Understanding Tea Utensils

Proper utensils are essential for bringing out the best flavor in high quality Chinese teas. Be it Green, Flower or Wulong teas, knowing what the utensils are and how to use them is an important skill in the Chinese Tea Ritual.

Tea Tray (aka Sea of Tea):

The soaking of high quality tea involves using a great deal of water. These trays are designed to catch and hold water used to heat the drinking cups. This water is not drunk. It is poured into the tray after the cups are warmed. Tea is then poured into the warmed cups. There are many types of tea trays in all sizes: stone, wood, plastic, porcelain, and bamboo.

The Tea Set:

A traditional tea set consists of a tea pot, a gathering pot, fragrance cups and drinking cups. A porcelain teapot is best for beginners, as it does not absorb the oils of the teas and can be used for different kinds of teas. As tea skills develop, a connoisseur will have a pot dedicated for each kind of tea to avoid mixing of different tea oils and flavors.

The gathering pot is critical for high end teas. For each few seconds water remains on the leaves in the teapot, the flavor changes. If tea is poured directly into the cups, the first and last cups poured will have different tastes. Thus, tea is poured from the pot into the gathering pot, and then from the gathering pot into the fragrance cups. This ensures that each person is tasting the same flavor of the tea.

Fragrance cups are the tall, thin cups. They are never drunk from, and traditionally should never touch the mouth or lips. As their name implies, these cups are used for enjoying the fragrance of the tea. Tea is poured from the gathering pot into the fragrance cups. After five to fifteen seconds, the tea is poured from the fragrance cups into the drinking cups. The fragrance cup is then raised to the nose and rotated as the scent of the tea is taken in. As the cup cools, the fragrance changes and a trained person can tell a great deal about the tea, the skill in the processing of the leaves, and the weather of that season. Fragrance cups are mostly used for teas in the Wulong family. There is truly no greater fragrance than a high quality Wulong of the Spring harvest.

Drinking cups are used for savoring the tea. While today they come in different shapes and colors, connoisseurs use a wide cup made of white to clearly see the color of the tea. The color not only tells a great deal about the tea, but also the skill of the person soaking the tea. Too few leaves or too little time means the tea will be too light, while too many leaves or too much time in the pot means it will be too dark. A perfect cup will have a gold color, taste sweet yet strong to the mouth, and create a taste in the throat that manifests after the tea is drunk and the palate is kept clean.

The Tea Tools:

Proper tea tools not only ensure successful soaking of tea, but should also be visually pleasing. Utensils that are both functional and add to the environment are an important part of the Ritual of Tea.
The tea tools are made of wood or bamboo and consist of a funnel, a scooper, tweezers, a scraper and a poker. The funnel is used to when pouring tea into the pot. This ensures that the tea does not spill out of or around the pot. The scooper is used to put the tea in the pot, as the oils and odors of the fingers will influence the taste of the tea. The tweezers are used for handling the fragrance and drinking cups, as they are hot too the touch when warmed with water. The scraper is used to remove tea from the teapot after drinking. The poker is used if a tea leaf becomes caught in the spout of the teapot.

The cup trays are made of wood and are just big enough for a drinking cup and a fragrance cup. This allows the cups to be moved around with the minimal amount of touching by multiple hands. Also, in the process of pouring tea from the fragrance cups to the drinking cups, it is inevitable that some will be spilled. This is caught by the tray and is kept from staining the table.

Lidded Tea Cups:

Lidded tea cups, known colloquially in Chinese as gaiwan 盖碗, are most often used when drinking tea alone or if there is not the time or circumstance to use the traditional tea set described above. Leaves are placed in the cup so that the bottom of the cup can no longer be seen. Water is then poured in, and then the cup is covered with the lid. After a few minutes, the underside of the lid is smelled to appreciate the fragrance of the tea. The lid is then used to push the leaves away from the edge of the cup being drunk from. Lidded tea cups are an excellent alternative to the complicated process of the Chinese Tea Ritual.

The Proper Soaking of Tea:

A high quality tea should be treated with respect. Taking the time, effort and skill to bring out the flavor of good tea is critical to appreciating the Dao of Tea. Finding good tasting water is just as important as having good tasting tea leaves. Tap, filtered, or distilled water alters the flavor, hiding the true potential of the tea. Various brands of spring water should be tested against each other for sweetness to find which is best. Be wary of water having a plastic taste from its bottle. Try to use a kettle dedicated to tea to boil the water. Using a kettle that normally has tap water will mean that particles and other contaminants will inevitably find its way into the tea. Water should be brought to a boil if you are unfamiliar of the source, but never boiled for too long. Overboiled water develops a flat taste. Boiling water should never be poured onto the tea leaves. If the water is too hot, the leaves become scorched, so letting the water cool is very important. The ideal temperature of the water depends upon the tea, greens requiring the coolest temperatures and certain aged teas best with higher temperatures. When using a small pot, for each second the water is in the cup, the taste changes. The most common proportions range from filling the pot a 1/5 to1/3 of the way with tea leaves and then soaking for 25-45 seconds, depending upon the tea. A good tea can be soaked from three to seven times, depending on the variety. Experiment with intentionally putting in too many tea leaves and too few tea leaves to understand the scope of tastes possible with a good tea. While there are many other aspects to creating the perfect cup of tea, the above information is a good place to start.