DPMKABkh.6934$dw6.2865@trndny0212/27/06

> Hello all. Happy Holidays.
>
> I received a Yixing (well, Chinese clay) pot for Christmas, and I'd like to
> hear your collected wisdom on seasoning it. I plan to use it for oolongs.
>
> I've read some contradictory advice on the web, so I thought I'd ask. Most
> seem to advocate boiling the pot in filtered water (some suggest weak tea),
> but others only suggest a scrub and a rinse.
>
> What's the collected wisdom here?
>
> Thanks,
> Dean

Hi Dean,

The collective wisdom of our group will obfuscate
and confuse the issue grandly as we happily contradict
each other in deference to our respective tea masters.

You want to remove clay particles from the interior
of the pot and that means scrubbing and boiling
(gently please) for some time and a couple times.
I've never understood at all the need to soak or
heat a YiXing pot in tea since the natural process
of using it regularly will take care of it. Here's
what I do, and you take it for what it's worth:

I boil and scrub once or twice. Then I brew
tea in it. During the brewing and steeping, I often
pour some of the tea I'm drinking over the pot
as it steeps. Also, I overflow the pot when I
pour so the tea within cascades over the sides.
Further, when finished, I take a soft cloth and
wipe down the pot's exterior surface. I also
watch that a part of the pot does not remain
habitually wetter than other parts such as below
the spout where a heavier dark stain can happen.

Having said that, others will speak of boiling,
freezing, fretting, and jostling, but I can't imagine
that a hundred years ago anyone bothered.

Most important: Dedicate your pot to a particular
type of tea. That is rule number one.

Michael