Yixing - Seasoning

I don’t! I seasoned my first yixing with the boiling method and spent the entire time terrified something would happen, so I vowed never to do it again. I bathe my pots until they essentially have no smell (much like the method mentioned on Tea Masters) and then I ‘brew’ my teapot for hours.

Basically I take a pot and fill it with warm water and a bunch of the type tea I wish to season my teapot with, then I submerge the teapot and bring the water to around 190ish and leave it there for about 5 minutes and then reduce it to a simmer and leave it that way for hours, adding a brewed cup of that tea as the water in the pot evaporates. The best part is my kitchen smells amazing as this is happening :)

So far I have done this with two yixing and one unglazed clay pot and the results have been fantastic, they seem to give back more than the one seasoned with the boiling method. It might be unconventional but it works wonders for me.

my method is pretty lazy, I think I boiled my first teapot but then I went to a tea store where they sold yixing and someone told me to put boiling water inside the pot and then tea and it should be fine. When I first get a new teapot I usually steep tea in it overnight and then I will use cheap tea to steep a few times. After that it seems fine. If it tastes like clay you will know, lol… I have 4 yixing and they all have taken on the flavor of the tea and I can’t tell that my lazy method has harmed them in any way. Good luck!

That’s great news! I didn’t want to crack my new pots my friend gave me. I was more nervous about that , than with the one I bought! Because they are a gift , they mean so much more to me. To learn that the lazy methods are the best for seasoning is even better. Thanks for the posts. I’ll just pick one of the lazy methods and go with it.

For my very first yixing I boiled it and it’s still taking forever to give back. I wonder if I used the lazy method on that to re-season it (with the same tea), would it be better? I suppose it’s worth a try.

I boil them. I really like David Duckler video on YouTube. That’s how I did my 2 pots. I still leave tea in them overnight. And regularly bath them. You need to use Yixing daily to see some results.