Description
 
Yixing Zisha Zhu Clay Zi Piao Teapot (Zi Ye Style) (165ml)
 
This teapot is handmade using zisha Zhu Clay ( 朱泥 ). Zi Piao means stone scoop (石瓢), it is one of the eighteen styles created by Manson. This Zhu clay Zi Piao is high fired at 1040-1060 degree Cel. This Zi Piao is simple without any luxurious engraving nor decoration. It is perfect for a new tea drinker who is gonna explore the Yixing Zisha Pot world.
 
"Red" is the classic color of the Chinese. In ancient times, it was called "Zhu". It is a noble and elegant color.  Zhu Clay is a delicate and smooth which has fascinated countless pot lovers. Zhu Clay is actually a kind of red clay but with higher density and is produced from the bottom layer of clay soil. The minerals are mostly white, light yellow and golden yellow. After firing, It is like cinnabar, crimson red, hence regarded as Zhu clay.
 
The biggest difference between Zhu Clay and other purple sand mud is that it has higher clay to sand ratio which makes the pots having small pores, and relatively lower gas permeability, which is very effective for retaining aroma (good with highly fragrant teas: oolongs / raw puerhs). The shrinkage rate of drying and firing is large. The overall shrinkage ratio can reach about 25%, and the ratio of firing shrinkage is very easy to deform. Therefore, Zhu Mu has been mostly used for small pots.
 
This teapot holds approximately 80ml (+/- 5ml) and features a ball filter and tight-fitting lid. The walls of this teapot are relatively thin, but it allows for a very stable and comfortable hand feel that has to be experienced to fully appreciate.
 
Zisha (‘purple sand’) describes the reddish-brown color of the sedimentary soil which settled in ancient lakes and is now buried deep underground. The clay is compressed under heavy sedimentary rock formations throughout the Yixing region, southwest of Shanghai, in China’s Jiangsu province. Huanglong Mountain near Dingshu township has been the source of high quality purple clay ore for centuries. The mountain itself is rather ordinary – neither grand or pretty – but it is 350 million years old.
These teapots are prized because their unglazed surfaces absorb traces of the beverage and develop a patina, which enhances the taste, color and aroma of fine tea.