How To Choose a Teapot
For Gong Fu Cha
by Daniel Lui
with L. Eric Dahlberg
Serious Gong-Fu Cha enthusiasts spend many hours debating the virtues
of their teapots, but there is universal agreement on these four points:
The best tea is made in clay teapots and the best teapots are
made from clay from the Yixing (Yee-jing) area of China
Clay has excellent heat handling properties that significantly
improves the taste of tea when compared to tea made in a glass
or porcelain teapot.
Clay is porous and tea oils build up inside the teapot and over
time, actually improve the taste of the tea
Use only one teapot for each type of tea. Never make different
teas in the same teapot unless they are from the same family or
class of teas, such as green teas or oolongs, but even this is not
ideal as some teas are highly fermented and in time their strong
flavour would transfer to a more delicately flavoured tea.
© 2009 Tat Fat (Daniel) Lui
All rights Reserved. This article may not be reproduced in any manner
in whole or in part without written permission of the author.
How To Choose a Teapot For Gung Fu Cha
Page 2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
THE FOUR MAIN ELEMENTS FOR CHOOSING A TEAPOT ............................................................................. 3
Size .......................................................................................................................................................... 3
Shape & Design ....................................................................................................................................... 4
Quality of Manufacture........................................................................................................................... 6
Quality of Clay ......................................................................................................................................... 6
MORE THINGS TO CONSIDER ...................................................................................................................... 7
Colours & Firing ...................................................................................................................................... 7
Teapot Quality by Pitch ............................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Clay & Oxygen ......................................................................................................................................... 8
Seasoning A New Teapot ........................................................................................................................ 9
Glass & Porcelain Teapots ..................................................................................................................... 10
MORE INFORMATION ............................................................................................................................... 10
CHARTS
Teapot Sizes for Number of People Served ................................................................................................. 3
Teapot Profile by Type of Tea ..................................................................................................................... 4
Shapes of Teapots For Specific Types of Teas ............................................................................................. 5
Grades of Clay ............................................................................................................................................. 7
© 2009 All rights Reserved - Tat Fat (Daniel) Lui
How To Choose a Teapot For Gung Fu Cha
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THE FOUR MAIN ELEMENTS FOR CHOOSING A TEAPOT
Size
Shape & Design
Quality of Manufacture
Quality of Clay
Size
The first thing to consider when looking for a teapot is to select the right size of teapot to suit the
number of people you will be making tea for most of the time. Teapots come in a variety of sizes but for
the most part, the sizes are standardized. Here is a handy way to refer to them:
Teapot Sizes for Number of People Served
Size of Teapot
Volume (ml / fl oz)
(approximate)
Number of
People Served
#1 size
70 / 2.4
1-2
#2
100 / 3.4
2-4
#3
175 / 6.0
3-5
#4
225 / 7.6
4-6
Shopping for teapots can be confusing and the numbers correspond quite well to the number of people
being served. If you usually drink tea alone or with one other person, the #2 size for 2 persons would be
a good start. If a few more people come over for tea, you can simply make more brews. If you have a
favourite tea that you serve often to many guests, consider getting a larger teapot for that tea.
© 2009 All rights Reserved - Tat Fat (Daniel) Lui
How To Choose a Teapot For Gung Fu Cha
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Shape & Design
There is a long standing tradition that certain types of tea should be made in certain shapes of teapots.
The different shapes allow the different types of tea leaves to expand in their own unique way and
maximize their surface area while brewing inside the teapot.
There are basically two profiles of teapots; low profile and high profile.
Teapot Profile by Type of Tea
High Profile
Low Profile
Most Green/White teas
Te Guan Yin (Gun Yam, Chinese Oolong,
Iron Buddha)
Any tea made with “tips”
Taiwan Oolong (High Mountain Oolong)
Pu-Erh
Da Hong Pao
Phoenix
Lap Sang Soo Chong
© 2009 All rights Reserved - Tat Fat (Daniel) Lui
How To Choose a Teapot For Gung Fu Cha
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Here are some traditional shapes:
Shapes of Teapots For Specific Types of Teas
Taiwan Oolong
Green/White Tea
Te Guan Yin (Gun Yam, Iron Buddha, Chinese
Oolong)
Pu-Erh (Bow Lay)
Da Hong Pao (Cliff Tea) & Phoenix Tea
A Decorative Teapot
Collecting interesting looking teapots can be an enjoyable and rewarding hobby but one should not
confuse a good tea-making teapot with a decorative one. Notice that all the shapes above follow very
simple designs. The reason for the lack of ornamentation is because tea is very sensitive to heat and the
best teapots distribute heat evenly. Decorations create different densities in the teapot, which can
create hot and cool spots. Another reason is that for Gong Fu Cha, hot water is poured over a teapot
during brewing and the water will be deflected by awkward angles, creating further hot and cool spots
on the outside of the teapot during brewing.
