Yixing Teapot
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Purple Sand Clay Teapot

An Yixing teapot is the perfect little teapot for brewing your Chinese tea.

Simple and useful for your everyday tea, or artistic and beautiful worthy of a place of honor in your home, this is a teapot to accompany you throughout life.

So choose a teapot and choose a tea!

Find out why this little Chinese teapot needs to be faithful to the tea you choose for it. Discover also why some people feel they need more than one teapot and perhaps you too will start a collection of purple clay pots.

Learn how to take care of your clay teapot and enjoy the cup of tea for a long time.

Where do Yixing Teapots come from?

The Yixing teapots come from China, made with clay, also known as purple sand (Zisha), which comes precisely from the area of Yixing, in the Jiangsu province, China.

This teapot has been used for centuries in China. The clay was first mined during the Song Dynasty (10th-13th centuries). In the Ming Dynasty, in the 15th century, it became the preferred teapot of the scholarly class that used it to serve tea and began collecting them as well.

Today, it still serves tea to many and many are still handmade being praised for the unique porous nature of the clay that lends flavor to the tea.

How to choose an Yixing Teapot?

Picking out an Yixing teapot may be quite a task, because they are so beautiful you may be tempted to want to take every teapot in the shop.

Here are a few factors that could help make your choice a bit easier:

Size

• An Yixing teapot may vary in size according to the number of people you may wish to serve, but traditionally they were made small so that every person could own his or her teapot.


• A small teapot, serving 1-2 persons, will hold about 70ml (2.4oz), and a bigger teapot, serving 4-6 persons, will hold about 225ml (7.6oz).

Shape

• The Yixing teapot can be either round or square, smooth or segmented, abstract or inspired by nature. Some are true works of the imagination. If you are a collector of these pieces of art then just choose whatever pleases you most.


• If you are choosing a teapot for making your tea, then choose one that allows the tea leaves to expand during each brew. And the simplest designs, with no awkward angles also allow for even heat distribution resulting in a better tea.

The Clay

• There are 3 typical colors for the Yixing teapot: red, purple brown or green. The color varies according to the concentration of minerals in the clay. For example, Purple brown has a high concentration of iron.


• The clay is highly valued for its porous quality; this is what allows the teapot to absorb the flavor of the tea over time and at the same time improve the taste of the tea.


• Teapots with thinner clay are good for green, white and oolong teas as this allows the tea to cool faster. Thicker rougher clay teapots are better for brewing black and Pu Erh tea because they will hold the heat longer.

Price

• A handmade teapot is a unique piece of art, filled with history and personality. There will be no other teapot like it and as a result these tend to be priced very highly.


• Cheaper teapots are also available, made not by hand but with modern techniques unique plaster molds. But if you take good care of it, there is no reason for it not to have a long history with you.

How to use your teapot

The most important thing to keep in mind when brewing tea in an Yixing teapot is to always brew the same tea in the same teapot (or at least, the same type of tea in each teapot).

This has to do with the fact that an Yixing teapot has no enamel coating inside to keep it from absorbing the scent and flavor, even the color of the tea.

It is said that with each brewing the teapot will absorb more and more of the tea, so much so that one day, many years after your first cup of tea, you can just pour hot water into your teapot and get a perfect cup of tea with all the aroma and flavor that has accumulated over time.

First time use?

Before brewing your first cup of tea, you should prepare the teapot, also known as seasoning the teapot. Here are a few quick steps to get you going:

• Fill the teapot with water that is at room temperature and let it sit for 4-5 hours before throwing it out.


• Fill your teapot again but this time with boiling water. Let it sit until it cools down to room temperature.


• Now it is time to commit your teapot to the tea it is going to brew. Place some of the chosen leaves inside the pot and pour fresh boiling water inside. Again let it cool and once at room temperature pour the water out.


• Repeat the process by adding boiling water the leaves in the teapot. Once at room temperature, empty your teapot of water and tea and you are done!

Now let s brew a pot of tea!

• Fill your little teapot with boiling water to heat it up and then drain the water.


• Place a teaspoon of loose tea leaves in your teapot and fill the teapot with more boiling water. Quickly drain the water again. This step helps to rinse any dust on the tea leaves.


• For a third time, fill the teapot with boiling water and allow the tea to steep for a minute (or according to the instructions for the specific tea you are brewing).


• Pour into your small enameled tea cups and drink. Repeat the process of brewing your tea and drinking it and enjoy a fresh sip of tea every time.

What teas can be brewed using this teapot?

To keep with the Chinese tradition, choose among the best types of Chinese teas. Here are some interesting suggestions for you:

Remember that each type of tea has its own brewing temperature, so make sure to adjust your technique to your tea.

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How to Care for Your Teapot

This is a delicate teapot and with a little care it can last a long time and give you wonderful tea with each brewing.

Regular cleaning:

• Just remember that your pot will absorb the flavors of anything you put into it. This means thay you shouldn t use soap or detergents to wash it.


• After using your teapot, rinse it with plenty of hot water to make you release any leaves that may get caught in the spout. Stains may appear over time, don t worry it s perfectly natural. Don t scrub your pot, it may scratch the fine clay.
  


• Use a soft towel to pat it dry, which should get rid of most of the moisture.


• Finally, leave it without the lid to dry completely before storing it away.

Store your yixing teapot away from dust and grease.

The Yixing Tea Set

To enhance the tea drinking experience when using your Yixing teapot, consider complementing with other items such as:

• Clay tea cups (complement): great to serve tea in small doses, perfect for quick sipping and tasting your tea always fresh. Some have an enamel interior coating.


• Bamboo tray (should have): considering that the traditional way to brew tea using an Yixing teapot, requires filling and draining the teapot several times, a bamboo tray with box or compartmentto hold the discarded water.


• Purple Clay tray (should have): this tray is an alternative to the bamboo tray. Make sure it contains a compartment to discard the water.


• Fair cup (must have): these little pitchers are used to stop the brewing process by allowing you to drain all the tea from the teapot at once. This way you can take time to sip your tea without fearing it will overbrew in the teapot.


• Tea pet (just for laughs!!!): small clay figurine that decorates the tea table and comes in various shapes: animals, small Buddhas and mythical creatures.

All these pieces can be used together when you enjoy the traditional Chinese ceremony of the Gong Fu Cha.

What teas to brew using this technique? Oolong tea, Pu Erh. Teas that can be brewed with water at high temperatures.

Click on the image or on the link below to purchase from Tea Vivre your Xi Shi Yixing Purple Clay (Zi Sha) Teapot.

This little teapot is made from the purple clay from Yixing in the Chinese province of Jiangsu.

It holds about 150ml of water and is said to be ideal for brewing oolongs, black or pu erh teas. Simple yet perfect for a Gong Fu Cha ceremony

Click on the image or on the link below to purchase from Tea Vivre your Eggplant Yixing Zisha Teapot.

With a whimsical lid resembling an eggplant, this teapot is larger than the previous one, holding about 240ml of water.

This cute teapot is made from the same zisha clay from the Huanglong mines in Yixing, China.

Click on the image or on the link below to purchase from Tea Vivre your Economical Yixing Purple Clay (Zi Sha) Tea Set 12 Pieces.

This Yixing tea set is made from the traditional purple clay from the region, because it is not fully handmade, the set is more economical than the fully handmade ones.

Complete with a teapot (150ml), 8 cups, pitcher, a strainer and a strainer stand, this 12-piece tea set is a great way to start serving your teas in the gong fu traditional way.

Whether you purchase an Yixing teapot for brewing great tea or just out of pure love for a beautiful piece of art, this is a teapot to enjoy for many, many years.

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