As always, making new shapes of pots takes much longer than expected and this shape and clay has taken longer than most.
The shape is based on a Qing Dynasty pot also, We also were searching for a new batch of hongni clay for this pot and finally settled on a batch of Hongni original ore first, now we make a batch from Zini original ore to offer as well.
This Zini original ore came from a high quality aged zini clay, called Zhong Cao Qing, from Yixing's Huanglongshan. It was collected in the early 2000's by someone who deals with small batches of original ore. He stone ground and processed it without any additives (other than water!). This works very well for puerh, wuyi yancha and fermented teas., slightly rounding the rougher edges, bringing fuller mouthfeel while still allowing the character of the tea to shine.
This pot is half-handmade - we created a form for the body and lid to allow the potter to recreate these shapes accurately and with regularity. This also helps to keep the price down a lot more than fully-handmade pots. The walls are medium-thin and the pour is fast and smooth.
