Master Lin runs a renaissance-style pottery studio with assistants and apprentices to help out. The work remains strictly hand-crafted as each pot is hand-turned, assembled and finished but can sometimes use molded handles, lid knobs, filters and spouts to ensure consistency and precision, just like it is done in the famous workshops of Yixing in China. The result is a pot of great precision and high tolerances in the fit of all its elements and the alignment of the handle and spout. The design of his pots is greatly inspired by classic traditional shapes that have been adapted to the requirements of tea making practices in Taiwan. This Pan Hu style pot is a good example of this. This new series of outer-glazed pots feature a fine grit yellow clay body left bare inside. This will particularly fare well with any rolled oolong, especially baked and fired ones as well as more oxidized and darker teas. The explicit use of a shorter spout featuring a large diameter at the tip facilitates a fast pour, making it the perfect pot to use along with a pitcher, which is the norm here in Taiwan. This pot is lightweight and features evenly thin walls throughout the body and lid. The stylized handle is both beautiful and functional as it offers very good control of the pot. Finally, a stunning glaze featuring greyish brown hues brushed in vaguely geometrical patterns that dress the pot like a kimono, thus our reference in the name of the glaze. Kobicha is one of the Japanese traditional colours that has been in use since 660 CE in the form of various dyes used in designing kimonos. The word kobicha comes from the Japanese for the brown colour of a type of kelp tea. As these pots are made one by one, very slight variations from the pictured one are to be expected. Hand-made in Taiwan and signed by the artist.