September 17, 2021
What is in a full tea set?
A tea set is a set of chinaware consisting of a teapot, teacups, stirrers, saucers, a milk jug, or a creamer jug along with a sugar pitcher.
Below is a list of the main items used in a Gongfu tea set:
- Brewing vessel, Yixing teapot, porcelain teapot, or a covered bowl gaiwan.
- Tea pitcher (chahai), or any matching size decanting vessel, used to ensure the consistency of the flavor of the tea (Chinese: 公道杯, Pinyin: gōng dào bēi).
- Hot water kettle, e.g. an electric kettle.
- Brewing tray, or a deep, flat bottom porcelain plate to hold spills (spills are typical).
- Tea towel or tea cloth, usually dark colored.
- Tea knife or tea pick for clearing the teapot spout and separating leaves from tea cakes.
- Tea cups (traditionally three cups are used in most instances), matching size. Also named Pinming Cup (品茗杯).
- Timer.
- Strainer, a tea strainer (Chinese: 漏斗; pinyin: lòu dŏu; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: liō tó͘) sometimes built into the tea pitchers.
- Tea holder, tea leaf holder for weighing and dispensing, or a wooden tea spoon to measure the amount of tea leaves required (Chinese: 茶匙, Pinyin: chá chí).
- Optional: Tea basin or bowl used as the receptacle for used tea leaves and refuse water.
- Optional: Scale.
- Optional: Kitchen thermometer.
- Optional: Scent cup (snifter cup) used to appreciate the tea's aroma (Chinese: traditional 聞香杯, simplified 闻香杯, Pinyin wén xiāng bēi).
- Optional: A pair of tongs called "Jiā" (Chinese: 挾) or "Giab" (Pe̍h-ōe-jī: gia̍p) in both the Chao Zhou and Min Nan dialects.
- Optional: A calligraphy-style brush with a wooden handle, which is used to spread the wasted tea evenly over the tea tray to ensure no part dries out and the tea "stain" is spread evenly to ensure a pleasing colour to the tray.