Jin Wen Half Moon Yixing Teapot by Masters Gao & Xu's Studio

Jin Wen Half Moon Yixing Teapot // By Masters Gao & Xu's Studio
Half Hand Made in Dingshu Town, Yixing City, Jiangsu Province, China
Approximate measurements:  8cm x 6cm x 6cm 100ml. Ball hole spout.

Small but perfectly formed, with highly experienced skilled craftsmanship and quality original material comes this half handmade teapot. 'Jin Wen’ refers to the symmetrical petal style of this pot, in this instance it is more of a classic fluted style. This Half Moon shape is a meeting of traditional Chinese and Japanese style, evoking the sense of slowing down, focusing on the small rituals and connecting back with the natural world around you. Made from the rarer Jiang Po Ni clay, mandarin orange in tone with finer particulates giving a flowing texture and a lustrous surface. Great attention has been made to show the finer subtleties of this teapot, the fine ball shaped button atop the perfect fit lid, shorter spout and wider, flat base in the body making it ideal for brewing larger leaf teas with plenty of space to unfurl. Together with perfect proportions, even weight and balance with an excellent pouring arch.

Jiang Po Ni clay (Lower slope clay) is a fairly recent and accidental discovery, first excavated in the 1990s during the construction of Taodu road on the lower slope in the Huanglong and Qinglong Mountain areas. A special discovery as the clay was found to be a combination of Zini (Purple clay), Hong Ni (Red clay) and Duanni (Yellow clay) giving it a unique colourful appearance from its mineral rich content. It too has a high porous quality with tiny granular corrugations on the surface, it is intended to, in time, absorb the flavours and aromas from the oils of the tea to further enhance your tea drinking experience. Likewise, in time the outer surface may take on a desirable patina and a subtle shine. For this reason it is often thought to be good practice to brew one type of tea in Yixing teapot. Teas we would recommend for this pot, brewed in a gong fu style matter would be either Dark roasted Oolongs, Sheng or Shou Puerhs, or Black tea such as Jin Jun Mei (Golden Eyebrow). This particular clay has proved faster to season than its counterparts.

Master Gao & Master Xu's Studio was founded in 2000, with a combined experience of more 70 years experience of refining, preparing the clay and skilfully crafting these teapots. Their practice exclusively uses the original Yixing purple clay from Huanglong Mountain and continue to refine and prepare the clay ore material through natural time honoured methods.

‘Half Handmade’ refers to having hand prepared clay slabs, the potter then uses a manual gypsum cast to shape the teapot body, once this is done all other elements, the lid, spout and handle and any decorations are skilfully created and finished by hand.

All our Yixing teapots come with certificates issued by each artist.

Initial Preparation & Care:

Before the first use be sure to rinse your new teapot all over and around throughly with filtered water only, do this several times, then pour just below the boil temperature water into the teapot and rest for 15 minutes. This is referred to as opening the pot. After which your teapot is all ready to go.

Before brewing tea, be sure to warm the teapot with around 50ºc water to prepare the clay, filling the pot and pouring the water over the pot and lid. Then pour away, then give your tea leaves an initial wash to 'awaken' them, opening up ready for brewing, and pour this wash away, then all is ready to brew.

To clean after your tea session, empty all wet leaf from the teapot and rinse with water only, leave the teapot to air dry with the lid removed, dry with a soft towel if required. Remember to wash water only, never with soaps or any other cleaners as the teapot will absorb any chemicals and can taint the teapot. Treat your teapot with the upmost care and you shall be rewarded for years to come.

Brew Guide ~ Gong Fu Style:
Tea 6-8g
Water per 100ml
Temp 85-90ºc
Time 10-20 seconds, increasing with each infusion, adjust to personal taste.

or

Brew Guide For Gong Fu Style
Tea 7-9g
Water/Temp 100ml / 85ºc
Brew time 1st a quick rinse of leaves, pour away, 15-20 seconds + for infusions thereafter
Reinfuse leaves to taste 4 - 6 times +