125 mL "elegant" ivory porcelain teapot from taiwan tea crafts

This pot works best for unrolled oolong and black tea. It is able to fit about 8 grams of ball rolled oolong but has trouble closing with 10+grams of oolong after they unfurl.

Unheated, the pour time of a full pot is around 11 seconds. Heated, the pour time is lower at 7 to 8 seconds, likely due to expansion. Pour time is also generally below 10 seconds when brewing non-ball rolled oolongs, but can be up to 20 seconds with ball rolled oolong. This makes precision pouring with ball rolled difficult.

The lid sits somewhat loosely on the body. When cold, the seal is good: when a finger is pressed on the hole on the lid, the flow stops. However, when heated, the seal is not as good, and tea can easily drip out from between the lid and the rim. The poor sealing can be mitigated by making sure the lid is also hot so that it has also expanded like the body. Also pushing the lid forward towards the spout helps. Overall, this isn't too bad of an issue, but the seal is definitely not perfect.

The glaze appears to come together in a line running down the spout and around the pot. This suggests this pot was at least partially if not entirely machine made. The glaze is a bit uneven in the part of the lid that slides into the pot. This area is a bit "rough" and easily stained, suggesting the porcelain paste used is not completely hard. The bottom unglazed ring is also a bit "sandy" and prone to staining.

From afar, the pot has a clean aesthetic appearance.

Overall, this is a very convenient pot to use for all whole leaf tea types. Although the price is a bit high for what it is and how it performs, the pot is very usable and there are no other pots like this in the market.

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Sanxia Premium Mi Xiang Qing Xin Black Tea, Lot 944, spring 2020 from taiwan tea crafts

From vendor: STYLE OF TEA Formosa Black Tea PICKING DATE April 2020 OXYDATION LEVEL High BAKING LEVEL None TERROIR Sanxia ADMINISTRATIVE REGION New Taipei City PICKING STYLE Hand Picked CULTIVAR(S) USED Qing Xin Gan Zhi GARDEN ELEVATION 500 m ________________ Steeped 5 grams in 125 ml pot using 90 to 95 C water. 20 sec / 20 sec / 25 sec / 40 sec / 1 min / 2 min /4 min Wonderful honey and blueberry taste and aromas. Mild muscat notes reminiscent of second flush insect bitten darjeeling. Slight astringency at back of throat. As liquid cools, there is more acidity. Acidity is tempered using lower temp water. Body is relatively light. May benefit from clay. Leaves: more than 1/3 appear broken, possibly during rolling process. Very little evidence of insect bites, which are required for this genre of tea. Had very good flavor for 5 steepings before tapering off.

Longfengxia High Mountain Spring Oolong Tea, Day 5, Lot 948, 2020 taiwan tea craft

From vendor: PICKING DATE May 2020 OXYDATION LEVEL Low BAKING LEVEL None TERROIR Shanlinxi ADMINISTRATIVE REGION Nantou County PICKING STYLE Hand Picked CULTIVAR(S) USED Qing Xin GARDEN ELEVATION 1750 m Review: Dry lead is intensely flowery with prominent yellow stems Brewed 5 to 7 grams/100 mL boiling water in kobiwako. Lower leaf is okay due to intensity of flavor but higher leaf has stronger sweetness in later steeps. For 5 g: Rinse / 55 s / 45 s / 55 s / 1:10 / 1:30 /2:30 Brewed leaves have strong pastry and tropical fruit Steeps 1-2: Taste of green mango, citrus, and baked pineapple pastry. Clean minerality and medium to thick mouthfeel. There is strong perfume of oily flowers, mainly rose and some lavender. At higher leaf to water (7 g per 100 mL) there is some slight green astringency. Steep 3-5: fruit notes are much more mild but still present and long lasting. Much more buttery. There is slight green brandy like astringency. At higher leaf to water ratio, frui...

2020 Organic Nonpareil Ming Qian Dragon Well Long Jing Green Tea from teavivre

From vendor: Origin: Qiandao Lake, Chun'an County, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, China Season: Spring Tea Harvest Date: March 25, 2020 Tea Bush: C. sinensis cv. Jiukeng Tea Garden: Qiandao Lake Organic Tea Garden Review: Brewed 5.2 g in 170 mL 75-80 C water No rinse / 30 s / 30 s / 40 s / 55 s / 1 m 30 s /2 m 30s Dry leaf: pale green and slightly yellow, suggesting lighter oxidation than standard. Small leaves, consistent with earlier harvest. Plenty of white fluff in bag and on leaves. 1 bud 1 leaf > 1 bud > 1 bud 2 leaves. Mild scent of nuts. Wet leaf has strong scent of sweet freshly blanched green beans or corn. In the mouth, persistent vegetal sweetness mostly of asparagus and corn mixed with milder aromas of raw nuts. Good minerality gives this all a nice structure and a "crisp hardness" like small bell ringing. Long aftertaste of sweet vegetal notes, butteriness and minerality. Astringency is very controlled. Overall, aroma is a bit too mild.

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