water quality can buy.

Simply put, it is probably the water. However, I do run the tap through a Brita, which helps the taste some.

The filmy/goop-like substance at the bottom of the teacup has bits of tea in it. If mixed, the goop is somewhat soluble in the water; that is until you let it sit for a few minutes. It is a very soft and slimy goop. It has an almost water-like viscosity itself, but a little more substantive. One might describe it a kind of tea-leaf dirt that settles to the bottom. I usually just toss out the last half-teaspoon or so of the tea in my cup. I figured it was just a part of the loose-leaf tea experience, since tea drank this way is in some sense unfiltered.

Steve

I've never seen such a substance while drinking tea. Usually, you can emptycup to the bottom. And I only drink loose leaf tea. Do you get the film when you make other drinks/food using this tap water? Maybe it's the tea nevertheless.

Ciao

Nils

Only with tea do I notice it. I brew coffee and have never seen it. That said, I've seen it to varying degrees on quite a few loose-leaf teas, including those I've bought from IPOT and SpecialTeas, both reputable vendors.

Steve

I've never seen anything like a slimy goop at the bottom of my cup. Wow. Sounds a little disgusting. What kind of tea is it again?

It is many teas. Both from IPOT and SpecialTeas. Just greens, oolongs, and whites.