JAS-eTea

Seasoning your new Yixing teapot is critical to getting the most from your tea drinking experience. These teapots are made of a porous clay and are also not sealed inside or out. The teapot absorbs oils from the infusing tea leaves inside it. By seasoning your teapot, you fill in some of those pores in the clay with tea oils so not as much is absorbed during your infusion process. Over time more and more of these oils build up inside the pores and surface of the teapot, but much of them will stay in the tea liquor, helping the tea taste more flavorful rather than bland.

There are two ways to prepare a teapot for use. One requires boiling the entire pot in water. But unless you are experienced with this process, it is easy to damage the delicate structure of your pot. There is another method that it is both safe and effective and is the one we recommend.

A quick way to season your teapot:

• Pour room temperature water inside your teapot and let it sit for 4-5 hours. This provides an initial soaking of the porous clay of your pot and tends to take away some of the clay taste and smell.
• Pour out that water and refill the teapot with fresh water heated to a boil. Let the pot soak until the water comes down to room temperature.
• Choose the type of tea that you would like to enjoy in your new teapot. [Note: You should use only one type of tea in each Yixing teapot – one for oolong, one for ripe pu-erh, and so on.] Place some tea leaves (approximately 1/4 of the volume of the vessel) inside the pot and pour boiling water inside. Let the water cool to room temperature then pour it out.
• Add water again to the same batch of leaves and let it cool for a second time. Once cool, discard both the water and tea leaves.

Your teapot is now ready to be used.

It is not terribly complicated, but we feel it is critical to enjoying your first infusion from your new Yixing thoroughly. Your pot will actually continue to season as you use it and the patina on your teapot will continue to change and become more beautiful with additional use.

Enjoy and let us know if you have any questions.