From Liu Shenyang’s bench in Handan
Sandry Law first visited Liu Shenyang’s small glass studio on the outskirts of Handan in early 2025. The city has a quiet history of borosilicate craft, and Liu’s workshop runs on a single glory hole, with four apprentices blowing and turning by hand. Sandry wanted a gaiwan that would hold heat a little longer than the typical thin-walled pieces flooding the market — something that gave you a bit more control without sacrificing the visual clarity that makes glass brewing so absorbing. 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.