How to Clean Yixing Teapots
Yixing teapots are used exclusively for brewing wulong or green tea. They are small, squat, unglazed clay teapots that are a purplish brown in color. They have a small lid and a small handle on the side of the teapot. Many of the finer Yixing teapots are hand crafted, while others are made by pouring the clay into a type of mold. This mass production of these pots has meant that they are now readily available to almost anyone who drinks Chinese tea and they are often sold with Chinese tea sets. The teapots may or may not have calligraphy or Chinese artwork inscribed into the side of the pot.
The reason that many seasoned tea drinkers prefer these type of pots over the glass or porcelain pots is due to the fact that the porous nature of the clay allow the aroma and flavor of the tea that is steeped in them. This in turn will further enhance the flavor of future tea that is brewed in the pot. Normally, the best type of tea to use when preparing Chinese tea is loose leaf tea as that will give you the best flavored and most full bodied cup of tea.
When cleaning a Yixing teapot it is important to do so in such a way that the teapot is cleaned without hindering or eliminating the wonderful odor and flavor that permeates the clay. Cleaning is very simple. First you should remove the tea leaves from the pot, using tongs to get all of the damp tea leaves out. If any leaves are stuck in the spout of the kettle, you should use a needle type tea accessory to clear the spout.
Once you have all of the tea leaves out, simply rinse the pot out with warm water, dry the outside only with a soft, clean cloth and set it aside to dry out naturally. You may want to leave the lid off so that the inner part of the pot has a chance to dry properly. You should never use detergent or abrasives of any kind to clean your pot. It really is not at all necessary in any case, doing so will only diminish the subtlety of flavors that permeate the clay and may make your next batch of tea undrinkable!
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