Duidui's Teaware: Jesse's Story
My tea guy Duidui has been my tea guy since 2012 and is famous amongst followers of the channel for getting us some of the best teas on the shop.
As a tea guy himself sourcing top-quality tea for over 20 years, it's not surprising he would also care a lot about his tea equipment.
Duidui's teaware series includes three pots, two types of cups, and a fairness pitcher, all of which were designed over the course of a decade. Duidui works with artisans to design tea ware, do a production run, and re-approach the project when sold out to make improvements each time.
His tea philosophy is baked into the whole series of pieces: Quality materials and workmanship; easy utility and no-fuss-teamaking over fancy gimmicks, and clean, simple aesthetic.
Every time I visited him in China, I loved the tea ware he used, and I am glad to be able to host it on our teahouse website. These products are not available anywhere else outside of China!
Are these "Zisha" or "Purple Clay" pots?
Duidui's pots are not master-produced purple clay pots. They are quality earthenware material, made by experts, and finished by hand, but are not made with super rare materials or matched one-to-one with artists' certifications. True Purple Clay pots will not be available at this price point.
These pots are made for easy, simple, beautiful teamaking at a reasonable price with accessible materials.
Their finish is made by adding bamboo ash into the kiln, which creates distinct patterns on the surface as well as hardening into glaze. Be aware that each piece is slightly different depending on its position in the kiln and may vary slightly in pattern from the sample pictures - they are all unique!
How to Choose a Teapot
This pot can be a good choice for both new and experienced teapot collectors.
Newer Collectors:
A good teapot is a piece of functional art. When on display, they look amazing; when used, they should make good tea.
While the type of teapot can effect the flavor of the tea, I personally think newer tea friends should not over-worry about maximizing specifics teas to specific pots, since it can get expensive and confusing quite quickly.
Instead, focus on finding a pot that you think fits your normal tea-making practice, is a good size and shape, with a focus on quality workmanship instead of rare, expensive materials. This series is an excellent fit for those use cases.
Intermediate/Experienced Collectors:
Clay-interior pots, like the tall fisherman and round fisherman pots, are great for holding heat and brewing teas like pu'er, black teas, and aged teas, like aged white teas.
They hold heat well and absorb tea energy through the pores of the pot, which makes them ideal as "dedicated teapots" for certain types of tea. Try using one as a "aged white only; raw pu'er only; shou pure only" type pot!
Porcelain pots, like Duidui's mini-kyusu, are not porous and create a more standard brew for all types of tea. It is a good fit for individual or two-person tea sessions, especially for situations where you need to travel with a good, small, lightweight teapot.
Bundle and Save!
Save $10 off this teapot and another $10 off a 250g cake of Duidui's Sakura Cloud Sea Laobanzhang White Tea by buying this item as a combo!
Go to the drop-down menu to select the teapot + tea cake option.
Check out the entire Duidui's Teaware Series Collection for more great tea things!
