Moon Shard | 175ml
Moon Shard | 175ml
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If you're the type of person who asks for clay gaiwans, stop reading and just hit buy. This will be the finest clay gaiwan you have ever held.
If you're not already convinced let's talk this through.
It's no surprise, and not a new sentiment from us that most essential gaiwans are good enough and the cost different with most handmade gaiwans aren't better enough to justify the price.
Yes, we love the Dragon's Breath and all the other wood fired gaiwans from Yue Chao also yes any one of them will cost you a kidney.
Now we realize these are not cheap gaiwans but even compared to most teapots these are thin.
Not as thin as the Paper Cut, which we know some will love and some will be too scared to use.
The smoothness of this clay, fantastic feel in the hand and beautifully simple design should impress any tea drinker. If it doesn't... you're telling on yourself.
Also, at 150ml this gaiwan is just big enough to feel bigger than a 100ml gaiwan but small enough to fit in most peoples hand's, unlike the Flying Saucer.
I'm an obsessive collector. I have probably 30 gaiwans in my cupboard and have lost or given away just as many over the years. Handmade, cast, glazed, unglazed, cai shao—all of it. But I regularly use maybe five of them. Experience has taught me that the best gaiwans are more bowl-shaped than vase-shaped, have a perfectly sealing lid (many out there do not), and feature a wide lip to keep your fingers from burning. That last point is essential when you're serving others and doing repeated, back-to-back steeps. This piece ticked all my boxes, so I bought it hoping for the best.
In short, this gaiwan is phenomenal. I have used it multiple times a day since opening the box. The clay is somehow soft to the touch, with micro-ridges that give it a tactile, almost silk- or velour-like feel. The pour is effortless, developing a clean laminar flow rather than dribbling down the rim. Because it is unglazed and light-colored, it stains beautifully over time with darker teas (I've been using it heavily for shou puerh), and I really look forward to seeing how it ages.
I am lucky enough to own three Yue Chao gaiwans from TaoTeaware. Dart talks them up for a reason—they are fantastic pieces. But honestly, because this one is unglazed clay, it might have even more character and should easily cost more than it does. If you've read this far, just buy it. You want it, and it really is that great.