Crafting Jianshui Clay Teaware - TEA TRIP TO YUNNAN

[@maxzyklas3704]

This is better than discovery Channel

[@MeiLeaf]

Thanks Max, I do love making these tea trip videos.

[@joetexas1546]

You are so correct!

[@en0n126]

You don't see master potters smokin that bong on Discovery.

[@kwool5151]

You need to source that massive bong too!

[@orlandonerz2999]

Your production quality keeps getting better, even the extra effort with the drone ... just awesome

[@eugeniabazankova4411]

Love you guys! So thankful for all off the knowledge you share. It's always a pleasure to deep dive in any tea related videos with you. Every day you make my single-mom days much cheerful and full field. It's really a life saver. Bless all you do 🙏

[@charlesperez9976]

That was truly REMARKABLE,wow!!

[@stephenkessel6037]

5 years later and I'm currently brewing some Melon Seed Green in your Hui Jianshui tea pot while watching this video. Amazing insight into this beautiful craft!

[@tishducrot1979]

Woooow a beautiful behind the scene video! Thanks so much for this fascinating dive into the incredible work that goes into even a single tea pot !!!

[@ericsimon8906]

Thanks for the Cultural trip, without moving ! Very relaxing to get nearer to the real things. Working with hands, artists. And the whole for tea ! Lovely potteries !

[@toStormy]

You weren't kidding hen you said how satisfying it is to watch master craftsmen at work. I just kept saying, "Wow!". Thank you so much.

[@homesigns]

Incredible, beautiful human beings. No wonder the teaware is incredible and beautiful as well.

[@vinyleyezz]

Excellent production value Don, great work, love the drone & time lapse shots & of course all the great info! 😊👍

[@yuminglu1161]

Great video. Very impressive craftsmanship!!!

[@sherry3099]

Love how you explore and explain everything about tea culture. I found my tribe. 🍵

[@hyancarr]

I love that the tools they used to shape and finesse the clay pot are simple & general items.

[@Grace-lw4hd]

Wow- fantastic video -great job and thank you !

[@maciej6293]

That's one of your best videos ever, Don! I would give it a thousand likes if I could 👍👍👍 I absolutely love the drone footage and the "silent" scenes on the potters wheel! It's so interesting to watch someone highly skilled showing his craft. But I'm amazed that you and Celine, you both managed to create some nice pottery with the first try as I've heard that it is not that easy for someone who never tried it before (or did you have some experience with potters wheel already?) ! I would love to sea the final versions of the tea ware you produced 😍

[@MeiLeaf]

That was our first attempt at the potters wheel and Celine certainly was impressive for her first go. The Jianshui master gave us his helping hands every so often. We did not end up firing the clayware that we made but it was fun to get our hands on that clay and try ourselves.

[@janiepereira940]

Yet another amazing tea trip video. Thanks for showing us the work that goes into making fine teaware. It was so satisfying watching the ribbons of clay coming of the pot as it was fine tuned

[@Ben-vv7nd]

Very informative details on this zing shui pottery n tea ware. Cottages industry for the family who pass down for generation..

[@make848]

Laughed out loud when i saw that old guy with his massive bong. :D. Good Video like everytime. :)

[@TheHeraldOfChange]

He's smoking a rough, coarse tobacco, which contains stems, sticks and leaf, which all gets chopped up like chaff. Some roll it, but its pretty damned rough. :-p

[@UnelmaPunelma]

I made my very first order to Mei Leaf and it just arrived... I haven't tasted them yet, but I have to say, I really enjoyed the bubble wrap

[@michellejackson2995]

This is a really cool video. Thank you💟☮️

[@craigmckissick8840]

Loving the Jianshui teaware. Definitely changes the flavour profile in a different way than Yixing, but much more interesting to look at. Another good find Don 🍵

[@desertfox432]

Great video! That bong dude is so charismatic.

[@EmilyClede]

Fascinating video. Thank you for sharing this part of the tea world with us!

