YiXing teapots (pronounced "ee-shing") attained renown throughout China and Europe. Although the Europeans strove to imitate the YiXing teapots, they could not compete with the unique purple clay only found near YiXing, China

PURPLE CLAY (ZISHA)

Purple clay's unique poperties make it ideal for brewing tea. The quality most immediately apparent is the attractive color of purple clay. This color, sometimes augmented by natural pigments, is never hiden on YiXing teapots by glazes. Similarly, the inside of YiXing teapots are always left uncoated. The porous nature of purple clay absorbs the flavor, smell, and color of the tea that is brewed in it. Over time, YiXing teapots develop a seasoning from repeated use, making the tea brewed from a well used teapot a special treat. For this reason, most people will dedicate a single flavor of tea to a specific Yixing teapot, so that the seasoning is not disrupted by cross-brewing.

People from the US and Europe today are often surprised by the size of YiXing teapots. Most Westerners are more familiar with large teapots that are used to brew tea for numerous people at a time. Although there are certainly plenty of larger teapots for social brewing, YiXing teapots are intended for individual use, producing 1-2 servings of tea.

All of our teapots are certified to be lead free, and since no glazes are used on the teapots they are free from chemicals that one might find in other teapots.

On the bottom of all YiXing teapots, there is a mark that identifies the artist who made the teapot (like a signature). This mark is called a chop mark.