I finally went back to the teapot store again today. It’s a bit of a pain to go there, because the place doesn’t really have regular hours. It’s more like an office in an obscure building with semi-functioning elevators, and I have to call ahead to book a time to go up.
I lingered for a while, and came home with these
It’s strange, because normally, I’m no fan of squarish teapots. Somehow though, both of these caught my eye — especially the black one.
Which I discovered is actually dark dark brown
The other
I thought looks almost like one of those pewter tea canisters.
While there, he brewed some truly nasty Taiwan (?) oolong. It’s somewhat roasted, but still has that grassy flavour. I did my best to pretend I was drinking it, but it really made me think that for many, good pots are an end in itself, and good tea…. is not important. For me, tea always takes precedence. Teaware only enhances the tea, and that’s their function.
I came home and made some of the competition tea that I picked up yesterday, although under sub-optimal condition since I don’t have my normal set of tools with me, having packed them and shipped them off on the slow boat. The tea is interesting — tastes a bit like an older version of the biyuzhu, without tasting like a puerh from the get go. It’s obviously a good tea — the qi is strong — but I need to make it again to confirm my thoughts on this one.
9 responses so far ↓
MANDARINstea // December 22, 2007 at 6:44 pm |
the black one is very interesting, you might got youself a rare “Ti Zuni”! Great picks-T
osososososos // December 22, 2007 at 11:11 pm |
i adore the black one. color me lu ni with envy.
MANDARINstea // December 22, 2007 at 11:40 pm |
The last mining of Tie Zhu Ni was around the 60s. Is this Black pot around that time? -Toki.
MarshalN // December 22, 2007 at 11:41 pm |
He claims it’s earlier, but they always do that. I personally don’t really give a damn. As long as it works well as a pot and I like it….
MANDARINstea // December 23, 2007 at 12:04 am |
I hope I can send a crew to document your trip in TW, maybe next time : ) -Tok
MarshalN // December 23, 2007 at 12:05 am |
LOL, next time 🙂
salserito // December 23, 2007 at 12:42 am |
I normally don’t care for oddly shaped pots or highly decorated ones, but these two are very striking. They seem also to have a nice quiet sheen and attractive surface texture. Thanks for sharing the pix.
Anonymous // December 23, 2007 at 1:34 am |
I saw the movie to which i believe toki is referring. (all in this tea.) at least, that what i think he means re: crew and documenting. the flick was truly naseauting, in a very sense. much of it filmed with a hand-held camera. worse than being seasick. kind of ruined the movie for me, as you can imagine. otherwise, it had some pretty fascinating parts…
nice looking pots. congratulations. what will you use them for?
-a
MarshalN // December 23, 2007 at 7:29 am |
Various teas, since I don’t really think anymore that it matters much. One will hopefully brew aged oolongs well