PRE-ORDER: Heini (Wuhui Dicaoqing) Shuiping Yixing Teapot, 焐灰底槽青小水平壶 80ml

This listing is for pre-orders only. Teapots will ship in October, 2020.

The photos in this listing show the model in dicaoqing clay. This listing is for the model in heini (wuhui dicaoqing) clay. The clay will appear darker, almost black in color. See first photo, lower half for an idea of the appearance of heini (wuhui dicaoqing). More details for the clay and firing process below.

Capacity: Approximately 80ml

This is our smallest Yixing Teapot yet at only 80ml at full capacity!

These classic shuipings were specially designed for our shop by Lin Hanpeng to meet our request for a small Yixing Teapot for solo sessions.

This "heini" or "black clay" Yixing teapot is produced by firing original ore dicaoqing clay in a low oxygen environment in the kiln.

Firing a teapot in a low-oxygen environment is called “wuhui” 焐灰 which can be loosely translated as “smother with ash to fire.” The teapot is stuffed with dry rice straw, placed in a clay box and surrounded with more rice straw before being covered. When it is fired in this way, the straw uses the oxygen when it burns to ash, reducing the oxygen in the clay box while the teapot is being fired. This creates the reduced oxygen environment that gives the clay its black appearance.

You can read our blog entry here to learn more about the reaction that occurs in a reduction environment to give the clay this appearance in our blog post here.

This dicaoqing 底槽青 is original ore zisha (Yixing clay) from Huanglongshan Number 5 Mine. The clay has been aged for around 1 year. This clay is very versatile and is good for use with most kinds of tea.

You can read more about Dicaoqing clay in our blog entry here.

This pot is known as "half-handmade" as the sculptor uses a molding tool to shape the body, and uses his hands for the handle, spout, holes, and smoothing out the body. In fact, no machine was used in it's shaping as the use of the tool is entirely manual.

You can read more about half handmade teapots in our blog entry here.

Preparation Before Use

Yixing Teapots should be prepared before using the first time. This is called "opening the pot". It removes the dust from firing the teapot.

We recommend rinsing the teapot under warm water two or three times, then filling the teapot with boiling water and emptying it out two to three times. After this the teapot is ready for use.