Letting Go

This was the first pot that I got from Mark Mohler of Sanguine Teapots.

In many ways it was my first connection to the American small teapot scene and is the root connection to the idea of connecting the East and West.

When I got it from Mark it was already pretty thoroughly broken in, which for the lizella clay means it has cooled off from the bright metallic look it has fresh out of the kiln, and has started to acquire a more muted sound and feel as the lid and body of the pot touch.

While normally I would say my ideal teapot is right at 100ml, even though this is bigger than that the ratios (spout size and shape, handle position, lid knob, body proportion) are all fantastic and even three years later into his pottery journey this remains one of the best pots I have ever held made by Mark.

...my take with extreme bias.

I love Mark's work, feel for his stuggle as a functional potter, and his pursuit of the craft anyway.

This was my first wood handled teapot and it's from Emilio of the Jade Leaf.

In many ways Emilio was the OG western small teapot maker, so supporting him and chatting has always been a joy.

One of the things with Emilio's work is he is very intentional and is not able to release many pieces each year.

When I saw this pot I couldn't resist, largely because the handle just seemed so perfect with the extra little notch on the bottom side for a second finger.

Note: For those of you who are into the specifics on your side handle pots this is an acute angled pot. So if acute pots make you feel cramped I would pass on this one.

Sometimes art is worth it.

While it may be a surprise since everything we own and wear is purple, blue is my favorite color.

So when I saw this pot from Jonathan Steele, I just had to get my first blue pot.

Okay that's not the only reason, we had been talking about ergonomics, spout size, and pour speeds a few months before.

Then when this batch came out it saw the spout, beautiful body, and extra care and attention in the handle being artisic but still robust so I had to get on the ole tele and give Jonathan a call...

and the rest is history

or it was until you buy it and add to the story.

Note: With this being a wood fired piece there is a lot of volatility from the flame in the kiln and the handle points slightly to the right.

DOUBLE NOTE: I did drop the lid of this lid and chip it a while back. I show some clips of it in the YouTube video below so if you aren't cool with that, please skip grabbing this pot.

Another piece from Mark Mohler and my favorite matcha bowl for years.

A hyper functional bowl for making that powdered goodness.

Similar in shape to the smaller cup #8 but this one displays all of Mark's talent and consideration on a bigger more pronounced stage.

The slightly heavier bottom, gives a very satisfying balanced feel in the hand while the small divet in the bottom, wider middle body, and flare of the rim give a nod to Mark's understanding of a Japanese chawan with his appreciation for the Korean inspired bowls and history.

Note: I mention this and share about it in the video below but this is one of the pieces that I have used a lot and has picked up a small knicks along the rim over the last few years (See front edge in picture). If you aren't cool with that, I would pass on this bowl.

This was one of our first prototype pieces from Mark Mohler when we were testing to make the perfect Tao Teaware purple glaze that is stable with his single source lizella clay.

it's a bit of a renaissance bowl, its definitely smaller than you typical matcha bowl, bigger than a tea cup, and so I ended up using to some days for snacks with my kids other days as a matcha bowl.

Just a lot of fun for any occasion with beautiful subtle specks of blue and red.

There is something about Yue Chao's wares that he just nails the balance, texture, and thickness on pretty much all of his wares.

But,

these are the best of the best.

The ones that I keep coming back to time and time again over all my other tea bowls, these get rotated in the most.

I go into this in YouTube video below a good bit about how I grab these when a new Yue Chao drop comes in but yeah I just love these bowls and

am sad

but happy to pass them off to the next tea drinker.

There is something about Yue Chao's wares that he just nails the balance, texture, and thickness on pretty much all of his wares.

But,

these are the best of the best.

The ones that I keep coming back to time and time again over all my other tea bowls, these get rotated in the most.

I go into this in YouTube video below a good bit about how I grab these when a new Yue Chao drop comes in but yeah I just love these bowls and

am sad

but happy to pass them off to the next tea drinker.

There is something about Yue Chao's wares that he just nails the balance, texture, and thickness on pretty much all of his wares.

But,

these are the best of the best.

The ones that I keep coming back to time and time again over all my other tea bowls, these get rotated in the most.

I go into this in YouTube video below a good bit about how I grab these when a new Yue Chao drop comes in but yeah I just love these bowls and

am sad

but happy to pass them off to the next tea drinker.

There is something about Yue Chao's wares that he just nails the balance, texture, and thickness on pretty much all of his wares.

But,

these are the best of the best.

The ones that I keep coming back to time and time again over all my other tea bowls, these get rotated in the most.

I go into this in YouTube video below a good bit about how I grab these when a new Yue Chao drop comes in but yeah I just love these bowls and

am sad

but happy to pass them off to the next tea drinker.

There is something about Yue Chao's wares that he just nails the balance, texture, and thickness on pretty much all of his wares.

