Quality: The pot has been fired at a high temp and made of good quality clay as it gives off a good metallic "ping" when tapped with it's lid. The surface is matted and smooth with no blemishes which gives in a "silky" feeling when rubbed. The teapot hints that it has been shaped with a hand tool as you can see outward scraping lines. When heated with boiling water, the smell is like that of "hot stones". I am satisfied that this teapot is made with good quality Duan-ni. Phew!
Insulation: This teapot is able keeps the water hot much longer than a ceramic Gaiwan especially when it has been heated up. This characteristic is important when I am trying to extract every ounce of flavor from the tea leaves after 4 - 5 steeps.
Pouring performance: The water flows out in a nice small stream from it's spout with little or no drip. However 1 or 2 drops of tea does leak from the lid seal when emptying a full pot of tea. The teapot is still air-tight as I can stop the flow by covering the hole at the cover. I give it a 7 out of 10, deducting a point for the minor lid leak.
Brewing: I dont think this pot is suitable for my High Mountain Oolong Tea as it seems to "absorb" the subtle flavors leaving me with a flatter and slightly bitter tasting Oolong. However it does bring the best out of my High Grade Long Jing Tea as I find that the smell of the "Hot stones" compliments the flavor of the Long Jing nicely. Yixing has more even heating compared to the porcelain Gaiwan, thus teas steeped in a Yixing Teapot is more rounded and has more body especially for stronger tasting teas.
Overall: I am extremely pleased with this little teapot of mine. Aesthetically, quality, construction and Performance, it scores high. I give it an overall 8/10
Enjoy the pictures below and let me know if you found this review helpful.
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