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Having watched the video yet, but I think Don would agree that the leaves are far more important.

also i think learning to read temp from a cooking pot is such a flex, like, cooking pot and a gaiwan seems cool to me

I think you're correct on this part. It's highly unlikely it matters to any noticeable degree. Because if this were true, after hundreds of years of brewing tea, there would be standardized pots that were deemed the best. And there is no such thing. Every single pot design is different. On the other hand "2 seconds of brew time" is like the "just noticeable difference" concept. When it comes to weights, for the human body to even notice a difference, the weight difference has to be about 20%. If you think you can tell the difference between two weights that are less than 20% different, you're lying because scientific testing proves you can't. And I highly doubt anyone could tell the difference between 2 seconds of brew time. If you say you can, you're lying.

@@SeraphX2 it's true, even two seconds of brew time is not going to make much difference. I used duration as an example, because Don isn't doing very specific brew times here - he's just sort of going by feel and explaining things as he's brewing. If all the water temperatures, water to tea ratios and brew times were exactly the same, I really doubt the shape of the pot would make a difference. The shape might affect how the leaf expands, but the leaf will expand either way if it has enough room. The inner and outer leaf material will also be extracted either way - hot water will penetrate those leaves regardless of pot shape, because it's the temperature of the water that dissolves the oils on the surface of the leaf, allowing it to reach the inner portion. Anyway, I enjoy Don's passion and thoroughness when it comes to these taste tests. They're obviously very subjective and someone who drinks a lot of tea and also sells tea (i.e. someone involved in the selection process) might be able to pick up those differences easier than a plebeian tea drinker like myself ;)

@@SeraphX2 Just to add something to the "it's a lie if someone claims to recognize any difference between a 2s brew" and what you should be aware by using such statements. I assume you're referring to Webers law and the fraction called just-noticeable difference (JND). As far as i know there's no evident testing requiring taste in any sort. Experiments were done just as you mentioned for weight or distances, for example. It is important to mention that JNDs aren't similar between the sensations. So you can't just assume that the fraction of weight is the same for another sense, especially when it was never tested. And even if so, what was also found is, that the fraction depends on the basic stimulus, so it varies a lot between 10g vs 10,2g weight or 1000g vs 1020g. Then one should expect something similar for tea, that's sweet spot brew time is maybe 5sec or less, thinking about japanese tea, or 2min plus, thinking again about japanese green tea. If you're able to tell any difference just depends. You're right with the 2% minimum fraction, but it's not accurate if you miss the reference frame, which is weight above 2kg and even more important that the test group was unfamiliar with the topic. So someone who's trained, maybe a chef who's very familiar working with 100g is absolutely capable of telling slightly differences. One could say 2% is the expected average. Nether the less are JNDs absolutely useful for example for music compressing etc., but you can't extrapolate this knowledge to every sensational perception. I for myself can't distinguish between this short brew time difference for most of the teas, but nevertheless should you be very careful with such strong statements like "it's not possible and if you tell me otherwise you're a liar."

@@SUNG0LD maybe I was a little hyperbolic but I think that's because he is so extreme with the way he says things to begin with. caramel and vanilla tastes in tea, a thing that is bland and/or bitter in comparison to flavors like caramel that are strong and sweet. one of his videos he described a flavor, among 3 others, as like some sort of cake? I'm just calling BS on that. I don't care how much tea you taste, you aren't tasting cake unless it's a flavored tea. last time I checked though, the teas he is using are not flavor infused teas.

@@SeraphX2 Caramel in my experience is not an uncommon flavor note in tea, especially depending on the type. I have a milk oolong that almost has a flan note to it. Another of them (a maofeng green tea) has a flavor like nori. It's hard to describe flavor without using these kinds of comparisons. It doesn't mean you would mistake the tea for a bite of cheesecake. Tea is flavored water after all. It means that if you described the flavor of the tea in words, that's the closest comparison you can make to that element of the flavor.

I actually find the cup is more important. I like the small cheap really thin cups cos they dont take much heat out of the tea, and when you drink it, the tea is the same temp as the cup. But my wife prefers her bigger thicker cup. But she will drink her tea cold. But yup, even the shape of the cup matters. Shallow flare to suck in air as you sip, or taller and straight to gulp it. Its probably all woo of course, but it does make for the whole experience 👍😂

Teapots. I also prefer a domed lid, not flat. For one thing, keeps the water off the knob at the top so easier to pour with index finger holding it down. The domed lid also has a bit of trapped air, so if you pour the the water over the filled pot you get the nice little spurt out the spout. It ejects that little bit of scum that has collected there, esp on first brew. If you have a flat lid, as you pour, the water can contact the underside of the lid, where your finger is. But for me, a really good pot does not need a finger on the top to hold the lid. 👍. Sorry for all the comments, but I have spent too much time on teapot features. Cos they are just wonderful things. And what better thing to think about as you make and drink tea. 😂.

Even the position of the spout root matters. For big leaf teas, its better if the spout roots from the bottom, cos then the floating leaves go down with the water, as the pot is diagonal. The tea can flow out before the mesh is blocked. A pot with the spout root at the top can result in a leaf blocking the exit, so all your tea goes through the same leaf, over extracting it, leading to bitterness.

@@TheScotsalan I preheat cups with a little of the water from the kettle before I add the tea, I find it helps with heat loss from the cups!

Which shapes made the difference?

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