[@danport222]

Great video, very satisfying to watch a master a work. It's a nice touch that every pot gets a kiss (to blow the lid off). We'll be waiting for your clay throwing masterclass playlist.

[@johnmcmunn3827]

A very enjoyable video: good coverage of the process along with a sense of the place and people ... two thumbs up :)

[@alexandercasillasauthor]

Beautiful tea ware! Can't wait for the next video on the clay's effect on flavor

[@Michelle-vx8ph]

The music is ❤️‍🔥

[@kaineuber7536]

Omg that teapot with the side handle at the end of the video! Absolutely amazing! Personally, I prefer those "kyusu" aesthetics over the traditional Chinese teapots. Don, if you could get your hands on a kyusu made from Yixing or Jianshui clay for your shop, that would be absolutely amazing! Haven't found anything satisfactory in this regard in any online shop yet.

[@hollyjoywoe]

Stunning! Thank you for bringing this experience into my home. I love the admiration and respect you show to the artists.

[@tanialovestea7578]

Awesome video 👏🏼👏🏼 Thank you Don.

[@Euquila]

This is such an incredible video... just wow

[@moritzkohler9214]

Love those tea trips

[@voidremoved]

love those bong rips

[@svenschukat2958]

a video comparing the differend kinds of clay would be very usefull

[@MeiLeaf]

It is in the planning!

[@petra.andersen]

great video, I always enjoy the videos from your travels 😍. It is really interesting that wood fire kilns are on the decline in China whereas they are getting more and more popular with Czech potters. I myself have several pieces 🍵 from wood fire kilns and I love how the fire plays its part on top of the potter's hard work. It is also exciting to wait for the kiln to open as you never quite know what comes out. Really great potter skills in your video. I tried potter's wheel this summer and it is such hard work. Hats 🎩down to all the potters no matter what nationality 🏺.

[@MeiLeaf]

I was told that wood-fired kilns are becoming illegal to use in Jianshui but I could not verify this so I did not mention it in the video. I agree that wood-fired teaware has a wonderful character.

[@petra.andersen]

@@MeiLeaf oh...could be that they are not safe and new would be costly. I know a potter who had one built recently and to build it safe and stable, she had to invest a fortune that might never pay back in the goods...

[@MeiLeaf]

@@petra.andersen I was told that it was to control burning of wood for cleaner air (as I said, this was one person's information so I am not sure if it is true and I know that there is wood-fired pottery being made so I cannot verify). China is making attempts to control air pollution - often times factories have to close down or change by order of the officials in order to try to work on this issue.

[@harrybhappy]

Definitely some of my favorite tea ware

[@Elim1974]

Very enjoyable video to watch and learn about clay teaware. It makes me want to collect them all...

[@joetexas1546]

WOW! I could watch this all day-Thanks👍👍👍

[@pde442]

Awesome video

[@andrzejlolszewski212]

I just love these videos.

[@WaruiTanuki]

Another fascinating video! 19:10 for when you need to smoke and play the didgeridoo at the same time. Also, I look forward to being able to order a Mei Leaf branded giant, spiky tea jar.

[@matthiashubner1657]

great!!

[@vitopettito1689]

19:11 Is that guy smoking tobacco out of a wooden bong? Haha wow!! I'd have hoped cannabis but it isn't too safe to do openly over there I hear. Amazing video, mesmerized by the cool techniques and those amazing colors!

[@MeiLeaf]

I am sure that many years ago it would have been some fine mountain grown cannabis but these days you can't find the stuff despite Yunnan area being so close to its original cultivation source thousands of years ago. There is a lot of opium around there which is apparently used medicinally. He was smoking a really fragrant mix of blond tobacco which he kept stored with aged tangerine peel - it smelled delicious actually but we did not get to have a hit on his precious puffer.

[@mario7027]

In China, authorities will deal with cannabis quite severely in general, however some ethnic minorities (particularly in Yunnan) are/were left alone with their traditions. This has been changing in recent years, however in some rural areas (e.g. the Tiger Leaping Gorge), you can still see cannabis being sold openly by locals.

