When buying a Yixing teapot, many tea drinkers wonder
What type of tea they should brew in it, and
Whether they need to dedicate one teapot to one type of tea.
We want to provide our opinions on these questions, but they are just our opinions. There are others who might disagree with our answers, and that's fine. The best way is to try different teas in different pots yourself.
Which teapot for which tea?
Yixing clay is divided into many categories with different mineral compositions, so it is natural to wonder whether these categories of clay have different effects on tea. However, beyond the obvious colour and aesthetic differences, the clay types do not actually differ that much in terms of effects of tea, because of the porosity of modern Yixing clay and the preference for high firing temperatures.
Nowadays, the porosity of all the different types of Yixing clay after firing ranges from 0.15% to 0.1%, because most teapots are fired twice to ensure a good fitting lid. While vintage Factory 1 Yixing teapots were fired only once in oil or firewood kilns, modern Yixing clay is usually doubly fired in electric kilns. Moreover, modern clays are commonly fired at higher temperatures, increasing crystallisation and hence reducing porosity.
The insignificance of the porosity differences in modern Yixing clays means that the seasoning effect of modern teapots is also overstated. While modern pots are still porous, and therefore will season, this phenomenon is often exaggerated by teapot sellers. What does this mean for pairing a teapot with a tea type? Simply that you should not worry too much about seasoning one teapot with a particular type of tea. As long as you rinse the pot with boiling water after use, you can use different teas in the same pot. Any type of good quality modern Yixing clay can brew any type of good tea.
Having said that however, we have tried all tea types in many types of clay, and so we thought it worthwhile to share what brewing vessels we use for different teas. These are just our preferences, we encourage you to experiment yourself. Its a matter of subjective taste whether you can taste differences in teapots of different clay types.
Our general findings are that if you want to preserve more aroma, use a redder clay like Zhuni or Hongni, and if you want a slightly smoother mouthfeel, use Zini or Duanni.
Green Tea
Most people only drink green tea in glass or porcelain, and we do agree that these materials are best for green tea, especially for green teas with delicate aromas like our Pre-Qingming Dragonwell. However, we have also had good results using Zini Dicaoqing clay for green tea. We were a bit surprised to discover this, since Zini is usually quite porous with high heat retention, which could overbrew green tea. If anything this is just anecdotal evidence for what I just wrote above, that the effects of the different clay types are overstated, and that good clays can work with any tea type.
Black (Red) Tea
For delicate bud-only red tea I usually use a porcelain gaiwan, while for other red teas I use a Zini Dicaoqing pot. I find it provides a slightly thicker mouthfeel. Zhuni is commonly recommended for red tea also.
Raw Puerh
I drink a lot of raw (sheng) puerh, and I like using a Yixing pot for it because of the greater heat retention compared to a gaiwan. Puerh needs a lot of heat, so if you do a drink a lot of puerh, getting a Yixing teapot is something to consider. For young, fresh sheng puerh I use a gaiwan. For anything older than 5 years I only use clay teapots. For dry-stored puerh I use a vintage Factory 1 hongni pot. For humid-stored puerh I use a Zini pot. I only notice subtle differences in the texture of the tea. For puerh I think the heat retention of the clay is more important than the clay type. If there is any tea I think it is worth getting a Yixing teapot for, its puerh.
Ripe Puerh
To be honest I hardly ever drink ripe (shou) puerh, but I know many experienced drinkers use a Zini or Duanni pot for this tea type.
White Tea
I do not drink a lot of white tea, but I have gravitated towards using a gaiwan for fresh or delicate white tea, and a Hongni or Zini pot for aged white tea. Like puerh, aged white tea can withstand a lot of heat, making it suited to the heat retention of clay.
Oolong Tea
For most oolongs I recommend using a Zhuni pot. Zhuni tends to preserve aroma more, and aroma is so important for oolong. For dancong oolong I actually recommend using Chaozhou clay teapots, instead of Yixing. Chaozhou clay teapots are often purposefully designed for brewing dancong, with thin walls, smooth pours, high-fired clay, and small capacities, making them suited for the highly aromatic nature of this tea type.
One teapot for only one type of tea?
Since the porosity of the clay types does not differ too much, the simple answer to this question is you do not need to dedicate one teapot to only one tea type. As long as you rinse the teapot in boiling water after use, the flavours of the previous tea are highly unlikely to leach into the next tea you brew. However, it is true that stronger teas may affect more delicate ones, so ideally you would not want to use one teapot for both shou puerh and green tea. I think whether you want to dedicate a teapot to one type of tea just depends on your budget. If you can only afford to buy one Yixing teapot, then use it with any tea type, just remember to rinse it thoroughly after use with hot water. If you can afford a few pots, then you can dedicate them to the main tea categories, e.g. a Zini pot for raw puerh, and a Zhuni pot for oolong.
