Chinese yixing clay teapot

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Our collection of Yixing teapots are an expression of our appreciation for high-quality handmade potteries, each with their own unique story to tell. Most teapots here will be unique of made in very limited quantities. Yixing teapots are the unique traditional stoneware produced in Yixing, situated to the west of Taihu, the Great Lake in Jiangsu Province, since the Song Dynasty 10 th century. The hills to the southeast of the county are endowed with rich clay deposits, and the center of pottery-making is located around the Dingshu Town. Zi Sha clay has an excellent plasticity, which allows extensive freedom of creation, a small rate of contraction, good in proportions and in dimensions. After firing, the Zi Sha teaware has an appropriate amount of air holes for ventilation such that the teapot can preserve the colour, smell and taste of the tea. That means we normally will have choose one teapot for one type of tea.

Chinese yixing clay teapot

If you are on the path of brewing loose leaf teas and learning Gong Fu Cha , you have undoubtedly heard of yixing clay teapots. You start browsing the subject and find bits and pieces of information full of marketing hype, that are often conflicting and leave you even more confused. We hope that this article will help you better understand yixing clay and figure out what type of yixing teapot you need, why you need it, and what to pay attention to when shopping for one. Please keep in mind that this is a vast subject with many intricacies, and we cannot cover all of them. To get a more profound and better understanding, do your own research, experiment, compare. It's a compound clay rich in minerals such as kaolin, mica, quartz and has high iron oxide content. Used almost exclusively for making teaware, it plays one of the central roles in Gong Fu tea culture. The umbrella name for all the Yixing clays is Zi Sha, which means "purple mud". The unique mineral composition, the heat retaining properties, and air permeability that allows the clay to "breathe" enable this clay to interact with tea, transforming its taste beneficially when used correctly. In , due to the growing popularity of Yixing teapots and to avoid depleting this unique clay, the Chinese government limited the excavation of clay from these prime locations. Firstly, though mass mining is restricted, some official mining from prime locations is still happening. Second, there is still unofficial mining going on. Thirdly, many manufacturers have stocked up.

This clay is the most porous one and has very good heat-retaining qualities.

This traditional style commonly used to brew tea originated in China , dating back to the 15th century, and are made from clay produced near Yixing in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu. Such teapots soon became popular with the scholarly class , and the fame of Yixing teapots began to spread. In addition to the better known teapots, tea pets , oil and grain jars, flower vases , figurines , glazed tiles , tables, ornamental rocks, and even ornamental waste bins are all manufactured in the community. Yixing teapots are intended for puer , black , and oolong teas. A famous characteristic of Yixing teapots is their ability to absorb trace amounts of brewed tea flavors and minerals into the teapot with each brewing. Over time, these accumulate to give each Yixing teapot its own unique interior coating that flavors and colors future brewings.

If you are on the path of brewing loose leaf teas and learning Gong Fu Cha , you have undoubtedly heard of yixing clay teapots. You start browsing the subject and find bits and pieces of information full of marketing hype, that are often conflicting and leave you even more confused. We hope that this article will help you better understand yixing clay and figure out what type of yixing teapot you need, why you need it, and what to pay attention to when shopping for one. Please keep in mind that this is a vast subject with many intricacies, and we cannot cover all of them. To get a more profound and better understanding, do your own research, experiment, compare. It's a compound clay rich in minerals such as kaolin, mica, quartz and has high iron oxide content. Used almost exclusively for making teaware, it plays one of the central roles in Gong Fu tea culture. The umbrella name for all the Yixing clays is Zi Sha, which means "purple mud". The unique mineral composition, the heat retaining properties, and air permeability that allows the clay to "breathe" enable this clay to interact with tea, transforming its taste beneficially when used correctly. In , due to the growing popularity of Yixing teapots and to avoid depleting this unique clay, the Chinese government limited the excavation of clay from these prime locations.

Chinese yixing clay teapot

This traditional style commonly used to brew tea originated in China , dating back to the 15th century, and are made from clay produced near Yixing in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu. Such teapots soon became popular with the scholarly class , and the fame of Yixing teapots began to spread. In addition to the better known teapots, tea pets , oil and grain jars, flower vases , figurines , glazed tiles , tables, ornamental rocks, and even ornamental waste bins are all manufactured in the community. Yixing teapots are intended for puer , black , and oolong teas. A famous characteristic of Yixing teapots is their ability to absorb trace amounts of brewed tea flavors and minerals into the teapot with each brewing. Over time, these accumulate to give each Yixing teapot its own unique interior coating that flavors and colors future brewings. It is for this reason that soap is not recommended for cleaning Yixing teapots, but instead, fresh distilled water and air drying. Many tea connoisseurs will steep only one type of tea in a particular Yixing teapot, so that future brewings of the same type of tea will be optimally enhanced.

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As long as someone comes to ask for tea to drink, he would treat them with hospitality. We often receive emails in which the owner of a pot asks to identify the antique zisha teapot and estimate the age. This article needs additional citations for verification. Also, as mentioned above, some teas may benefit more from being brewed in porcelain, glazed teaware, glass, or even in silver teapots. For example, a round teapot will give ample room for the tightly rolled Taiwanese oolong leaves to open up fully. We hope that this article will help you better understand yixing clay and figure out what type of yixing teapot you need, why you need it, and what to pay attention to when shopping for one. After a new pot is open, it is used to make tea, every day, and the teapot can be washed with waste tea. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. You may wonder: "How can such a small teapot be practical? Another critical factor is the level of firing. The sames leaves can be resteeped for up to 14 times. If you absolutely must, you may use baking soda, but better if you don't , you can safely brew various teas in it without afflicting their tastes on each other. Made to a design virtually unchanged since the Ming dynasty, the Yixing Clay Teapot is the ultimate way to brew your speciality Chinese teas.

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Our teapots come with marks that refer to the artist who made them. Wash teapot with clean water. Jet head and jet consistency. We recommend switching to Edge, Chrome, Safari, or Firefox. Your cart is empty Continue Shopping. Retrieved 11 January The umbrella name for all the Yixing clays is Zi Sha, which means "purple mud". When tea is poured, the water column should be smooth and arc-shaped. Therefore, the below estimates of shipping times have been provided by our couriers. Watch the video below to see how Yixing clay teapots are fully made by hand:.