2024 Black Friday Deals
Normally, we would just send this in an email (and if you want a gushy letter from us about this year, make sure to sign up), but with plenty of options, we wanted to make sure you know what's to come!
Quick Summary of Limited Edition Teaware and Discounts for This Week
- Monday 30% OFF Huang Studio (chocolately smooth)
- Tuesday
30% OFF Sheng Studio (diving into Yixing) - Wednesday 30% OFF Kemin Studio (no touch lid teapots)
- Thursday 30% OFF Yue Chao Studio (feat. my fav wood-fired gaiwans)
- Friday DOORBUSTER 60% OFF 2024 Blink tea bowl
- Friday - Sunday 25% OFF All Teaware
- FREE Tea Flight Orders $30+
- FREE Standard Shipping $50+
2024 Blink Tea Bowls
Each weekday we wanted to feature a specific studio that holds a special place in our hearts and offer a chance for you to get your first piece(or tenth piece) with the steepest discount.
For Monday, we will be going to one of the OG studios, that has very much been a staple of Tao Teaware, Master Huang's studio.
Many of our teapots have come and gone, been restocked, and we actually just visited his studio last week in Qinzhou(pictures and videos coming soon).
Huang Studio pots in three Qinzhou Finishes: Copper, Onyx, Cocoa
Tuesday, we'll be heading to the land that most tea lovers hear about first for teapots... Yixing.
We went back and forth on Yixing, testing different pots, and seeing what Derek and I actually liked from Yixing.
This year we found the Sheng Studio which checked all those boxes for us, smooth beautiful pours, nice softening and rounding, with three pots and three clays to start.
Sheng Studio dicaoqing, zini, and duanni teapots
Wednesday, we will be going to the studio that gave us our roots in Chinese pottery.
A city that feels more lively than Yixing and more central than Qinzhou or Jianshui... oh yeah, and they make some of my favorite oolongs here.
If you haven't guessed it we're talking about Chaozhou.
More specifically...
At Master Kemin's Studio, Derek had the chance to throw pottery alongside some of Master Kemin's apprentices for all of 2021, and when he left, we were fortunate enough to start carrying their pots.
Also, short sidebar, if you notice Kemin and He are the only artists that we will refer to as masters. In China, being called a master is a pretty labor and fiscally intensive endeavor to take on and very few get granted the title.
Now, of course, you can have a talented artist who doesn't take the historic Master/Apprentice route like Yue Chao or vice versa a Master carries the title but doesn't make a great teacher or pots.
But we were pretty fortunate to find a master who has skill and compassion with Kemin, that trickles down to his apprentices' work.
Kemin Apprentice Back Handle and Side Handle No Touch Lid Teapot
Thursday will be our last featured studio with our favorite gaiwans and zhu ren bei (master/host cup).
Derek and I keep trying to find others,
but...
find ourselves coming back to Yue Chao over and over again.
There are many wood-fired potters, not just in Jingdezhen but throughout the world that make stunning wares, but there aren't any others we have found that make better gaiwans than Yue Chao.
Keeping the porcelain thin, but holding back the heat of the steep, and with beautiful pours... actually great pours.
it's hard to say any other gaiwan pours beautifully after pouring with the Paper Cut.
These wares are impressively dynamic without succumbing to the heat of the wood kiln and its volatility.
Yue Chao Wood-Fired Gaiwan and Zhu Ren Bei
Finally, for our doorbuster on Friday, we have pixel art Wukong Blink bowls.
2024 Blink Wukong Tea Bowls
Designed by Dart(me), inspired by a game that Derek and I waited years to play.
Black Myth: Wukong
We talk about it in Between the Cracks, and there really is no way around it, playing that game makes me feel like being back in China.
You can hear more about that here
But I sincerely hope you enjoy this week and we would not be able to have this amazing event without the rest of the support and love you have shown us throughout the year.