Цзытао чайник - Лонг Дан - 120мл

The Perfect First Teapot!

(First, I apologize for the length of this review. I have a lot to say.)
I'm so happy that this teapot is the first Jianshui teapot I purchased. It is everything I could have hoped for! I. Love. This. Teapot.

I also purchased a second teapot, & I will say that the pour spout makes a bigger difference than I would have expected. Depending on the angle of the spout, the tea comes out at a different angle & distance from the teapot. When pouring the second teapot, the tea "shoots" farther than I expect, so I've spilled or had quite a few dribbles as I adjust to the angle. This teapot, though... this teapot is just effortless for me. I pour, the tea comes out as I expect, at the angle I expect, and I have no dribbled tea. It's very nice.

The stream of water is strong & steady. When I finish pouring, there are no drops of tea that run down the outside of the spout. I know we've all had experiences pouring liquids (water, gravy, cream, tea, etc) from spouts that dribble after pouring, leaving you to wipe the lip or risk getting the outside of the vessel/table dirty. Not so with this spout! The outside stays completely dry with no stray drops of tea anywhere (unless you miss when pouring, haha)!

I really appreciate that Siran & Alex include an estimate of the pour time for their teapots. It helped me choose which teapot I wanted, since I like delicate teas which demand short brew times at the beginning. The time is also very accurate to the actual pour time of this teapot (I used a timer out of curiosity).

When I say this lid is a perfect fit, what I mean is there is absolutely no play at all. When I first opened the box, there was a piece of thin tissue paper between the lid and the teapot. I tried lifting the lid, & I thought it was stuck! I applied more force and the lid literally popped off (it made a satisfying 'pop' noise). I was worried I had already broken part of my new teapot, but everything was just fine. Even now, when I finish pouring and want to open the top, the lid sometimes sticks from suction! Outside of storage containers, I've never encountered a lid so perfectly fitted to its vessel.

I was a bit suspicious of the ball filter at first, since I've never used one before (my first teapot, remember?). The holes look pretty large; how is it supposed to stop the tiny bits of broken leaves from getting into my cup? Well, let me tell you, as surprising as it seems, the ball filter works beautifully. It actually works better than my gaiwan, if you can believe it!

One thing I was not expecting was that the handle would have its own maker stamp. Then I remembered reading on the Page of Tea blog (the blog for Yunnan Craft) that different masters will specialize in different parts of teapot construction. Some masters only make spouts (as mentioned above, the spout of a teapot is very important, & a bad spout can make a vessel unpleasant to pour from) while other masters only make handles. I take it as a sign of quality that even the handle has a stamp on it (I could be wrong about that, mind, because I live on the opposite side of the planet).

This teapot is delightful to hold. It fits perfectly in the hand, & the handle is quite comfortable. The smooth, satin finish just feels good when you rub it. The white clay inlay is perfectly flush with the rest of the surface. The painting is ever so slightly raised.

Due to silly online suggestions (I have since learned this is not necessary), I boiled my teapot & lid for 10 minutes. Both were wrapped in a cheese cloth to protect them from getting damaged. They came out just fine. There were no chips or discoloration. The white clay inlay was perfected fine, and the paint didn't change at all.

I debated for several weeks whether I *really* needed a nice jianshui teapot, or whether I should stick to the perfectly serviceable gaiwan I already had. I finally took the plunge and bought this teapot. I am extremely glad I did; it is a beautifully made, artistically decorated, comfortable to use, and all around fabulous teapot. Just seeing it on the shelf brings a smile to my face. My sincere thanks to Yunnan Craft for supplying such a fine teapot.

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