Pure Yixing DHP Zhuni pot made in the traditional dragon-egg shape.
This half-handmade pot is crafted from pure DHP Zhuni clay.
Zhuni ores represent only about 4% of the types of ore mined in Yixing.
DHP stands for Da Hong Pao and denotes special-grade ores making up 1% of these Zhuni ores.
In other words, for every 1000kg of Yixing ores mined about 40kg will be Zhuni and 0.4kg would be considered DHP grade.
There is some controversy around any technical definitions to denote DHP grade, but these ores are supposed to be small pieces of ore with higher iron oxide.
I do not want to get involved in the contorversy so let's just say that this pot is made from the higher quality Zhuni ores.
The resulting pot has a bright lustre and granulated texture.
The filter is 9 hole rhombus.
Overall the effects are actually a little more brightening of the mid notes of a tea while providing some slight softening of the bitters. It does not thicken the tea.
I personally prefer to use Zhuni for Oolongs, from Taiwanese 'Greener' Oolongs to Dancong PhoenixOolongs and deep-roasted Yancha. The clay rounds out a little of the edges of these teas but allows the fragrances to sing, unlike many other Yixing clay types.
This pot was crafted using a half-handmade technique. This means that the body of the pot was made by hand using molding tools, rather than machines. Afterwards, the lid, spout, and handle were finished by hand as well. In essence, the pot is indeed handmade, but it is classified as half-handmade because molds were utilized to shape certain parts.
