From Liu Shenyang’s bench in Handan
Sandry Law raised this idea with Liu Shenyang in early 2025, on one of his regular Handan visits. Liu’s small workshop, where he does every lid, spout and rim himself while his mother, cousin and two apprentices handle the rest of the bench, had never made a deliberately thick-walled gaiwan before. Sandry wanted one that would hold heat a little longer than the typical thin-walled pieces — something that gave a bit more control without sacrificing the visual clarity that makes glass brewing worth doing. Liu had been experimenting with an extra annealing cycle and a slightly thicker gather; the result was a wall that’s about 1.5 mm thicker around the body, slowing the drop-off by roughly 10–15 seconds per steep. Sandry selected this 110ml batch for its balance of volume and heat retention, and it landed in our summer 2025 release. Each piece carries the tiny tool marks of handblown work — a dimple in the knob, a slight wave in the rim — details we leave in because they remind you a human stood at the bench.