Tea sets serve as the medium for us to appreciate and savor tea soup. When the utensils are clean and delicate, the tea will be even more enchanting. Therefore, the selection and placement of tea utensils play a significant role in making tea.
With the development of modern society and the changes in tea-drinking customs, the types, forms, and connotations of tea sets have witnessed new developments. They bring not only delicious tea soup but also a relaxing and pleasant experience.
The original function of a tea pot rest is to ensure the cleanliness and dryness of the tea table, catching the hot water used to rinse the pot. Rinsing the pot aims to warm it, thereby extracting the exquisite and true flavor of the tea. Only teas that require high-temperature brewing need to be rinsed, and for this, a deep-bellied tea boat should be chosen to catch the hot water used for rinsing.
When using a deep-bellied pot rest for brewing tea, remember to pour away the hot water that has rinsed the pot, and do not leave the teapot immersed in the cooled water for a long time. Otherwise, not only will the temperature of the pot drop, preventing the brewing of a delicious tea soup, but over time, the pot body will develop a two-toned color. When brewing teas that do not require rinsing, one can freely choose various textures, colors, and sizes of shallow dishes or borderless pads to highlight the lines of the pot. Sometimes, even a stone slab in the corner of a wall or a handful of pebbles, carefully arranged by a tea master, can build the main stage for the pot, akin to the lotus seat under Buddha. A lidded bowl, also known as a lidded cup, is a tea set consisting of a lid, bowl, and saucer. During the Qing Dynasty, flower tea was popular in the north, and the lidded bowl, with its insulating properties and larger tea soup capacity, developed accordingly. The lidded bowl has a wide mouth, allowing for a clear view of the tea soup and leaf shape when the lid is removed. When drinking, one often uses the lid to push the tea leaves aside and can directly sip the tea, or lift the lid to the nose to smell the aroma. The saucer prevents burns when holding the tea, and with the saucer, the lidded bowl appears elegant and generous. When selecting a lidded bowl, one should try holding it to see if the mouth is too large to handle. Also, test if the lid is easy to move, making it convenient to use when pushing tea leaves aside. A tea, also known as a tea sea, is named for its ability to evenly distribute the strength of each cup of tea soup. Some also refer to it as ‘tea ocean’. In Chapter 41 of ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’, Miaoyu sarcastically remarks to Baoyu: ‘One cup is for savoring, two cups are for quenching thirst like a fool, and three cups are for drinking like an ox or a mule. What does it mean if you drink from this ocean?’ When purchasing a tea sea, one should note that its capacity should be larger than that of the teapot, as it is used to mix tea soup and sometimes must hold two infusions of tea, to avoid overflow. The opening of the tea sea should be large, facilitating the pouring of tea soup from the teapot; additionally, like the teapot, the smooth pouring of the tea sea is crucial when pouring tea into cups, to prevent spills everywhere. A tea cup can profoundly affect the taste of the tea soup, as it is formed by various subtle factors. Using cups of different textures, colors, shapes, sizes, heights, and thicknesses to taste tea can result in different qualities of the tea soup, sometimes with astonishing differences.No matter what kind of tea it is, when tasted in a good cup, the aroma, color and taste of the tea soup will be more delicate, rich and charming. A cup holder, anciently called a saucer. The relationship between a cup holder and a cup is like the match of a lady’s shoes and clothes: it can be strong, like boots; it can be grand, like crystal high heels; it can be soft, like monk shoes. The main uses of a cup holder are to prevent hands from getting burned and for hygienic considerations. To avoid direct contact with the cup rim, it is more appropriate and elegant for the tea host to serve tea to guests with a cup holder. The key points for choosing a cup holder are: the proportion of the cup holder should be commensurate with the size, shape and color of the cup; the design of the cup holder should be convenient to hold. If the cup holder itself is too large, too small or too flat, the teacup will not be very stable on it, and it is not an ideal cup holder. If the tea tabletop is flat and the cup shape is stable, and there is no cup holder of appropriate size, you can consider using a soft coaster directly. When taking tea leaves, it is best to use a tea scoop. There are odors such as hand sweat and hand cream on our hands. Do not take tea