Your teapot will be your friend for many years so make sure there are no cracks or chips. It should have
a good weight (which is indicative of a good density of the clay) and good balance, be comfortable in the
hand, the handle and lid should fit your fingers, the lid fits precisely in the top opening and the opening
© 2009 All rights Reserved - Tat Fat (Daniel) Lui
How To Choose a Teapot For Gung Fu Cha
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on the top is just large enough to accommodate the size of leaves you will be using. A smaller opening
tends to keep the fragrance of tea in the teapot where a larger opening allows the fragrance to escape.
So tea with small or rolled leaves and high fragrance will benefit from a smaller opening. A larger
opening is better for tea with large leaves and low fragrance.
The spout should be large enough to allow the tea to pour freely. Gong Fu Cha develops the taste of tea
quickly with fast brew times so the hole of the spout needs to be as large as possible to not constrict the
flow of tea being poured, which would make the brew times longer. Check other sized teapots to ensure
the spout is proportional to the size of teapot. Many newer teapots come with a strainer built-in. If your
teapot does not have a strainer, ask to have one inserted into the spout.
Type of Manufacture
Clay teapots are made in one of three ways: handmade, half-handmade and molded. Handmade teapots
are formed into shape by an artist using a wooden paddle. Half-handmade is a combination of paddling
and putting molded pieces together. Molded teapots are a mass-production process of assembling premolded pieces such as the two halves of the teapot and lid and attaching a pre-molded spout and
handle.
There is a certain pride in owning a handmade teapot, especially if it is made by a famous artist. It can
be a collector’s item, especially if it is from the 1980’s or 1950’s or even from the Ching Dynasty.
Knowing antiques requires highly specialized knowledge so only deal with an expert you can trust.
Quality of Clay
Making tea is essentially the process of breaking down the cell walls of tea leaves to release the flavour.
Gong-Fu Cha is just about doing this in a very controlled way to get the maximum flavour consistently
for the maximum number of brews. Too much or too little heat will break down the leaves too quickly or
too slowly for the tea you are making and the flavour will be inconsistent.
So the quality of the clay which holds and distributes heat is a most important aspect of a teapot. There
are 2 basic grades of Yixing clay. The highest grade is unique as it is made from stone, unlike the lower
grade of Yixing clay and other clays which are made from mud. It has a higher metal and mineral content
including iron oxide, kaolinite, quartz and mica which makes it very strong when fired.
Clay has the ability to conduct heat at high temperatures without cracking. Teapots made from more
porous clay and are low-fired are made thicker to hold heat longer which is good for teas such as Pu-Erh.
© 2009 All rights Reserved - Tat Fat (Daniel) Lui
How To Choose a Teapot For Gung Fu Cha
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High-fired teapots for teas such as Oolongs and Green/White teas use a denser clay and will cool faster,
preventing the tea from cooking in the teapot.
Grades of Clay
High Quality Yixing Clay
Regular Quality Yixing Clay
Non-Yixing Clay
Low Quality Clay
High-Fired Clay
Low-Fired Clay
MORE THINGS TO CONSIDER
Colours & Firing
Teapots come in many different colours. In this respect, there are two types: natural colour (which can
be mixed to make other colours) and artificial colour. There are also combinations where natural and
artificial colours are mixed or overlayed with each other in various combinations. Many low quality
teapots use dyes to colour the clay to make them look like higher quality.
Natural colour teapots get their colour as a direct result of the clay and firing temperature. High-fired
teapots have a reddish to purplish colour and low fired teapots are more brown in colour. This should
not be confused with a rare and highly prized Yixing clay called Zisha which is dark purple in colour and
produces deep purple teapots.
There is also a type of teapot called Zhuni (Ju-lee) which is a deep red colour. These teapots are made
over-sized and low fired for a long period of time which shrinks the teapot to size. This process
sometimes yields only 60% of the useable teapots out of an entire batch, so they are quite rare and
© 2009 All rights Reserved - Tat Fat (Daniel) Lui
How To Choose a Teapot For Gung Fu Cha
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expensive. These teapots are so fine and dense that the clay is almost like porcelain and you can see fine
wrinkles in the clay.
The trick is to match the right shape of teapot, type of clay and firing temperature with the right type of
tea. High fired teapots are a must for green/white teas and excellent for use with any type of tea except
compressed tea such as Pu-Erh, which works best with low-fired teapots that use a thicker and more
porous clay. High quality Yixing clay is 3-6 times less absorbant than other clays which helps teapots to
retain the fragrance of teas.
