Yixing Zisha Mini Teapot, 160cc— Small Eggplant Form, Unglazed Mineral Clay

One Pot, One Tea

A zisha pot is not a neutral vessel. The clay is unglazed and faintly porous, so it takes in a whisper of every tea you brew — which is why serious drinkers keep one pot for oolongs, another for puerh, and never cross them. This one is sized for that habit: 160 cc two small cups at a time, brewed often.

The form is the classic small eggplant — a round body on a short foot, straight spout, lid that seats with a soft click. Nothing ornamental. The design has survived four centuries because it works.

What You Get

• Yixing zisha teapot, small eggplant form —160 cc

• Clay: Raw-ore purple clay

• Built-in ball filter at the spout: No

The Clay, Plainly Stated

Real zisha is mined around Yixing and fired unglazed — the color you see is the clay itself, not a coating. This pot is raw-ore zini (purple clay), single-mine, no additives.

How to Brew

1. First use: rinse with boiling water, inside and out. No soap — the clay takes up scent, and you want the first one to be tea.

2. Warm the pot, add leaf, fill just off the boil, and pour the first rinse over the closed pot.

3. Steep short — 10 to 15 seconds at the start — and pour to the last drop every time.

4. Keep this pot for one tea family. The seasoning is the point.

Care

Rinse with hot water only; never soap, dishwasher, or microwave — soap lives in the clay forever. Empty it after use and let it dry with the lid off; a sealed damp pot grows a smell no rinse will remove. Avoid cold-to-boiling jumps, and handle the spout like the first thing you would break, because it is.

A Note on Natural Clay

Zisha is fired, not molded by machine to a single finish: tone shifts between batches, the surface carries fine sand flecks, and the lid fit is finished by hand — a new lid may lift with a slight drag that settles after a week of use. That is the material, not a defect.