But,

these are the best of the best.

The ones that I keep coming back to time and time again over all my other tea bowls, these get rotated in the most.

I go into this in YouTube video below a good bit about how I grab these when a new Yue Chao drop comes in but yeah I just love these bowls and

am sad

but happy to pass them off to the next tea drinker.

I think I can say without a doubt that the clay in Jianshui is some of my favorite in the world.

It's just so smooth and while it seems like everything from that first drop was gone in flash, there was something alluring about the leaf imprinted bowl that made me hold onto one.

It's subtle, and takes away from some of the smoothness compared to the flat clay body

but...

for my texture people out there.

It's really satisfying.

The baby sibling of my first matcha bowl from Mark. I still can't believe I'm giving that one up in this drop.

Anyway, c'est la vie.

A thin rimmed, thick based well balanced cup that has a pretty classic shino glaze that Mark circles back to time and time again.

This one is a simple symbol of Mark's pottery in a small beautiful package.

Note: I mention this and share about it in the video below but this is one of the pieces that I have used a lot and has picked up 2 small knicks along the rim over the last few years. If you aren't cool with that, I would pass on this cup.

IYKYK

This was our Black Friday limited release from 2024.

When we were thinking of what would be really special for Black Friday last year Derek and I were talking a lot about the monkey king as we were both playing Black Myth, so I designed these pixel art cups for our BF release.

I kept a couple back from the drop for times like these, an anniversary or birthday of Tao Teaware celebration.

So if you didn't get yours then. Here's your second(and last chance).

IYKYK

This was our Black Friday limited release from 2024.

When we were thinking of what would be really special for Black Friday last year Derek and I were talking a lot about the monkey king as we were both playing Black Myth, so I designed these pixel art cups for our BF release.

I kept a couple back from the drop for times like these, an anniversary or birthday of Tao Teaware celebration.

So if you didn't get yours then. Here's your second(and last chance).

Now I think some people think the tea world is elusive and gatekeepy...

and for some that may be true.

But, I don't know a better way to learn than by sharing so I got this Road 2 Nowhere cup from White2Tea a few months back and it has quickly climbed to the top of my list.

The balance is incredible, the porcelain is fine, the painting is stellar, and since I just got it...

This is kind of one of those pieces that I'm crossing my fingers will make it the month and I get to keep it... but we'll see.

I said I would get rid of all my favorites, so here goes.

This piece,

man it has been through the ringer and back.

This was a limited release Mando art from 2023 and when it came in from China I opened in and it was broken.

Now typically, I woudn't have kept it especially not for kinstugi but it was our first custom design and I was feeling nostalgic so I asked Emi and Modern Kintsugi to bring it back to life

and with that gold...

I'm so glad she did.

Note: All kintsugi is still prone to heat shock. While this has been curing for two months it is still highly recommended to pre-heat the teaware slowly before adding boiling hot tea.

I learned this the hard way with another kintsugi piece that was holding up and now leaks. So please be careful if you buy this cup.

This is another one that I will be shocked if it sells

but I said I would sell all my favorites so here it is.

This the genesis piece.

When I was still living in China, after Derek and I decided we were going to start Tao Teaware we went to one of our friends teahouses for an afternoon cup of tea.

We were getting ready to go to Yixing and I decided it was time to get my first really high quality zhu ren bei as a litmus test for my other teaware.

The orange is still as mezmerizing as the day I bought it all those years ago, with a beautiful crackle glaze on one side, a rough scaly bit on the other, and an inscription that embarrassingly I have still never translated.

By far my most used bowl over the last 2 years and a 1 in 10,000 piece.

Mark and I had been talking about oxidation vs reduction and showing it in a glaze.

Then this piece came out of the kiln with almost a perfect half and half.

The green being oxidized and the red being reduced.

Note: This has been heavily used and has two larger chips and two smaller knicks along the rim. If you aren't cool with that, I would pass on this cup.

This was one of our first prototype pieces from Mark Mohler when we were testing to make the perfect Tao Teaware purple glaze that is stable with his single source lizella clay.

I feel in love with the bigger teacup/Chinese teabowl feel to this one. With comfortably fitting over 150ml and 200ml snugly it became my everyday cup quite quickly as it can fit all the tea from almost every single one of my teapots.

Just a lot of fun for any pot with beautiful subtle specks of blue and red.

One of the most alluring types of teaware for me since I started collecting.

The combination of the purity in porcelain combined with the soft satisfying matte texture has always made this special type of Dehua porcelain satisfying for me.

I picked this one up from Bardo Tea at Northwest Tea Fest and just thinking about it makes me smile. I knew we wouldn't be making it to Dehua anytime soon so I was happy to pick this one up, support some other tea friends, and have a piece of creamy porcelain.