This is a handmade pot with a green spiral, feather pattern. It is a really unique style pot which is why it caught our eye. If you would like to brew in clay for a larger group of people (or to make yourself a larger serving of tea) then this pot is ideal.
It has a clay filter so that the entire brewing process is done purely in clay without any plastic or stainless steel.
Made from red clay which is baked in low oxygen to turn the outside a rich dark colour. The Tokoname clay is unglazed and rich in minerals (the low oxygen baked black clay tends to be higher in Hematite). In our experience, Tokoname clay is less porous than Yixing and similar to high fired Chaozhou clay which means that it will season very slowly. Therefore it is not a big deal for you to mix different tea types in the pot - it will season but it will be very subtle so it depends how purist you are! The mineral rich content does affect the body and taste of the tea, making it slightly smoother and rounder.
This pot is great with all kinds of tea. Of course the Japanese greens take center stage but you could brew almost any tea type. However, because it is a clay filter we would say that Fukamushi (deep steamed tea which breaks up into smaller particles) will need you to pour through another fine mesh filter when serving.
Seasoning and washing your Teapot
It is generally not necessary to season Tokoname teaware in the same way as Yixing clay. You can follow the same instructions as Yixing but really all that you have to do is rinse this pot in boiling water a few times and then begin brewing. If you would like to speed up the very subtle seasoning of Tokoname clay then you can leave your chosen tea type to brew for 15 minutes in the pot every so often.
As always with clay teaware, do not use any detergents! To clean, all then you have to do is thoroughly rinse out the tea leaves and leave to dry with the lid off.
