Chinese Teapots & Tea Sets

The drinking of tea has been an important part of Chinese culture for millennia. The origins of tea are said to date back to 2737 B.C., but the recorded practice of drinking tea dates back to the first century B.C. Since that time, the Chinese have long contemplated and perfected the art of tea drinking. In order to release the perfect flavors in a tea, the Chinese stressed the importance of having a good teapot.

Most traditional Chinese teapots were made of clay. This clay teapot went unglazed and was not universal. High-fired and less porous clay teapots were used for any kind of tea, but ideal for green, white, and oolong teas. Low-fired and more porous clay teapots were only used for black or red teas. Because the clay pots were unfired, the flavors of the tea would intentionally remain within the teapot, enhancing subsequent tea flavors over time.

Quick Facts

• Particularly popular for tea-making is the Yixing teapot. The Yixing teapot is made of purple clay near the Yixing province of China, and was mostly used for black and oolong teas
• In the Tang dynasty, tea became one of the seven essentials of daily life in China
• There are two distinct kinds of Yixing teapots: one made from mud, and one made from the superior “stone” clay. Mud “earth grade” teapots were naturally colored white, and are often artificially colored to look like their darker stone-grade counterparts