Visit to HongYuet Teahouse (Macau)

I made a visit to HongYue Teahouse in Taipa (Macau). The shop was nicely decorated and a wide selection of Zisha Teapots that range from MOP150 to a few thousand MOP. A few teapots caught my eye, however I was not impressed with the quality of the clay as the metallic "ping" was not high pitched enough. The few I liked did not have clear seal chops under the lid which left me unimpressed as to me, the seal represents the potter's pride. There were 2 teapots that did meet my criteria and price range, I may go back to purchase them at a later date. You can check out their website for some of the items they have on sale.

The shop assistant was helpful but was probably more eager to make a sale then recommend tea to customers. I give her credit for brewing me a pot of Pu-Erh which I enquired about, so out of goodwill, I purchased a can which cost MOP 88. You can see my review of the Pu-Erh in my posts.

I was not particularly comfortable in the shop as it was surrounded by statues of deities and such. Being Christians, my wife and me are more sensitive to such things. I guess I still prefer "Cozy Teahouse" who though smaller and less plush, they gave me a more personal, friendly and sincere service. Dealing directly with the owners is also more informative and positive.

A Review of my Duan-ni (Yixing) Teapot

I have been using this little teapot for 2 weeks and I simply love the eggshell color of the Duan-ni. The walls are quite thick which gives it a nice heft. The Duan-ni is quite porous in nature and the water is absorbed easily, but no so porous such that the teapot "sweats". This pot should be able to absorb teas and season pretty quickly.

Quality: The pot has been fired at a high temp and made of good quality clay as it gives off a good metallic "ping" when tapped with it's lid. The surface is matted and smooth with no blemishes which gives in a "silky" feeling when rubbed. The teapot hints that it has been shaped with a hand tool as you can see outward scraping lines. When heated with boiling water, the smell is like that of "hot stones". I am satisfied that this teapot is made with good quality Duan-ni. Phew!

Insulation: This teapot is able keeps the water hot much longer than a ceramic Gaiwan especially when it has been heated up. This characteristic is important when I am trying to extract every ounce of flavor from the tea leaves after 4 - 5 steeps.

Pouring performance: The water flows out in a nice small stream from it's spout with little or no drip. However 1 or 2 drops of tea does leak from the lid seal when emptying a full pot of tea. The teapot is still air-tight as I can stop the flow by covering the hole at the cover. I give it a 7 out of 10, deducting a point for the minor lid leak.

Brewing: I dont think this pot is suitable for my High Mountain Oolong Tea as it seems to "absorb" the subtle flavors leaving me with a flatter and slightly bitter tasting Oolong. However it does bring the best out of my High Grade Long Jing Tea as I find that the smell of the "Hot stones" compliments the flavor of the Long Jing nicely. Yixing has more even heating compared to the porcelain Gaiwan, thus teas steeped in a Yixing Teapot is more rounded and has more body especially for stronger tasting teas.

Overall: I am extremely pleased with this little teapot of mine. Aesthetically, quality, construction and Performance, it scores high. I give it an overall 8/10

Enjoy the pictures below and let me know if you found this review helpful.

My First Zisha Teapot

So I got duped in Zhu Hai due to my lack of knowledge and experience, but I won’t go down the same path twice.

My research on “Yixing Zisha” made me even more intrigued and amazed at this mineral clay as well as with our Chinese history and traditions. My desire to get a good Yixing Teapot grew stronger the more I researched. One of the things that really attracts me to Zisha Teapots is the fact that I can actually “groom” it and make it better with each use. To me, good Zisha Teapots are functional art pieces, with lots of depth and dimensions not found in any other kind of teapots. Pick one up and you may just fall in love with it, but be warned that it could be the start of an expensive collection.

I stumbled on to the website of “Cozy Teahouse” located in Macau whilst looking for reputable Zisha Teapots retailers.

Ben and German are the friendly owners of Cozy Teahouse. They demonstrated good experience and knowledge relating to Chinese tea in particular Pu-erh tea and Zisha Teapots. On a regular basis, they visit Yixing Province to purchase teapots as well as to contact Master Teapot Artist.

During my visit, the availability of mid-range teapots was limited, about 20 pieces. They had more collection pieces available, but they were out of my price range.

I finally selected “Humpty Dumpty”, an egg colored Yixing Teapot for my Oolong Tea. I am now a happy tea man.

PS: Humpty Dumpty is the one on the right if you are color blind.

