From a family bench in Handan
This idea came to a small family workshop in Handan in early 2025. The workshop, where every lid, spout and rim is finished by hand at a single bench, had never made a deliberately thick-walled gaiwan before. The brief was 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. The bench 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. This 110ml batch was selected 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.