Xxxx THIS WOULD BE A GOOD PLACE TO PUT INFORMATION ABOUT HOW TEAPOTS ARE MADE, THE
FIRING PROCESS AND HOW THIS AFFECTS THE QUALITY OF TEAPOTS xxxx
The Sound of a Teapot
High-fired teapots have a clear and distinct ring like a little bell when you lift up the lid about a quarter
of an inch and allow it to drop gently on to the teapot (make sure you are holding the teapot on the flat
of your hand so it is not damping the teapot in any way).
Teapots used for Pu-Erh tea are thick and made from a more porous clay than other teapots and don’t
have the distinctive bright ringing sound. – but this has nothing to do with the quality. These types of
teapots are selected by an examination of the clay which usually has a rougher texture than teapots
used for other teas.
Older teapots have a distinctive shine from the infusion of tea oils and constant use which can dull the
pitch. New teapots have a similar shine from a wax coating which protects the clay and makes them look
nice on the shelf. (see how to remove this coating below in Seasoning A New Teapot below)
Antique teapots have a history (verifiable or not) and have been infused with tea oils over many years.
They can give a decided “thunk” rather than a clear ring because of the accumulation of oils in the clay
but can still be of the finest quality. But remember, you are in the antique game now so buyer beware!
Clay & Oxygen
As tea is extremely sensitive to temperature, it is also sensitive to oxygen which improves the flavour.
There is considerable discussion among Gong Fu Cha practitioners about the role that clay as a porous
medium plays in oxygenating tea to improve the flavour but I have not attempted to verify this one way
or the other. It is also said that high quality Yixing clay is unique in that it allows oxygen to pass in both
directions through a teapot; from the inside out and from the outside in, unlike other clays that only
© 2009 All rights Reserved - Tat Fat (Daniel) Lui
How To Choose a Teapot For Gung Fu Cha
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allow oxygen to move in a single direction. This may be because of the high sand content in high quality
Yixing clay.
Seasoning A New Teapot
New teapots come with a wax coating to protect the clay and make them look shiny on the shelf (and
also make them look like more expensive antique teapots). This coating must be removed before making
tea. Here’s how to remove the coating and season the clay:
1. Rinse the teapot in hot water and brush vigorously inside and out with toothpaste (which is
gently abrasive) and a toothbrush. Yes you read this right!
2. Put a large pot of water on the stove lined inside with a cloth. The pot should be large enough to
completely submerge the teapot
3. Wrap the lid in another cloth and place in the large pot with the teapot. The cloths prevent
breakage by stopping the teapot and lid from banging against the sides of the pot and each
other when the water is boiling
4. Bring the water to a boil, cover and boil the teapot and lid for 30 minutes
5. After 30 minutes, turn off the heat and allow the water to cool
6. Remove the teapot and lid and rinse thoroughly in warm water
7. Optional - If you really want to season your teapot like a pro, re-fill the large pot with water,
bring to a boil and add 2 – 3 tea-scoops of the tea leaves that you will be using for your teapot.
Turn off the heat, cover the pot and steep the leaves for about 30 minutes to make a strong tea.
Strain out the leaves and any small particles and return the tea to the pot.
Repeat Steps 2 to 6 using this strong tea instead of water. (Straining removes small leaf
particles from the water that can clog the pores of the clay and reduce the teapot’s
effectiveness).
8. Your teapot is now ready to start making tea
© 2009 All rights Reserved - Tat Fat (Daniel) Lui
How To Choose a Teapot For Gung Fu Cha
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Always pour any extra tea you might have over your teapot and give it an occasional polish with a soft
dry cloth. This will help to build up the oils allowing your teapot to create its own unique “taste” and
gives the teapot a nice shine.
If you should ever decide that you wish to use a teapot for making another type of tea, simply re-season
the teapot per the above steps. There may be a break-in period with older pots.
Glass & Porcelain Teapots
Glass and porcelain teapots are “flavour neutral “ and unlike clay teapots, do not change the taste of tea
in any way as their hard surface does not absorb any tea oils and they can be rinsed clean after each
use. These are very good for testing and comparing teas. You might want try a new tea in a glass or
porcelain teapot before you make it in your clay teapot to compare how your clay teapot is affecting the
taste.
If you want to save money or are a traditionalist, you can use the traditional Gai Wan which is an
inexpensive porcelain pot with a lid and base that comes in many sizes and can be used for all teas. Glass
teapots are often used for Green/White and “blooming” teas as they do not absorb the delicate tea
fragrance like clay and you can see the leaves expanding in a pretty display. But a high-fired and high
quality clay teapot is still superior and like all clay teapots, improves the taste.
MORE INFORMATION
For more information about teapots and making Gong-Fu style tea, go to www.realchinatea.com for
articles, links and shopping.
© 2009 All rights Reserved - Tat Fat (Daniel) Lui