Teapot - Zi Sha Purple Clay Pumpkin Shape Teapot

WF0405
Zi Sha Purple Clay Pumpkin Shape Teapot

8.3oz, 250ml 
Origin: China
Clay: Purple Clay of Zi Sha
Matching Tea: All kinds of teas

Zisha teapot:
The origination of Yixing (pronounced Yee-Shing) teapot can be traced back to the Sung Dynasty (960-1279) in Yixing region of Jiangsu, China. This area is blessed to have the best clay to make teapots, including popular Zi-Ni (purple clay), Ju-Ni (red clay), Hei-Ni (black clay) and others, all are called Zi-Sha (means purple clay). The porous nature of clay makes Yixing teapot famous for its breathable character . The inside of teapot is left uncoated for better absorbing the aroma, color, and flavour of tea. The saying one teapot never serve two teas says it all: most of tea connoisseurs have different teapots for different teas. Yixing teapots are generally in small sizes, it's a good idea to have small cups to go with them. But most of Yixing teapots don't come with cups, it is fine to use any other cups. Yixing teapot serves a great personal pot for one person's consuming. Yixing is not the only place make teapots. There are many other regions in China and Taiwan produce top quality teapots. When you choose a teapot, you'll want to understand its material, and first import thing is you like it .

Using: Yixing teapot is great for any style of tea except steamed style green tea (Japanese green tea). You may follow the instruction of tea for the amount of tea leaves. A general idea is if the tea leaf is loosely rolled, such as Baochong Oolong, use up to 1/4 teapot of tea leaves; if the tea leaf is tightly rolled, such as Dongding Oolong, start from 1/5 teapot; if the tea leaf is rolled into tiny tight balls, such as Gunpowder green tea, start from just enough to cover 2/3 of the bottom of the teapot. Starting from smaller amount of tea leaves, adjust according to personal tastes.

 Teapot Cultivating: By dedicating one teapot to one style of tea, the teapot will absorb the characters of that particular tea, and the appearance of the teapot will become warm and polished after regular usages.

Care and clean: Yixing clay teapot is best to be cleaned with water, without any soap or detergent. Allow it to dry naturally. Use the leftover tea to rinse the inside and outside of the teapot, and dry the outside with a soft water-absorbing tea towel.

First Time Using: It is important to have a good start of your Yixing teapot, in Chinese is called Kai Hu (starting teapot). There are many ways to starting a Yixing clay teapot , some are extremely complicated for high valued teapots. We'll introduce a simplest method to start a new or vintage teapot.

1. Brush the teapot in and out with a soft toothbrush, and rinse with warm water.
2. Pour boiled water on the Yixing teapot to do another rinse.
3. Put the teapot in a large pot on oven lined with a soft tea towel to prevent breaking. Immerse it in hot water. put some low grade tea leaves (the kind you are going to use in this teapot) and slowly bring the water to boil for a few minutes. 
4. Wait until it cools down, slowly take out the teapot.
5. Now it is ready for your first infusion.