James R said 2012-08-12 17:48:31 -0400

Yixing Cups

I won an ebay auction for this one Yixing pot I really liked, it came with a tray too, but it has 6 yixing cups too. This is my first experience with yixing cups, I’m wondering do they need to be seasoned like the pot? Also should I only stick with one type of tea with the cups as I will do with the pot? I’m dedicating the pot to shu pu’erh. Also, the tea tray is made of yixing clay, I’m really excited to get this thing!

17 Replies

Azzrian said 2012-08-12 18:29:59 -0400

Wow James! Thats awesome can you share a link? I would say yes to seasoning the cups the same way you would your pot!

James R said 2012-08-12 19:23:08 -0400

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Traditional-Bamboo-style-Yixing-Tea-Set-/00/s/NzY4WDEwMjQ=/$(KGrHqV,!qUE+p6fK(8lBQFV6RderQ~~60_57.JPG I hope that link works, thats from the ebay page

James R said 2012-08-12 19:23:57 -0400

Also, if anyone can translate this symbol I don’t know what it says http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Traditional-Bamboo-style-Yixing-Tea-Set-/00/s/MTAyNFg3Njg=/$T2eC16V,YZGbBQFV6Y5BHQ~~60_57.JPG

TeaVivre said 2012-08-12 20:48:13 -0400

It is a Chinese word, it means tea in english.

James R said 2012-08-12 21:49:42 -0400

Thanks!

Pekoe said 2012-08-16 14:56:57 -0400

cha = tea

Anny Oxidant & the Tea Bullie said 2012-08-12 21:12:36 -0400

How cool! Congrats!!

Invader Zim said 2012-08-12 21:22:43 -0400

Awesome set, very nice!

Rumpus Parable said 2012-08-12 21:29:37 -0400

That’s frickin’ adorable!

Tyler D said 2012-08-20 13:08:15 -0400

I won the exact same set a few days before you did. How is yours coming along. My teapot is getting very “dirty”.

James R said 2012-08-20 17:38:15 -0400

Ohhhh so you’re the one I was in the Ebay bidding war with!!! :P I haven’t seasoned mine yet, I’m waiting on an order from Teavivre with a bunch of pu’erh and I’ll season it with that. How do you like it so far?

Tyler D said 2012-08-21 13:11:13 -0400

Haha yeah, we were competitors that day! Even though I won the battle, judging how much more I paid for mine than you did for yours, I think you won the war haha.

I finally got around to cleaning the set on Saturday. I boiled the pot and cups for about an hour, reboiled the pot and cups w some cheap gunpowder green tea I had for about 20 mins, then I boiled them again for about 20 mins in plain water again. I began using the pot Saturday evening. It has changed so much since then. Compared to the cups (which I haven’t used yet) it is soooo much darker. It is developing a black “grainy” look to it. The weird part is that it is only developing this on the exterior of the pot. I have two other “yixing” pots that I have previously bought on eBay, and they haven’t changed a bit in appearance. I am now questioning the legitimacy of my pots.

Anny Oxidant & the Tea Bullie said 2012-08-21 14:42:40 -0400

Oh no. That is not good.

Tyler D said 2012-08-21 17:23:19 -0400

I do think that this set James R and I are discussing is legit.

I am mainly questioning the other two I have.

But, really, what do I know?

Rellybob said 2012-08-20 16:33:39 -0400

Wow I love that set!

Tyler D said 2012-08-21 17:20:42 -0400

To illustrate what I mean….

pic.twitter.com/Omrpail2

pic.twitter.com/oSeaLsmO

James R said 2012-08-21 17:26:59 -0400

Wow…I’m excited to see what will happen to mine. It’s on the stove right now seasoning. My other ones haven’t really changed color, one I devote only to green oolongs, so the liquor is always very clear, the other one is a dark clay one that I use for mostly Yunnan blacks but I don’t really know if the color has changed because it was so dark to begin with.