Xiao Ying Hu - 200ml

This is a lid-inlaid teapot produced by the Yixing Teapot Factory, resembling the Xiao Ying teapot but with a flat handle. I can no longer find the specific name, but I’ve taken to calling it Fang Gu Xiao Ying, the "Imitation Antique Xiao Ying Teapot." The Xiao Ying teapot is one I personally adore, and over the years, I’ve collected no less than ten, in varying sizes and designs.

The clay is a typical old Pin Zi Ni material from the Yixing Teapot Factory, a blend of purple clay used extensively in the 80s and 90s. This blend has had enough aging time, and the feel of the clay in hand is light, yet substantial. This particular teapot, from the late 80s, has long shed its fire, its texture now rich and lustrous, with a subtle gleam of quartz, as if the earth itself is softly shining. When hot water is poured in, the teapot releases a unique earthy aroma, akin to sun-warmed stones or the heat of an iron pressing against fabric. We often joke that the teapot smells more fragrant than the tea itself!

Though this teapot appears heavy, it weighs only about 180 grams and holds 200ml of liquid. The pour takes roughly 11 seconds—clean, quick, and smooth. This clay is particularly well-suited for brewing both sheng and ripe pu-erh, allowing the tea’s flavor to flow smoothly, soft and round. It also performs beautifully with heavily roasted oolong teas, like those from Anxi or Wuyi, resulting in a more refined, dense, and pure tea soup.

The weight of the teapot is not in its mass but in its presence, as though it carries with it a history not of time alone, but of the earth, of fire, and of a thousand pours.