Flavor sucking with new yixing

Hey guys. Some may have seen my post about seasoning a new yixing. People warned me about “flavor sucking”. Well this one sure does. How long does this normally last? Mine isn’t a very expensive yixing (50.00) but it’s mine and I want to enjoy it. Does the quality make the flavor sucking thing last longer?

13 Replies
AllanK said

How long this will occur for probably depends on how you seasoned it. If you boiled it in tea leaves for a half hour you added back flavor to the pot. If you used a less intrusive seasoning method expect this to go on longer. I boiled a yixing recently and don’t notice much flavor sucking from it.

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Could I boil it now, even if I seasoned it differently to begin with?

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AllanK said

There is no reason you couldn’t boil it now. Just remember to add 25g of tea to the mix. I would boil it at a moderate boil. It doesn’t need to be at a rolling boil. If you are talking about changing the tea you used that may be possible too but is not necessarily advisable. If you seasoned it for shou before I would stick to shou. It is also advisable to leave the tea water in the yixing after you boil it. I leave it in until it cools. Some sites recommend leaving the tea water in until the next day.

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boychik said

You can do Shou bath. I wouldn’t leave it overnight. A brew more Shou. Put extra leaves. It will last longer and speed up seasoning

I use LCT for this. It usually brews up stronger than other shous, in my opinion.

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So if I boiled it, could I use more than one brand of Shou? I have several samples that I could use if that is possible.

@boychik are you saying just put some in the pot and pour boiling water in pot and let it sit?

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boychik said

That’s right . Also if normally you brew 6-8g for the session go for 10-12g.

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AllanK said

You are better off sticking to one type of shou for the boiling, but afterwards use as many types of shou in it as you want.

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yssah said

i read that some people have broken yixings from boiling so i was afraid and just soaked mine in boiled shu

AllanK said

I have never actually heard of anyone breaking a yixing that way. I have heard of people being afraid of breaking one.

Cwyn said

I’ve cracked one, but it had appliqués on it and they cracked. It was a cheap pot, though.

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AllanK said

It would seem to me there is a middle ground to this discussion. One could always fill a teapot with leaves, put it in a large container or pot, add more leaves, then add boiled water to cover the teapot. Then let it soak in for an hour or two. There would be no risk of the pot cracking because you would not be boiling the pot. Just an idea.

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Lindsay said

Have you considered using the yixing for drinking tea, but just adding substantially more leaf than you normally would, to compensate for the sucking? Then you’d be naturally seasoning it with tea you actually like. :)

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