Names of the various areas on a teapot

the wall * the mouth* the flow* the filter* the belly* the bottom*

the air hole* the stem* the lid* the shoulder* the grip* the handle* the Chuanzhu (teapots without a Chuanzhu are called Dizhou, for teapots with Zhuding they are called Dingzhu)

（ 1） Beauty

（ 2） Quality: The material structure is strong, and the color is glossy.

◎Determining through sounds

1.       It is good when the sound is light and crisp.

2.       The heat transmission is slightly poor if the sound is dull, or lacks strength.

3.       If the sound is high and sharp, the teapot will be hard to control when it is overheated.

（ 3） Teapot smell: Tile smell… this smell can be eliminated.

Burnt smell or mixed smells (e.g. grease smell, artificial paint smell)… this type of teapot is unacceptable.

（ 4） Preciseness: the tightness between the teapot lid and teapot body.

1.       When the teapot is filled 1/2 ~ 2/3, and the hand is used to press the air hole, the water will not drip out when poured.

2.       When the teapot is filled 1/2 ~ 2/3, and the hand is used to press the flow hole and the body of the teapot is inverted, the teapot lid will not fall.

(5） Water outlet: Whether the water outlet is considered good or bad is determined by the “flow” design.

◎ Testing methods:

1.       It is good if it does not allow the teapot to drip.

2.       If you can see the length of the water stream, the longer the “collected water section,” the better.

（ 6） Center of gravity: does the teapot feel comfortable when lifted by the hand?

1.       It is related to the curvature and thickness of the teapot handle.

2.       Is the point of force located at the gravity center of the filled teapot?

◎ Testing methods:

1.       Fill the teapot around 3/4 full, pick it up horizontally and slowly pour out the water, it is good if it feels comfortable, if you need to use a lot of strength or it feels unstable then it is not good.

2.       ”Half floating water method”: Placing the dry teapot lightly on the water, if it can take half a liter of water, it is called “water balanced.”

（ 7） Appropriate: It is best when the characteristics of the teapot match the tea being used.

Higher sound frequencies are more suitable for brewing aromatic teas, such as: Qing tea.
Lower sounding teapots are more suitable for heavily flavored teas, such as: Oolong or Tieguanyin.

• Red clay: Resistant to high temperatures, has strong polymerization, and high water absorption.
• Purple sand: Compared to red clay, it is less tolerant to high temperatures; it has low water absorption, and strong polymerization.
• Black purple sand: Highly stable and can be combined with any clay.
• Iron sand: Large particles that are uneven, resistant to high temperatures, water absorption rate (black purple sand) higher, and low polymerization.
• Original clay: Earlier form of yellow mud, it is an earlier period mud material.
• Yellow mud: It is only easy to use, all other aspects are poor, but it has the best polymerization.
• Blue Mud (Benshan Green mud): Thin with high heat dissipation.

 Kiln temperature within 1300 degrees → Ceramics 
Above 1500 degrees → Porcelain

• Carved decoration: Kiln carving is a higher skill. Right 45 degrees and left 15 degrees, left 15 degrees and right 45 degrees. Two-knife carving method.
• Stamped decoration: The teapot uses stamped patterns.
• Glazed decoration: No permeability (used generally with porcelain).

(1） The goals of processing a new teapot:

1.       Eliminating the earth smell: Eliminating the toxins produced in the teapot production period and the original smell of the clay.

2.       Wax removal: In order for the teapot to look more lustrous, the fastest way is for the tea merchants to quickly cover the surface of the teapot with a layer of wax, but this layer of wax is unhealthy to the body, and will affect yang hu (teapot raising).

◎ Using the level of wax to observe the level of the teapot: paraffin (the standard) – car wax - Vaseline

◎ If the appearance of the teapot is shiny, it may be because of the following reasons:

1.       Enameling

2.       Waxing

3.       Water polishing

4.       Polishing: Divided into before entering the kiln and after entering the kiln.

（ 2） The process of teapot brushing:

1.       Teapot brushing: Using a loofa, or toothbrush with dishwashing liquid, toothpaste, or tea, and cleaning the teapot from inside out. ( Usually brushed for 1-3 hours)

2.         Teapot boiling: Using tea with the same fermentation level to boil the teapot, the price and amount of tea used is not limited. Using low fire to boil the teapot for one or two hours, allow it to dry and absorb, and then brushing it again.     

3.        Before placing it into the pot, first slowly testing the temperature, when boiling the teapot, the water added needs to be hot water.  
The standard temperature of the teapot is 70 degrees Celsius (referring to water temperature)

（ 3） Processing a molding teapot

1.       Boil hot water, and then cook it for around 10 minutes.

2.       Pick it up and use hot water to brush it clean.

3.       Use clean water to cook it again around 10 minutes.

4.       Do not use cold water with the teapot when cooking.