Yixing Teapots

What makes Yixing teapots special? Yixing teapots do not need to be glazed beacuse they are made of a special clay (called purple sand) also called 'zisha' found near the city of Yixing in China. Yixing teapots are considered ideal for brewing tea because the tea is more likely to taste rich and mellow due to the teapot being porous, retaining its full flavour because the base clay is odourless. Other special attributes of Yixing teapots is their ability to retain heat. The low shrinkage rate of Yixing clay allows the skillful potter to make a closely-fitting lid that inhibits oxidation, thus keeping the tea's flavour. If you want to get the best flavour out of your tea, ideally you should dedicate each Yixing teapot to one type of tea and not to mix them - brewing all white teas in one, green tea in another etc. The Yixing teapot should be always washed just by rinsing it in water without any detergents. The idea being, the longer it is used, the teapot will get a layer of patina inside and also get more lustrous surface. All of our Yixing teapots are packed in sturdy decorative boxes which make them ideal as a gift. The boxes may be also used for storage of the teapot.