With great excitement last week, I purchased my first Yixing Teapot and teacups. After a great deal of research as well as conversations with Jo from YaYa House of Excellent Teas and Jason from Bearsblog, I discovered that I still have a lot to learn.
Jason sent me some great information to use as a guide when purchasing Yixing Teaware. In addition, he provided supplemental information for use as guidance to determine if previously purchased Yixing Teaware is fake or phony. I give Jason all of the credit for the remainder of this article. It is his wisdom and knowledge reflected below.
I asked the question… “How do I know if my Yixing Teaware is authentic?” To wit the response, while quite detailed, provided clear guidance…
Many pottery traditions exist in Taiwan, some homegrown, some imported from China and Japan. Beware of Taiwanese synthetic stoneware pots that resemble the classic shapes and colors of Yixing pots. These pots are not to be confused with shino/anagama pots (resemble Korean and Japanese stoneware), homegrown Taiwanese volcanic stoneware (which come in colors not similar to Yixing clay), or soft-glazed new long-quan-style celadon, which is usually sky blue, white, or green.
Taiwanese and Chaozhou clay teapots tend to look very similar. Rather than hand-building with stamp-cut patterns, most Taiwanese and nearly all Chaozhou potters wheel-throw the teapot body, resulting in many small concentric circles on the inside of the pot, much like the interior of clay kyuusu. This is probably the easiest way to tell that a pot is not yixing.
Additionally, most Chaozhou pots are heavily burnished/polished on the exterior; they look ultra-shiny, almost like they were shined with wax; this is sometimes the case with Taiwan pots, but they also come in a more matte finish. The walls of Taiwan/Chaozhou pots are much thinner than most yixing. Their red color is often similar to that of terracotta, rather than the purple-red or black-red of Yixing. Their green is darker and more synthetic in appearance than the natural green lu ni yixing clay. Often, Chaozhou pots are scraped into black relief, creating floral or dragon patterns.
Lastly, Taiwan/Chaozhou pots often have elaborate, machine-made company stamps on the bottom, often displaying small-font raised text in a big circle around the company chop, rather than the simple chinese chop stamp usually found on yixing. Yixing chops generally have sunken letters instead of raised type.
Yixing pots have thicker walls, often show signs of being scraped with wooden tools–but not concentric throwing lines–and when new contain a fine dust of quartz and mineral at the bottom of the pot. They’re generally not as burnished or shiny, but there are exceptions. Because they’re thicker-walled, they tend to weigh more.
To simplify the matter, a simple test can be conducted to aid in determining the authenticity of Yixing Teaware.
First, pour boiling water in the empty pot and then put the lid on. Next, pour boiling water over the pot. Finally, lift the pot to your nose and smell: sand clay teaware (Yixing and natural stoneware) should smell like hot rocks or hot sand. Chaozhou pots smell like earth. Taiwanese pots smell synthetic, unless made from natural stoneware clay.
This test can also be used to figure out the pour time and make other observations about the pot that can affect which tea you use it for and how you raise it. Is it airtight? Does it dribble? If it does dribble, does pouring slower or changing how you tip the pot (pour from the wrist or the elbow or both) stop the dribble? Does the water collect on the outside of the pot or lid? Dribbling can cause a seasoning stain line from the spout to the bottom of the pot. Where water collects, the seasoning will be heavier. If you want an even patina, wipe the dribble after you pour and wipe the areas where water collects over the pot with a tea-wetted towel after each use.
I am very thankful to Jason for providing this information. I officially have three new pots which I am dedicating one to my Puerhs, one to my white teas, and one to my oolongs. Or maybe one to my green teas. Definitely not my black teas as I don’t drink them as often. WOW! I can’t decided – perhaps I should order two more Yixing Teapots. Until then… Happy Tea Drinking!
Is there anything inherently wrong with non-yixing stoneware? I mean other than when its fraudulently sold as Yixing that is.
Hey Troy!
Absolutely Not! There is nothing wrong with non-yixing stoneware other than when it’s fraudulently sold as Yixing. This all began, because I was specifically on the hunt for Yixing teaware and became increasingly confused by all of the warnings and extreme price variations.
