A Tea Addict's Journal

New tools, old tea

February 27, 2008 · 5 Comments

I got some new stuff yesterday through the mail, one of which is this

A new (for me) tetsubin that I bought a little while ago from Japan. The one I’ve been using, after much cleaning and what not, is still not entirely satisfactory. It’s basically too small, and the kettle is a little quirky to get right. This one, on the other hand, exhibits none of the problems I’ve had with the old one. It’s made by Sato Seiko about 30 years ago. The craftsmanship on it is much better than my more mass produced predecessor. The pouring is much more controlled, and the whole thing is easier to use, basically… not to mention bigger, thus less trips to heat up water fresh. I like it. The only problem, if there is one, is that it has absorbed the smell of the wooden box a little, but I’d imagine with some use it will clear up sooner or later.

The tea I drank today is the 2005 Xizihao Lao Banzhang, something that is long sold out at Hou De. I remember I had this tea almost two years ago when I first started blogging, and the tea tasted a bit green to me — I remarked something along the lines of how it reminded me of longjing or something, and that it had gone to my head. Mindful of the potential power of this tea, I went a little easy on myself. The result is a sweetish brew — the tea has aged a bit, methinks, and I with it as a tea drinker. The tea no longer tastes green, and the liquor is a bit orangy, rather than yellow. The tea, overall, is subdued…. not terribly powerful, but I never thought it was in terms of taste. I did feel some of that qi coming from the tea, but even that seems a little mellower. Enjoyable, but not mind blowing.

I don’t know if it’s just me, or if the tea did change that way. It’s hard to tell with just a sample. Also, since I’m using all new teaware, compared to my gaiwan, electric kettle, etc that I used last time, not to mention different water and two more years of drinking experiences, maybe all comparison is moot.

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5 responses so far ↓

  • behhl // February 29, 2008 at 2:46 am | Reply

    Is the cover a different metal? Curious what it looks like inside (condition I mean … ) – any internal pics possible?

    Do you boil it on the fire directly now with this or pour boiled water in and just keep the temperature on the flame burner?

  • Buying tetsubins | A Tea Addict's Journal // November 4, 2012 at 10:29 am | Reply

    […] had a number of good purchases since then, and in fact, the third tetsubin I ever bought is also the one I still use most days. It works – it’s lighter, […]

  • Coffeechapters Connoisseurs // December 1, 2012 at 9:48 pm | Reply

    I recently bought a “晴寿堂” Tetsubin,
    It has ALOT of rust, and I don’t know alot of the history of the Tetsubin,

    I like Pu,Er and was introduced to it by one of my Tea crazy friend,
    he was the one that asked me to buy Tetsubin,

    he said it would be a great asset for brewing tea in the future,
    especially Pu,Er, but he asked me to only use it to brew water for it,

    my wife fell in love with the Tetsubin right away,
    as it was a mini small “Square” tetsubin,

    very very rare, as the author rarely did square tetsubin,
    the owner didn’t want to sell, but luckily for us, she was short of cash,

    so she sold us one of her 30 collection of Tetsubin,
    the price was very expensive, but my wife insisted that we bought one for keepsake~

    Love you post,
    btw, is there anyway i can wash the rust off naturally?

    • MarshalN // December 2, 2012 at 10:18 am | Reply

      I’ve been told that you can try using warm vinegar, although I’m not sure how effective that is.

      • Coffeechapters Connoisseurs // March 7, 2013 at 8:54 am | Reply

        hi,

        here’s an update on the tetsubin,
        i’ve used vinegar to soak it for 2 hours,

        and it woks like a charm,
        but there’s a downfall,

        my whole tetsubin,
        looks ALL brownish rusty,

        the other thing i did, afterwards was,
        using a wet cloth with some puerh tea,

        after everytime i use the tetsubin,
        i would clean the tetsubin with the tea water with a cloth,

        now it’s all nice and brownish black….
        but after i told my friends that are collectors of tetsubin,

        i got scolded off my socks,
        as they say it is OK to drink RUST,

        as Iron, Silver, Gold,
        can be naturally accepted by our bodies!

        LOL got a real scolding for cleaning my Antique tetsubin!
        and i found out the history of my tetsubin,

        as it is featured in one of the Antique Tetsubin Collection Books you see in the teashops!
        WOW, I didn’t know it was such a precious thing till the owner let me see the books,

        no wonder it cost an arm and a leg just for one!
        niways, I’m planning of just using charcoal for heating the tetsubin like the traditional way,

        hope it works out,
        i’ll reply here if it works out!

        C’ya, keep writing your experience,
        p.s. I just bought an Antique Silver Pot! LOL

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