/ck/ - Food & Cooking

got a clay pot a few weeks ago, i figured i would share my initial impressions.
Does it change the flavor of tea? Yes it slightly mutes certain flavors and also gives tea a sweet aspect, sweet water, almost mineral sweetness but not quite.
I got one of the house brand ones from essence of tea, this is made out of a zini clay so it's supposed to do more to mute flavor than some varieties but less than others.
This particular pot is well made but feels very thin and delicate compared to a heavier pot i own, i do feel a bit nervous handling it, i don't think it's an issue just from this particular pot but thinner clay pots in general, it also has a single hole for the spout, no multi hole filter, and it does clog occasionally. The lid also dribbles a bit when pouring, which happens with all my pots. The thermal properties are good, it holds heat well.
So far i have tried it for aged raw puer and roasted wuyi oolong and it works well for both.
I would say at times it can be a bit more muting than i would like and so this clay probably isn't the most versatile, which i knew when i ordered it. That said it nicely takes the edge off of storage notes in aged puer without totally destroying the flavor.
Overall I'm happy with brewing in clay and i will probably end up with 3 or 4 different pots eventually and brew most tea in clay, the sweetness it seems to add is fantastic.
Of course EoT just recently listed some made of Qing Shui Ni clay which would probably be slightly less muting and better for more general use. I would have grabbed that instead if it had been available.