If you are simply looking for a nice teapot that is aesthetically pleasing to you to brew tea, it doesn’t really matter. However, I was looking to re-create the gongfu brewing experience which required the Yixing teaware.
Thanks for visiting and commenting. Hope you return again soon!
I’m discovering your blog and I’m sure I’ll come back soon…
Thanks for this marvellous post! It’s very rare to find a good explanation to figure out whether a teapot is a real Yixing or a phoney one. And all the indications you give about Yixing teapot corresponds to my standards to find a good teapot to brew tea (at which you can add the sound of the lid clicking on the pot).
But is Yixing necessary for a good gongfu brewing? I think what’s really important is a well seasonned teapot reminding a lot a good tea experiences, a teapot with whom your palate have been raised and with whom you know you’ll have a pleasent tea time…
Soiwatter,
Thanks for visiting and sharing. Considering my gongfu brewing is based purely upon what I have read, I cannot say that Yixing Teaware is required. But, based upon everything I have read Yixing Teaware is recommended.
Please visit and comment again soon!
Will you be sharing pictures of your purchases? I certainly hope so.
scrabblequeen,
Absolutely! I have taken the pictures, but I haven’t posted yet.
I second scrabblequeen and would like to see with what you ended up with.
To answer Troy and Soiwatter, there is absolutely nothing wrong with other teaware, if you want it and don’t buy it under false impressions. Jason’s extremely good tips are just a very helpful guide to prevent disappointment.
To clarify the issue that seems to be underlying these questions: Yixing ware is NOT required for gong fu tea (in fact, many people use ceramic gaiwans for their gong fu). The advantage of Yixing teaware is that it can add another dimension (or call it depth if you want) to the tea experience. It can make a tea softer or bring out subtleties missed with other teaware. But you can do a really low-key gong fu with a mug and a strainer, if you wish. Purists probably wouldn’t call it gong fu, but to me, the spirit is as (if not more) important to the ceremony as the teaware involved…
Jo,
Thanks for your insight. I cannot wait for the opportunity to try gongfu brewing. It just seems like it takes time – which I tend to be short on.
If you have a technique that you prefer when gongfu brewing, please share.
Handmade zhu ni pots have a joining line on the inside of the teapot that you can feel with your fingers and it is visible too, and they have a stamp on the inside of the walls, it is put there while the walls are not joined yet, and they have very little to no smell, other zisha can smell like hot rocks on sauna, a very pleasent smell.
I don`t know the science behind these teapots, but believe me they do magic, some zisha reduce astringency, some bring out better aroma than a gaiwan, some smoothen the taste, and I like teapots because I always skip using the faircup, I pour directly to the cups to maximize the heat, the tea tastes better this way, and it goes faster, with some puerh that resist more than 20 infusions the easy way is to use the most simple setting, so I skip faircup and sniffing cups.
Dear Teaescapade, do you know where we can buy authentic Yixing teaware in the U.S.? Thank you.
Michael,
I am not an expert on where to purchase authentic Yixing teaware. I went to numerous websites before I made a final decision, but can only hope that I made a good purchase. I had a good experience from the site where I purchased my teaware and can only assume they are authentic. There are a few tea companies I would recommend you visit – Rishi Tea, Hou De Asian Fine Art and Tea, Necessiteas (this is where I purchased my Yixing teapots).
I hope this helps. Good luck on your search!
Hi!
Would you say this is an authentic Yixing just by the look of it?
Thanks for a great blog!
/Niklas
I am also doing some research on Yixing teapot. According to a pottery expert on a Chinese website, he recommended a trick that can help to verify the authenticity. Pour small amount of water on the body of a teapot and then observe. A well-made Yixing teapot, because of the porous nature of the Zisha clay that it’s made of, will slowly absorb the water; whereas water will only quickly roll down from the fake teapot in droplets. Also after pouring boiling water in a previously dry Yixing teapot, it will often start to make small cracking sounds.
Anyhow, I’m waiting for my Yixing pot to arrive. (fingers crossed) And then we’ll see…