At TEAPHOR, I strongly recommend three ways of preparing tea:

1. Gaiwan — the traditional vessel of Gongfu Cha (the art of Chinese tea ceremony), the purest way to appreciate the many layers of flavor in tea itself. From Padawan to master, this is the way!
(Best for tasting the true character of the leaves, light and transparent, ideal for Green tea, yellow tea, delicated white tea, young raw pu-erh, and also for tasting any tea in its most autentic form.)

In a professional tea shop in China, tea is usually demonstrated with a gaiwan, since it does not absorb the taste of the tea but purely reveals it.

2. clay Teapot — Another traditional vessel used in Gongfu Cha. its porus structure allows the teapot to breathe while remaining watertight, giving it excellent heat retention and subtle absorbency.
(Best for a rounder, richer brew with warmth and body, such as oolong, aged raw pu-erh or ripe Pu-erh, and aged white tea.)

The methods Gaiwan and Clay teapot are wonderfully flexible, allowing you to experience the full character of the tea again and again. With each infusion, you can discover new layers — the pre-tone, the mid-tone, and the lingering after-tone. What I love most is the sense of freedom: I can control the steeping time as I wish, making the tea lighter or stronger. If one infusion feels too light, I can deepen the next; if it comes out too strong, I can soften the following one. It’s not like the traditional way of brewing a big pot, all at once, where one mistake ruins everything and makes you nervous.

3. Simple infusion as a tea base — from which we create:

– Rich, flavorful milk tea.

– Vibrant, refreshing iced teas with our original recipes.

(Yes — it’s time to throw away those supermarket tea bags!)

Clay Teapot

In our tea world, it seems that everyone has a clay teapot, especially a famous Yixing teapot.

It is pretty, often placed at the center of the tea setup, yet most people hardly use it. Only by watching an artist craft a Yixing teapot can one truly appreciate the meditation and artistry behind it.

At first glance, it might seem that I am about to wholeheartedly recommend this teapot. But let me be honest about some of its drawbacks:

X Difficult to clean: even with a wide opening, removing all tea leaves takes time.
X Limited to certain teas: unlike a Gaiwan, which works for almost all tea types, a Clay teapot is best suited for specific teas.
X Expensive: a genuine Yixing teapot can cost expensive, even for a basic model.

So why are people so drawn to it?

I always remember a business trip with a French colleague. Air France served champagne in a plastic cup to us. My colleague put it aside, saying, “I cannot drink champagne in this; it tastes like plastic.” At the time, I Couldn’t help laughting at their Meticulous and respectful way of treating the finner things.

Yet the more tea I drink, the more I understand how teaware can affect the experience. Just like the cup shapes the taste of champagne, the right clay teapot shapes the taste, aroma, and overall experience of tea.

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The Science Behind the Clay Teapot

The unique charm of clay teapots lies in their porous structure. Tiny pores allow the teapot to breathe while remaining watertight, giving it excellent heat retention and subtle absorbency.

When boiling water is poured in, the pores expand and contract with heat, helping the tea to steep gradually over multiple infusions.

Tea Taste and Suitable Varieties

Tea brewed in a clay teapot has a rich, full-bodied taste, with flavors gradually unfolding over multiple infusions. The mouthfeel is smooth and rounded, while the aroma develops subtly and lingers pleasantly.

Because of its heat retention and absorption properties, it is particularly suitable for teas that benefit from high-temperature, multiple steepings, such as:

Oolong teas (e.g., Tieguanyin, Da Hong Pao, )

Pu-erh teas (aged raw and ripe)

Black teas (e.g., Keemun, Dianhong, Jinya, Hongyun, Hongyu)

Delicate green or white teas are better brewed in a #Gaiwan or porcelain teapot to preserve their fresh, light flavors.

Yixing Purple Clay Teapots

Among clay teapots, Yixing purple clay teapots are especially celebrated. The raw material, called “rich earth,” comes from the city Yixing, China, and is composed of quartz, mica, hematite, and clay, forming a dual-layer porous structure.

Handmade Yixing teapots are unique works of art:

• teapot is carefully shaped, with attention to proportions, spout, handle, and carved details.
• Over time, Yixing teapots absorb tea flavors, enhancing the taste of future brews.
  (With an ordinary kettle at home, people usually try to remove limescale because it affects taste and cleanliness. But with a Yixing teapot, tea drinkers deliberately let the tea patina remain. Over time, this thin layer of tea residue nourishes the clay, giving the teapot a gentle luster and enriching the flavor of the brew.)

Jianshui (Jianshui Purple) Clay Teapots

Another high-quality clay teapot comes from Jianshui, Yunnan Province.

• Material and firing: Jianshui teapots are made from local purple clay and high-quality high-fire clay, producing a dense yet slightly porous pot. The surface is usually dark purple or black with a natural sheen.
• Flavor and suitability: Tea brewed in Jianshui teapots has a thick, smooth, and mellow flavor, ideal for red tea, pu-erh, and oolong teas. They can also brew green or white teas, though the taste will be heavier.
• Aesthetic style: Jianshui teapots are simple, sturdy, and rustic, emphasizing practicality and natural beauty, contrasting with the refined artistry of Yixing teapots.

A clay teapot, though small, feels weighty in your hand. Its heft and intricate design turn the ritual of steeping, steaming, and pouring into a mindful, almost meditative practice. Brewing a strong tea, you sense the pot’s materiality—the earth itself. Its rough texture, its delicate patterns, its precise lines—all invite a quiet healing. In this simple act, isn’t this precisely the unity of knowledge and action that Daoist philosophy celebrates?

How to Use a Clay Teapot

Here are the most essential steps. (If you’re lazy like me, you can even skip to Step 3 directly!)

Step 1 – Preheat your Teapot

Pour boiling water outside and inside the Teapot, then discard. This removes odors and warms the teapot.

Step 2 – Wake the leaves and heat the cup

Place the right amount of tea leaves inside, Add water at the required temperature into the teapot until it slightly overflows.

• If foam appears, gently skim it off with the lid.

• Immediately pour out this first infusion, Use it to rinse and warm the small teacups.

Step 3 – Brew the tea

Add hot water at the required temperature and volume again, steep for the recommended seconds, then pour into a fairness pitcher (gong dao bei).

From there, serve into small cups to appreciate.
What I always do is heat a large pot of water, and keep it in a thermos, so that I don’t have to heat the water over and over again.

(Optinal step: pour hot water over the outside of the teapot to maintain heat after you add the hot water inside the teapot. – Astep makes you looks like a pro !)

Step 4 – Reinfuse and enjoy

Repeat the process. Some teas give only 6-10 infusions, others more than 20. Continue until the flavor fades.

(For more details, you can watch the video linked below.)

By the way, do you know why the big cup to serve tea into small cups called Gong dao Bei (cup)?

Gong Dao Bei (公道杯) literally means “fairness cup.”

When you brew tea in a gaiwan or Teapot, the first infusion is not perfectly even. The top may be lighter, the bottom stronger. If you pour directly into individual cups, some people may get weak tea and others very strong tea.

To make it fair (公道, gong dao) for everyone, the tea is first poured into this middle vessel (the gong dao bei). From there, it is evenly distributed into small cups.

This simple act reflects the tea philosophy of equality and balance: no guest receives better or worse tea; everyone shares the same taste.

So, the gong dao bei is not just practical, it also carries a cultural message — that tea drinking should embody fairness, respect, and harmony.