[@LVKNG]

and again : THANK-YOU

[@heinzfraenkel5616]

Thanks Don

[@barbaracarbone4658]

Very awesome vid. Thanks❤

[@3Taumeltaenzer]

Dear Don and Céline, first thanks a lot for all the high quality insights into tea. Could you elaborate on the process you called "fermentation". As a pedologist "fermentation" in the technical jargon is a enzymatic induced process in which changes in organic matter takes place. I would assume that clays taken from well matured soil wouldn't contain much organic matter. Has the term therefore a different meaning in the potters craft? Thanks for your answer and a very nice week to everyone.

[@MeiLeaf]

Yes, I think that the wording I used was not correct and is a direct translation of the information I was given. My guess is it is more of a kind of curing process to maintain the clay at certain moisture and temperature after mixing to allow the clay to develop properties which improve workability and firing. Maybe any ceramics or pottery people can chip in with their knowledge.

[@3Taumeltaenzer]

@@ObviouslyLogan Thank you both for your answers. That's really intriguing, I'll consult some literature on the subject. By the way I adore watching the potters at work. I've spent two hours observing a potter in Andalucia. Have a nice week and thanks again.

[@MeiLeaf]

@@ObviouslyLogan thank you for adding to our knowledge.

[@hrcostigan]

From the highly recommended Global Tea Hut Magazine: "This slow process of maturation, decomposition, and to some extent, fermentation changes the property of the clay - this process is called cultivation (養土)... During the cultivation period, the water content in the clay blocks becomes more even. As a result, the organic substances decompose into components that make the clay more plastic and less likely to crack when fired." archive.globalteahut.org/article/957

[@roblesoncrusoe9254]

Wow massive Bongrip, Dude! I think it's opium

[@benmoore7946]

shout out to Don's shirt matching the bougainvillea at 14:22

[@fanculo619]

wow

[@benreitz6981]

Was that beat during the drone flight shot a Don Mei original production?

[@MeiLeaf]

No, not that one, I have pretty much used up most of my music in all the other videos and so I had to dip into some other beats.

[@andrei-silviusontu9911]

I take it these being low fired should be porous? or does the long firing time and the clay type make for a more porcelain like pot? I'd be curious about these pots' effects on tea and which teas you'd reccomend to try, please!

[@MeiLeaf]

We are planning to do a test of all the clays in a video shortly.

[@jang.1185]

Hello Andrei, I was searching for some informations about ceramics half year ago - about different types, different used clays and different methods of processing. As far as I can see, the level of porosity mostly depends on clay and on the temperature during firing. Porcelain is fired by really high temperature, therefore it is more like glass and transcluent. Also very first ceramics were burned in lower temperature and the vessels were normally leaking - not because of possible cracks, but because of liquid soaking through the porous material.

[@marcocaliari2030]

What do you mean by "fermenting", a clay can't ferment being only composed by aluminosilicates minerals. What does happen to the composition of the clay in the fermenting step? does it become more homogeneous?

[@MeiLeaf]

Yes, I answered this question in another comment but fermenting is the wrong word (direct translation of the Chinese). It is a homogenising and curing process.

[@WanderingVeteran]

Interesting video. I was unfamiliar. I have not bought nice teaware yet.

[@MeiLeaf]

Teaware is sought after almost as much as tea in the world of Gong Fu tea brewing and Jianshui clay is definitely becoming more and more collected by tea lovers.

[@WanderingVeteran]

@@MeiLeaf I still have so much to learn. I dream to get far with tea.

[@marciohenriquepierobonmart9052]

Hey, Don. How are you? Can you elaborate a road map for the cities and interesting points in China for tea? To de people who wants to visit this country. Thanks!

[@alextam167]

A question: does this specific artisan have a Wechat (Weixin) page for his studio? I'm interested in seeing the black teapot Don held in the video.

[@teagong-go8374]

Thanks Don, just added another one to Santa's letter.

[@K1LD3R]

No music when showing artisan skills please. Nice video

[@faizfabregas]

mark this video. i will come here post-covid era