The name ‘Yixing’ comes after the country Yixing in Southern China. This perfectly porous clay is only found in this place in the world. If you were to own such a distinct clay teapot, you’d be certainly interested in maintaining it! A few simple steps need to be followed and the longevity of your teapot is assured.
Step 1: What to get rid off?
Most teapots have a wax coating in order to protect the clay and for it to look shiny & new on the shelf. Its important you get remove this wax coat before you start brewing your tea.
Since Yixing teapots are porous, dust & clay particles get stuck within the pores which need to thoroughly washed away. Hence, a proper seasoning is required before you use your teapot.
Step 2: Washing
Firstly, wash your teapot with warm water and brush it inside & outside using a toothpaste & toothbrush which helps in removing the fine dust & clay particles.
Then cover your teapot & the lid with soft cloth and submerge it in water in a big deep vessel. Keep the lid & the pot separately so that they don’t bang into each other while boiling. It is suggested you cover the teapot with soft cloth so that the cloths prevent breakage by stopping the teapot and lid from hitting the sides of the pot and each other when the water is boiling.
Step 3: Seasoning
This step is optional however if you want to season like a pro, after completing step 1 & 2, re-fill the large pot with water, bring to a boil for an hour adding 2 – 3 tea-scoops of the tea leaves that you will be using for that teapot. It is highly recommended that you use only a single variety of tea leaves for every teapot. You cannot brew multiple types of tea leaves in the same pot since the pores absorb the flavors and may affect the taste of your tea.
Let it dry in sunlight and you ready to begin the brewing!
Source: thechineseteashop.com
