Seasoning Yixing

oof. this one always stirs up some conflict... but in the interest of being helpful I'll bite. I get a large pot, fill it with water, heat it up to medium heat and get a decent low boil, then add a tea of the same type I plan on brewing in it and let the pot "cook" for a bit. Then I take it out and rinse it with warm/hot water and make sure there is no residue or clay bits left. dry it well, set it to cool, and then get ready to use it.

HTH

- Dominic

If it's a never-used pot, I boil it twice. The first time without any tea leaf, and the second with tea leaves. Pretty much the same way as Dominic suggested above. I usually use a soft baby bottle brush to clean the inside of any residue before and after the first boil (without tea leaves).

If it's a used pot that I want to clean thoroughly, I just use a soft brush to clean inside and out, and then boil it with or without tea leaves, depending on whether I know what tea it was used for by the previous owner or not.

Lots of different ways to season your Yixing...sounds like it's your first Yixing. If so, congrats!

- Phyll

DPM wrote:

freezing? never heard that one

Taiwanese style [forgot the link]. Supposed to break up loose parts in micro cavities. Works with larger parts as well :(

Zarky Zork schrieb:

DPMKABkh.6934$dw6.2865@trndny0212/27/06 16: snipped-for-privacy@junk.com

Hi Dean,

The collective wisdom of our group will obfuscate and confuse the issue grandly as we happily contradict each other in deference to our respective tea masters.

You want to remove clay particles from the interior of the pot and that means scrubbing and boiling (gently please) for some time and a couple times. I've never understood at all the need to soak or heat a YiXing pot in tea since the natural process of using it regularly will take care of it. Here's what I do, and you take it for what it's worth:

I boil and scrub once or twice. Then I brew tea in it. During the brewing and steeping, I often pour some of the tea I'm drinking over the pot as it steeps. Also, I overflow the pot when I pour so the tea within cascades over the sides. Further, when finished, I take a soft cloth and wipe down the pot's exterior surface. I also watch that a part of the pot does not remain habitually wetter than other parts such as below the spout where a heavier dark stain can happen.

Having said that, others will speak of boiling, freezing, fretting, and jostling, but I can't imagine that a hundred years ago anyone bothered.

Most important: Dedicate your pot to a particular type of tea. That is rule number one.

Michael

I season any pot by using it. Any surface clay,glass,SS,porcelain will develop a patina in no time. Maybe with clay you scour the surface with scrubbing so the patina adheres better initially. But with enough time I think just ordinary use takes care of the problem. I like the tea taste from a fresh raw clay pot.

Jim

DPM wrote:

I'm with you on this one Jim. I have began to raise some pots in this same method, and sometimes just taking a small bit of the tea and letting it brew in the pot for an hour or so then discarding the tea and water. With the new pot I brought back for my brother to use from China, I actually boiled it as most people recommend but I cannot really see any difference in flavor of the tea or quality of the interior of the pot. I don't think I have ever scrubbed the inside of a pot before.

Although, one thing for sure is, make sure you turn the pot over to dry after you use it.

Mydnight:

I raise a pot by steeping the spent leaves for a few minutes and pouring the tea out into a warmed up fair pitcher. After the leaves are out of the teapot, then I use the still-hot tea to rinse the inside and out of the pot, and then I use a boar's fur brush on the warm exterior, which dries it immediately (inside still wet). I let the pot sit upright and the place the lid upside down to air dry.

The main idea is to coat the entire pot with tea after each use.

Phyll

Mydnight wrote:

Well, folks, I think Michael was right: everyone has their own method.

Thanks for your advice. I'll do a bit of scrub-'n-boil, and then start brewing.

Thanks again, Dean

Happy New Year, all!

I don't know that you need to boil, unless the maker has used chemical dyes in the clay which must be boiled out to make the clay safe. It is a custom, though, which many practice. However there is a risk in boiling that loose miniscule particles of clay could get lodged in the pores of the teapot, or so I hear. It makes sense to me; the pots that I have which I haven't boiled seem to 'breathe' better. Stephane of Teamasters, and my personal experience suggest that with a pure yixing clay teapot you don't need to do more than scrub (no soap) out any clay particles then rinse with hot, then cold, water up to four times to get the clay smell out. If the clay smell persists then you probably have a lower quality yixing pot, in which case I sometimes will steep a gonfu infusion of a tea type for 30 minutes in the pot. This usually cures it. Some pots need additional curing: use as a pitcher for tea that you brew in a gaiwan. I just did this with a pot I got and was amazed at how the quality of the infusions changed--from being too tannic and bright to floral and mellow as the clay cured. It took about 5 infusions of tea after an initial 30 minute curing. This pot in particular I think was boiled for 30 minutes by the vendor before they shipped it to me.

Good luck!

DPM wrote:

No offense, and not trying to start drama... but isn't doesn't that basically contradict itself. "You don't need to boil the pot, but you do need to scrub and rinse 4 times with hot/cold... and then brew some tea... if it tastes like clay, *then* boil it with tea"

It doesn't affect the pores, as the pot would be used like this thousands of times over its life. I just cut out the "what-if" scenario and brush out the pot, boil it with some of the same type of tea, and then rinse it, wipe it out well and dry it. All I've done is cut out a few steps and ensure I'm not wasting any brews after the first.

Dunno, its all up to each individual...

Personally I find it really annoying and time consuming to boil a pot, and if I don't have to I wont. I'm glad that the higher quality pots I have don't require it.

This I cannot say as I am not a scientist, but I can imagine that subjecting a porous pot to a rolling boil could compromise its pores--any violent heating with pressure potentially could affect them. I would definitely use filtered water not tap water if I was boiling, to make sure the water was clean as possible. I like using tea leaves too, I do believe it improves the flavor. But I'm not an expert, I'm just a tea drinker who is a novice on a very long road...

Yep.

Dominic,

It seems that the outside of my pot was treated in some way, because when I boiled it a scum of some sort formed on the surface of the water, and it has an odd perfumey scent. The outer surface has a slippery, waxy feel.

I'm inclined to give up on actually using it for brewing, because I don't trust that whatever it was treated with not to be toxic, and the smell is off-putting in any case, and bound to interfere with the tea.

Has anyone else experienced this? The pot was purchased at a B&M store called"Teavana".

Regards, Dean

Not that I have ever bought any Yixing from Teavana (there is one located in a nearby shopping mall), but the quality of the pots they bill as "Yixing" are sad and costs too much. Can you still return it?

DPM wrote: