Seasoning Your Terracotta Teapot
Three Simple Steps for Seasoning Your Terracotta Teapot
- Cleansing of the Teapot
- clean the outside of the teapot with a used soft toothbrush and toothpaste
- clean the inside with toothpaste but apply it with a soft scrub pad. Clean with a light and gentle motion
- rinse it thoroughly with water right after
- cleansing will remove the unwanted clay residue and opens up the pores of the clay.
- Moisturizing the Teapot
- boil the teapot with the type of tea that you intend to use it for, for example Iron Buddha. Boil with approximately one heaping tablespoon of tea.
- the saucepan you use to boil the teapot should be free of oil, water should be enough to cover the entire teapot
- boil teapot with tea leaves inside for about 15 minutes on low heat, then turn it off and let it sit overnight
- tea leaves have oil, the oil will season and moisturize the terracotta.
- Guess What?
- you can now make your first pot of tea, but don't drink it
- your next pot is for drinking, the tea from the first pot can be used to season the outside of the teapot
- just simply keep infusing the same tea over and over and pour onto the outside of the teapot, this method will not only add aroma to the teapot but also a patina.
Please let us know if you have any questions. Enjoy!