Description:

茶壶 Tea pot: 13.5cm*9cm

Zisha teapots are very unique to Chinese tea culture and are an essential brewing vessel for gongfu tea. Zisha refers specifically to a special purple clay that originates from Yixing city of Jiangsu province, China. This is also known as a Yixing teapot. 

The Yixing pronounced (E-Shing) teapot was the first vessel designed specifically for brewing tea during the Ming dynasty (1368 – 1644). The first Yixing teapots originated west of Taihu, the great lake in the Jiangsu province around 100 miles from Shanghai. ... Pottery has been produced in Yixing since neolithic times.

Yixing teapots are intended for Pu’er, black, and oolong teas. They can also be used for green or white teas, however, the heat retention characteristics of Yixing make the brewing process extremely difficult; and in such cases, the water must be heated to no greater than 85 °C (185 °F), before pouring into the teapot. 

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 never 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

Yixing teapots are smaller than their western counterparts as the tea is often brewed using the gongfu style of brewing: shorter steeping durations with smaller amounts of water and smaller teacups (compared to western-style brewing). Traditionally, the tea from the teapot is poured into either a small pitcher, from which it is then poured into a teacup that holds approximately 30 ml or less of liquid, allowing the tea to be quickly and repeatedly ingested before it becomes cooled or into several teacups for guests. (Wikipedia)