Teapot 5oz Chinese Yixing Clay Red Pot Dahongpao Zisha Xishi for Loose Gongfu Tea (S red)

I looked through lots of “low cost” options on Amazon and this one seemed like the best deal. It arrived in good condition and worked great for a little while. The water flow was smooth which is a sign of a properly made teapot. However, right outside the warranty window (a little over a month), the top of the lid just broke off. I’m guessing it was just bad craftsmanship because it broke without anyone/anything touching it…likely just the heating/cooling process happening repeatedly on a badly fashioned joint. At any rate, if you plan on actually using it a lot, you may want to skip this one.

Perfect little 5 ounce tea pot came with a decorative fabric storage bag, very well packed. Best feature is a very fine strainer (75+ holes!) on the spout to provide high flow rate but minimum pass-through. It is exactly what I wanted for multiple steepings of loose tea when brewing for one.

Shape and size

I'm no expert in Yixing pots, just a lover of Chinese tea—and I think this pot is great value. At this price point, I doubt that it's "genuine dahongpao" clay, which is supposed to be rarer than unicorns or whatever. But if it's a knockoff, it's a good one: it's super heavy and it rings like a bell, so the iron content in the clay must be very high. There's no trace of chemical smell, only hot wet rock when I pour hot water into it, so that's a good sign. 150 ml capacity, 9 sec pour time, hard clay with fine pores. Using it for trad processed, lightly baked TGY and it's a perfect match: high aroma, smooth and creamy mouthfeel, crispy fresh TGY zing. Totally love it. I figure it might be good for other high fragrance wulong as well: Taiwan oolongs and light roast cliffs. Wouldn't make a deep roast cliff or any phoenix it it (clay too hard, too dense); but I might try it for certain pu'er (not too raw) and even red. Overall a great pot, even if not "authentic". Works great for me and is easy on the wallet. Would totally recommend to any friends who are lovers of tea and not snobs about pots.

It’s not gonna be genuine at all for this price point I know. However, the pot has a very distinct oily smell inside, so it’s not a good teapot to brew tea. I was thinking this product might be a machine made low grade teapot but I didn’t expect it’s a chemical mixed clay tea pot...disappointed!