leaves directly with your hands to prevent the tea leaves from absorbing strange odors. The shapes of tea leaves vary. Some are spherical and very tightly knotted; some are strip-shaped and very fluffy. Spherical tea leaves are easy to place in the teapot, while strip-shaped tea leaves require a relatively large bamboo tea scoop for easy access. In addition to scooping out tea dregs, a tea spoon can also be used to clear the teapot. You can casually cut a tender bamboo branch that sprouts in spring and make a tea spoon with a natural streamline after a little trimming. Then, with a natural pebble by the stream as a spoon rest, it becomes a natural tea spoon and spoon rest. You can also choose a slender incense stick to replace the tea spoon, which can pick up tea dregs and leaves more freely. A tea container is a container for storing tea leaves. It should avoid light damage, heat and humidity. Therefore, porcelain containers with high density or glazed pottery urns are often selected. Metal containers should avoid the smell of oil dirt and rust. The materials of tea containers are rich. Common ones include ceramics, purple clay, bamboo and tin cans. When storing tea leaves, avoid sunlight. So the most basic requirement is to place them in an opaque container. Most glass tea containers on the market are launched for aesthetic or display purposes. When choosing a tea container, pay attention to its functionality. Try to choose a tea container with a larger opening to avoid difficulties in taking tea leaves when dealing with fluffier tea leaves and prevent the tea leaves from breaking. A tea tray is a shallow-bottomed utensil used to hold teapots, teacups, tea pets and even tea snacks. Its selection of materials is extensive. Common materials include metal, bamboo and wood, and clay. Among them, metal tea trays are the most convenient and durable, and bamboo tea trays are the most elegant and suitable. In addition, there are tea trays made of special stones such as jade, Duan inkstone stone and purple clay, which are simple, heavy and have a unique charm.
Tea trays come in a variety of styles and sizes, including circular, checkered, fan-shaped, square, and more. Regardless of the material or design, the most important aspects are: wide, flat, shallow, and white. The tray surface should be wide to accommodate a varying number of guests by placing more cups; the base should be flat to prevent the tea cups from being unstable and prone to wobbling; the edges should be shallow, and the color white, to beautifully contrast and highlight the tea pots, cups, and tea soup, making them aesthetically pleasing.
As for those intricately carved and opulent tea trays, they dominate the tea table, failing to serve as a peaceful and serene backdrop, and instead detract from the taste of tea drinking. Additionally, when carrying a tea tray, it is essential to remove the pot, cups, and fair cups from the tray; otherwise, a single mishap could lead to a complete disaster.Water basins, also known as water yu or na wu, are used for disposing of water after warming the pot and rinsing the cups, as well as for the dregs after brewing. The choice of water basin should be based on the space available during tea brewing, selecting an appropriate size to avoid occupying too much space and affecting the tea brewing movements. Generally, if you want to place the water basin on the tea table, choose a small, exquisite one.
If a slightly larger water basin is needed, it is best to move it away from the tea guests, such as behind the tea stove, in a place that is not too conspicuous but still convenient to use. The color selection should match the overall color and material of other tea utensils. Most common water basins on the market are made of ceramic. If there is already a tea tray on the tea table, a water basin may not be necessary, as the tea tray can basically hold excess water, and tea dregs can be cleaned separately.Tea towels, also known as tea cloths, were originally used to clean cups and utensils. The tea towel used during tea brewing should be no larger than a handkerchief and should be as delicate and compact as possible. When brewing tea at high temperatures and pouring water over the pot, you can place the pot on the tea towel to absorb the hot water at the bottom, and then pour the soup. The water from pouring over the pot will not run down the body of the pot.
Although strictly speaking, a dedicated tea towel is not necessary, and a dishcloth could be used instead, this seems to go against the elegant and clean nature of tea. Zhang Chao’s ‘Dream Shadows’: Observing the tea towel in one’s hand is enough to know the elegance or vulgarity of the person. Before the tea meeting, the host and guests have not met, but they can vaguely see the inner life of the tea person from the square towel.
