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Your Gong Dao Bei and other musings.

These days, I have been doing Gongfu with only pots. I have moved away from Gaiwans nearly altogether sans when brewing teas of odd shape like some kind of Dancong or some kind of large-leafed tea. I really do think now that pots give more flavor than a Gaiwan could ever, but this debate has been covered many times here.

I am also beginning to think the idea that one tea is fit for only one pot is nothing more than a myth. I have a few really good zisha pots, some of more porous clay and some larger grained, and as long as you clean it well after use, it won't retain any residual flavors. This fact has been backed-up by some vendors I know from Yixing that said this idea was created by merchants that simply wanted people to buy more pots. Now, if you leave some old pu'er in a pot for 3 days, you may have some difficulty getting it clean again, but if you clean up your mess and let the pot dry properly, there is no scent left! All my friends from Taiwan also laugh at this idea.

The Gong Dao Bei (the vessel you pour the tea from your pot into if you have left-over...or pour all of your tea into if you do it that way) I was using for the longest time was your simple, small glass pitchers you can get cheaply at any wholesale market. They usually go for a quarter or something. I always liked this type of glass GDB because you could see the color of the tea much more easily after brewing.

I have been experimenting more with using my other teapots as the GDB and just using them to pour tea with. I think the results have been quite good in many aspects. Pouring from zisha into zisha will definitely keep the heat and it seems the flavors and scents are more robust and pronounced this way. I also have a few zisha cups that I use sometimes but I have gravitated towards these days as well.

Anyway, what do you guys use for your GDB? I suggest keeping it 100 percent zisha! Believe one pot, one tea?

Reply to
Mydnight
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I don't really have a firm position in the zisha wars, mainly because, since I live in a tiny apartment, I use a few gaiwans for everything. That said, it does seem kind of strange to say at the same time that zisha pots add something to the beverage that a vitreous gaiwan can't, and that a properly maintained zisha pot retains nothing from the liquor brewed in it. So the pot must leach something into the liquor, right?

Me too, though they're more expensive on this side of the water.

But if you're pouring off contents of the gongdao bei immediately, heat *retention* is immaterial. What counts then is minimizing the amount of heat *absorbed* by the vessel, and the thinner and lighter the better.

/Lew

Reply to
Lewis Perin

I don't follow the methods most tea shops use to try and peddle their teas. They usually do pour all of the tea from the brewing vessel directly into the GDB to try and show off the color of their tea. Flavor, odor, and the other more important aspects of the tea have taken a backseat to the more immaterial. I also have stopped using the metal strainers mostly too. I think these things can effect the flavor slightly or add elements to change the tea.

I pour my tea directly from the pot into the people's cups now. The flavor comes out especially well this way, I think. I am also a fan of using the sniffer glasses.

Something really cool that everyone should try, I think, is what I learned from a shop specializing in Taiwan teas; real taiwan teas, not mainland forgeries. With your Taiwan tea, make sure you select a good sized pot for the number of people you are serving, first. After brewing, take the remaining little bit of the tea and pour it into your GDB as usual but don't drink this tea. The subsequent brewings, also pour your left-over into the GDB mixing the different brewings together. After you think the tea is spent, mine usually go 7-8 times before I won't consider going on, then drink the mixed brews in the GDB.

My god, some of the teas I've done this with, I've gotten the most amazing sensations. I had a nong xiang that I swear had a finish so sweet, it reminded me of some cookies or gram crackers.

Anyway, give it a try.

Reply to
Mydnight

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