How to use Chao Zhou Stove Set

Prepare the kettle/pot:
Soak the clay kettle/pot in room temperature water 20 minutes prior to burning for each use, else it can crack easily. I fill the pot with room temperature water to the top each time I finish using it, so that I won't forget and spend 20 minutes to soak the pot the next time. Make sure there's water in the pot when you put it on fire at any time, avoid cold water in an empty hot pot, or hot water in an empty cool pot. Do not refill water while pot is on the fire. The clay is very porous, expansion and contraction due to water temperature change will crack the pot easily. I have done that!

For first time use:

Scrub stove under tap water to get rid of any tape residues before using.

Discard the first pot of boiled water.

To light fire:

Hardwood charcoal is the best choice next to Olive Pit Charcoal, do not use any BBQ briquettes, especially ones smell and smoke a lot. I use Whole Foods Market’s 365 brand hardwood charcoal. For choice of charcoals please check the following website: http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lump.htm
Place small pieces of hardwood charcoal on stove stop to burn for a few minutes till they are red on the side, then transfer to clay stove. Add more charcoals if necessary during the session. See picture. Fan from the bottom opening of the clay stove will speed up the fire.

To put out fire:

1. To put out fire completely, cover lid with the knob on, and cover the bottom opening. You may stop the fire at any time this way without waiting for the fire to burn out or put water over it and make a mess.

2. If you want to stop making tea for a little while, but want the fire going for later, cover lid with the knob off, cover the bottom opening but leave a small gap on one side to keep the air flowing inside the stove chamber. This way the charcoal will keep on going at low temperature, when you are ready to boil water again, open up the cover and lid, add new charcoal to catch on fire. You can adjust the bottom cover to control fire temperature as well. Bigger the gap, more oxygen, higher the fire temperature, faster the water will boil.

To boil water:

The lid will make clinging noise once the water is boiling. You can take the kettle off the stove and place it on a trivet (wood is the best choice) or take off the lid. Do not place hot kettle/pot over any water. It will crack the pot also. When boiling water, line the pot handle above one of the 3 elevated landings of the stove, this will prevent the fire from heating the handle, hence prevents your hand getting burnt.

Enjoy!

Charcoal

Since the Beijing Olympic games of 2008, I have not been able to import any Olive Pitt Charcoal from China. I was in dire need of that second best alternative. Through the long 6 months of searching, I have yet to find the second best charcoal, but have good results in what I should look for.

Hardwood charcoal is widely available at an affordable price compared to Olive Pitt Charcoal. There are many types of wood, and each type has its own aroma, density, ash production and maximum temperature, on top of these variables, the maker is also an important factor. How much carbonation is done to the wood, parts of the tree, miscellaneous contents (stones, whacky stuff that aren't wood), percentage of dust and fannings are also factors one should consider when choosing a bag of charcoal for under $10. Sounds like a bit too picky for something so insignificant in terms of financial value eh? Well, if you use charcoal on a daily basis like I do, you'll find out the benefit of good charcoal.

Good hardwood should be heavy and dense:
Bad stuff: tree barks and harden liquid stuff means low carbonation, there are still lots organic materials left in the wood which can cause LOTS smoke and unpleasant odor that could stink up your house, clothes, hair and skin for hours.

Fluffy looking charcoal:
Same piece on left, does not burn well:All that just for a cup of good tea!

Want to know more about charcoal? http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lump.htm

Smokeless charcoal

I burn some olive pit charcoal to compliment my new Dan Congs arrived today. Flash light was used when taking the top picture. These charcoals are still black in whole, and a few with small area of white ashes. Not a trace of smoke is coming out of these charcoals, however smell of the charcoal are apparent and pleasant. The second picture shows the actual flame, still no smoke. It's been burning for less than 5 minutes in these pictures.




There are speculations of smoke from burning charcoals. Wood burning smoke are common food preps to enhance flavor of meat, dairy products in both the west and east. It's also used to add flavors to tea, ie Lapsang Souchong. In some instances, it can be accidental, ie Russian Caravan. Traditionally, all tea were heat dried by wood/charcoal fire before electricity was born, or sun/air dried. Wood fired teas could very well absorb flavor of the wood and smoke from wood. However charcoal on the other hand is much less smoky than wood. Traditional Anxi charcoal roasted TGY does not have a signature smoky flavor, neither does Taiwan Tan Pei Cha (charcoal roasted tea). Smoke comes from burning off moisture, oil, jelly and other chemicals between wood fiber.

Modern day bamboo charcoal making is not just putting a log of bamboo on fire and letting it turn black. Logs of bamboo are placed in large kiln like ovens, then heat up to 800°C, while carbonizing fibers, chemicals are extracted into bamboo vinegar. The finishing products are carbons with very little chemical residues. Hence very little to no smoke when burning. If charcoals were not stored properly, ie moisture got in the charcoal for a period of time, bacteria and other organic live forms develop over these charcoal. When burning such charcoal will release smoke and funky taste.

Olive pit charcoal are made with similar high heat "baking" method.

Like tea, fresh carbonized charcoal is the key to smokeless and odorless charcoal burning, hence does not smoke our teas.

Chao Zhou Clay Stove Set with Olive Pit Charcoal

Tea culture in Chao Zhou, province of Guang Dong China has a long history known to be the oldest form of tea art in present days.

The following is one of the local tea ware of must have when making a good cup of fabulous Phoenix Dan Cong oolong. Clay pot made of local red clay for boiling water, a little portable clay stove made to retain heat within, and the last but not the least important element is Olive pit charcoal. Rustic style, coarse texture, however works wonders!

The clay pot for boiling water is made extremely porous, water can sip through the wall slowly. When heated, vapor is visible from the outside. Water quality is significantly improved after boiled in this pot. Metal tea kettle makes flat and hard water. This clay pot makes sweet, round, full body, and soft water that greatly enhances the flavor of tea. Tea liquid slips down from tongue to throat smoothly like ice cream. The texture is so full, it makes you feel as the space between upper mouth and tongue has increased.


Portable stove is made with thick wall all around, a small opening at the bottom ensures airflow. Thick clay wall serves as an insulation layer which keeps heat within the stove, heating only the bottom of clay pot. A sliding "door" can be move left or right for control of air flow, in turn controls temperature.


Olive pit charcoal is a miracle, in my opinion at least. This is a local black olive varietal from Chao Zhou, unlike Italian Olive, it's low in oil, hence soot free when burning. These charcoal releases an aroma when burning, the aroma burns through the porous wall of clay pot, further enhances the water flavor, hence enhances tea flavor.

Tea culture of Chao Zhou is extremely comprehensive. The region not only produces the best oolong tea, its natural resources made it possible to expand tea experience beyond agricultural. The Chao Zhou Zhu Ni clay pots, the unique floral aroma of Phoenix tea, the olive trees, the wisdom and accumulated experience through out the centuries, together give us this magnificent gift of tea culture. I feel extremely lucky having such exposure and access. My own tea experience has elevated to a level where I truly feel content with what I have to make a great cup of tea. Of course, I will not stop here. My final stop would be to retire in the mountain of Phoenix for part of the year, soak in the pure mist nourishing the soil and tea trees, drink century years old tea and watch sunrise from top of the clouds.