Why Do I Want a Yixing?

I was thinking about getting one for oolong and one for pu-erh. I actually have very little experience with either, but I thought that it might motivate me to explore them further. My understanding is that these pots should be used for only one type of tea, as they absorb flavors.

I dislike plastic vessels, so I use tetsubin for green teas and a glass pot for black and white teas. The yixings would be restricted to the other two categories.

My understanding of yixing is that it ends up being seasoned, much like a cast iron skillet. You use one pot for only one type of tea and as it absorbs more steeps, it improves the flavor of your tea (like a seasoned cast iron skillet). But I’m no expert. :P

Its a “memory” tea pot. The clay sucks in the flavor of the tea. After awhile, the tea pot starts giving back with better aroma and richer flavor. The more you use it, the better it gets. It has extra care, such as the first season, but also you can’t wash it with soap and ensure it dries without getting moldy.

Verdant Tea has a few good articles on yixing tea pots http://verdanttea.com/intro-to-yixing/

With that said, you need to keep it to 1 tea family, or in some cases, 1 specific tea. Works best with pu’er, blacks and oolongs. Not so great for greens/whites. So, choose a tea you drink all the time.

Other than taste, they look great – colour and finish change with time so you can watch your pot grow in a sense. They have that “steeping old school and tradition” feel.
Finally – there is only so much yixing clay, one day there will be no more clay left (not sure when, haha)

But yeah, if you like straight teas it a fun teapot (or more) to have.

It seasons with use, which affects both your tea and the look of your pot as it develops it’s patina over time.

You are right in that it requires a bit more work to keep your flavour pure, if it is convenience you are after your ingenuitea is probably a better choice.

My own (admittedly limited) experience with yixing is that it mostly affects the mouthfeel of tea.

Great answers here. My yixing pots are kind of like pets to me. I take care of them every day and know that they’ll show me “love” in return. :)
If you’re wanting to get into gongfu-style brewing, I wouldn’t buy the Enjoying Tea pots though. They’re too big. If you want to keep brewing tea Western style, then they work fine for that. Keep in mind though, that they have no infuser basket (just some holes in the spout), so you’ll need a strainer to catch the leaves that escape.

Because earthenware is so pretty?

Don’t buy Yixing, EVER. It is a horribly addicting habit of a hobby and hard to stop. I. Can’t Stop.

Yixings should be used for only one type of unflavored tea. Preferably down to a subcategory (Puer →raw/ripe, Oolongs→dancong,yancha,taiwan,anxi)

Some connoisseurs even go to the lengths of dedicating it to a sub-sub category (raw puer stored in a certain climate) or even a single tea (a certain puer recipe)

I ordered two from Enjoying Tea. I’ll report back… I don’t think that they will be too big, as I use 10 ounce double-walled Bodum glasses for drinking. 100 ml is a swallow for me. ;-)