Unparalleled Craftsmanship: Unglazed Porcelain Teaware

We are very excited to be carrying a limited quantity of unglazed porcelain teaware at our retail store in Kansas City. In our opinion, unglazed porcelain is unmatched in both aesthetic beauty and ability to produce the best tasting tea.

Production of unglazed porcelain teaware begins with sourcing only the very purest and highest grade clay (Kaolin) from mountain mines that feels moist and smooth to the touch, similar to candle wax (lower quality clays will produce a final product that has a texture of sandpaper). The clay is then worked to a desirable consistency and placed in a mold for 4-7 days. It is then removed from the mold and smoothed out using a brush and water before being fired at 2200 to 2500 F.

Unglazed porcelain teaware is perhaps the most difficult and expensive type of teaware to produce. As mentioned above, it first requires sourcing of the highest quality clay. In addition, the failure rate when producing unglazed tea ware is anywhere from 30-50%, due to various circumstances. Sometimes the clay does not set properly in the mold and must be thrown out. Other times the teaware gets chipped during the shaping and smoothing process and must be thrown out. Occasionally the pots are melted in the kiln and come out looking like a candle rather than a teapot.

So is all the effort worth the trouble? In our opinion, no other material makes a more flavorful and smooth cup of tea! The key factor of the teaware made from top of the line clay, is that it is unglazed, meaning that it is porous. Just like cooking with cast iron, the porous material allows the teaware to soak in the flavor of the tea over time, essentially seasoning the teaware. This means that typically you will use one type of tea with an unglazed porcelain tea pot, as it will absorb the flavors of the tea over time leading to a smoother, cleaner brew every time that you use the pot. In addition, unlike other unglazed pots such as yixing, unglazed porcelain can be used with any type of tea, including white tea!

Using an unglazed porcelain teapot is very simple. First, pick one type of tea that you would like to use. Since the tea pot will absorb flavors, you don’t want to switch between different categories of teas as this will impact the flavor profile. Next, rinse your new tea pot once or twice with boiling water to sanitize and remove any porcelain dust. Then you can begin using your new tea pot just as you would any other tea pot. The only difference is that to clean the tea pot you will just sanitize with boiling water. Do not use soap or put the teaware in the dishwasher as the soap and detergent will be absorbed by the porcelain.