Many people curious about owning Yixing teapots, one of the many traditional types of teapots available at our store, may be wondering how best to clean them. Since they are made of Yixing clay (also known as purple/zisha clay), they require a special cleaning process. To make things easier for you, Tao Tea Leaf has provided the essential steps, as well as a couple of optional ones which you may feel free to skip.

Before using a new teapot, it is important to clean it in order to prepare it for your tea of choice. Naturally, the handcrafted clay absorbs and retains some of the smell and flavour of the tea after each use, a property which makes each tea ceremony more enjoyable than the last. However, this means that each teapot should only be used to steep one kind of tea.

Luckily, this cleaning technique can also be used to "reset" a teapot so that it can be used for a different kind of tea; for example, a teapot used for light oolong teas such as Tie Guan Yin and Jade Oolong can be reset to become a teapot for green tea, for dark oolong teas, or for any of the many varieties we have available, if you just follow these instructions:

 

Boiling the Teapots (Recommended)

Select a boiling pot that is large enough to contain your teapot(s) submerged in water. Make sure the boiling pot and lid are very clean and have no oil. Never use soap, cleansers, or scrubbing brushes on your Yixing teapots.

Carefully place your teapots in the boiling pot with their lids off and fill it with water until the teapots are all submerged. If you have a clean cloth, you can wrap the teapots to protect them from damage during the boiling.

Set the stove to "boil" and wait until the water reaches a rolling boil.

Once a full rolling boil is reached, set the stove to "simmer" and wait for the boil to slow down. When the water is boiling gently, set a timer for 30 minutes.

After the 30 minutes are up, turn off the stove and leave the teapots in the boiling pot with water to let them cool gradually. Cooling the teapots too quickly may damage them.

 

Cleaning the Teapots with Tofu (Optional)

Note: The following process is only necessary for newer teapots that have a clay-like smell.

Many tea drinkers find that tofu is excellent at ridding a teapot of any odours. First, fill each teapot with plain unflavoured tofu. Place the teapots in the boiling pot, fill it with water, boil, simmer, and cool as before.

 

Treating the Teapots with Sugarcane (Not Recommended)

Some teapot owners believe that using sugarcane can bring moisture and a blush to Yixing teapots. In our experience, we found that this process does not affect the moisture or shine of a teapot. The steps are the same as with tofu, but using sugarcane instead.

 

Seasoning the Teapots (Recommended)

This process is used to enhance the relationship between the teapot and tea. Each teapot should be boiled individually along with the tea to which you wish it to be bound. After placing a teapot in the boiling pot with water and the tea leaves, proceed as with the previous two examples.


Now your Yixing teapots are clean! Use them in good health and with good company. :-)