I Got Scammed

I want a Yixing pot. I see them selling in many teashops in Hong Kong, China and Singapore. So how hard can it be to find one?

Apparently, harder than I thought. Armed with nothing more than desire, I got scammed at Zhu Hai. I came across a Chinese tea shop that sold tea and they had some traditional chinese teapots on display. So I happily picked out a dark brown one for RMB100 (S$20). Yippee!!

That "Yippee!" was short lived.

I begin searching the internet for information on “Fake Yixing Zisha” teapots which confirmed that I had indeed purchased one made of some kind of inferior clay. The teapot gave off a weird (terrible) smell even after boiling and brewing tea in it. Upon closer inspection, it had concentric circles on the inside and only 1 seal chop at the base of the teapot.

Smell and concentric circles, sounds like no big deal, but this are 2 certain signs that it is not Yixing Zisha. I will do a post on "How to chose a Zisha Teapot".

Based on appearance alone, I still like this teapot though I will never brew any tea in it again (see "Buyer Beware!!"). It has a chubby round shape and a pleasing dark purple color. It even has some sought of "patina" look to it. This teapot will be my educational tool for beginner teapot collectors like myself.

Buyer Beware!!

There is a whole industry of tea producers and teaware manufacturers in asia that are targeting tea drinkers and enthusiast. While this means that there are a whole range of products for consumers, we are also susceptible to cheats and frauds as unscrupulous merchants attempt to sell inferior and at times even hazardous products to us.

In this highly competitive tea and teaware market, I will like to caution “Buyer Beware” attitude to all tea lovers. Do your research extensively before parting with your hard-earned money.

Just to highlight some of the potential dangers and pitfalls in purchasing tea and teaware, please see below:

1. Intentionally misrepresenting the quality and age of the tea leaves by using various over fermentation techniques or “reviving” expired tealeaves by roasting them again.

2. Using inferior clays to make “Zisha” teaware. Unscrupulous manufacturers add lead and other harmful materials to achieve the metallic sound of Zisha Teapots and to make the clay suitable for molding. Using such teapots could cause lead poisoning, cancer and who knows what not, because as the tea steeps in the pot, toxic contaminants in the clay seep into the tea.

3. Fake Antiques or imitation pieces. As with all valuable items, there is a robust counterfeit market. Some known techniques of aging teapots is by using shoe polish, rubbing dirt and even burying them in soil for a period of time. Not only are these items inferior, they maybe dangerous to use. Neither should you judge the authenticity of a teapot by name seals as these are also easily imitated.

4. Mixing inferior quality tea leaves with good quality ones and market them as High quality tea leaves.

5. Selling tea leaves that are grown using high level of pesticides.

I will try to update the above potential dangers for readers as I learn more. In the next post, I will relate my own experience of being cheated.

Kung Fu Tea

For the sake of my expensive "High Mountain Oolong Tea", I learnt the art of preparing tea "KungFu" style. Money is also a great motivator.

If you want to know what is Kungfu Cha about, please see here

To me, brewing tea Kung Fu cha style is enjoyable and calming. My wife thinks I am wasting my time, but to me it makes sense to brew tea "Kung Fu" style because the tea leaves are less likely to be over steeped (over steeped tea taste bitter). Also, I gain a more relaxed state of mind and body after a tiring day at work as the process is quite meditative and calming (eg. watching the steam rise, sipping the tea, appreciating the fragrance). Kung Fu Cha makes me take time to appreciate the simpler pleasures in life. Tea becomes more than just a beverage when done the "Kung Fu" way.

I forgot to mention that it is also a good way to pass advertisment time when watching televison programs.

Some basic equipment is required for practical and aesthetic reasons. But generally the equipment are not expensive (though one has the option of going high end). Below is my entry level teaware which cost about S$35. If you are interested in purchasing one set, email me (Singapore Only).

A New Beginning

My passion for chinese tea started in December 2008 whilst on a Taiwan holiday.

Thanks to an unplanned toilet break, we made a stop at a tea farmer’s shop that specializes in farming Taiwan Oolong Tea. This is a picture of the tea farmer, he was very warm and friendly (much like his Oolong).

Though not an avid tea drinker at that time, the fragrance and flavour of the Oolong was soothing and awakening. I probably did not know it back then, but this was the beginning of a new passion and love for chinese tea and traditional teapots.

With a can of quality Oolong tea in my hands, I embarked on my research to know more about “Gongfu Cha” and “Yixing” tea pots which I will share with you in the next posts.