I bet this one caught your eye!
This Zhuni Yixing clay pot has one of the most beguiling shapes - tall and cylindrical with a stout little spout and a curvaceous handle. It just whispers 'brew with me' whenever we spot it on our shelves.
But the pot is not just a unique looker, it also ticks so many practical boxes.
Firstly, it is a petite 75ml pot, perfect for those solo brews with precious tea to get the richest brews out of fewer leaves. It is unusual to find so many pots of this size in Yixing.
Secondly, the vertical space is perfect for all kinds of tea shapes - giving enough room for expansion while hugging the leaves to prevent over-dilution.
Lastly, the clay is effective. Zhuni is one of the most dense clay in Yixing Zisha allowing it to preserve more of the high notes in a tea. But sometimes the effect of Zhuni is too subtle and we only select clays (usually aged) which add thickening and rounding effects.
I personally prefer to use Zhuni for Oolongs, from Taiwanese 'Greener' Oolongs to Dancong Phoenix Oolongs and deep-roasted Yancha. The clay rounds out some of the edges of these teas but allows the fragrances to sing, unlike many other clay types like Zini or Duanni.
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.
