TeaForum.org

As I was looking for the appropriate place to post something, I found we did not yet have one... a place to post the slightly non-essential, but often very enriching, yet less glorious items like, picks, scoops, coasters - you name it!

So what I wanted to post is this tea pick I recently made out of some drift wood from a beach trip.

No idea what kind of wood it is, but when I held it in hands it felt right for a pick, for various tea brewing tasks.

Carved it pointy, sanded it, but otherwise just helped it along to become something else, the credit here really goes to the forces of the sea, which formed these smooth curves...

Nice. A perfect pick. Last time i've grabbed a small piece of driftwood on the seaside that caught my attention, it later turned out when i brought it home that it had an amazingly nice smell -- not sure what kind of wood it was (cedar? sandalwood? don't know).
Anyways, it is the repair and the patina on that lid in your photo that really gets my interest. Is that copper, pewter, silver, something else?

.m. wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 29, 2021 9:22 am

Anyways, it is the repair and the patina on that lid in your photo that really gets my interest. Is that copper, pewter, silver, something else?

It’s a Kintsugi add on I did on pot which had old brass fittings already, but that’s for another thread and time ; )

@Bok beautiful tea pick. Since you are in Asia, have you consider picking a few small Zitan woods to play with?

Beautiful undulating piece Bok, the ebbs and flows of the sea make such wonderful forms that evoke the passage of time. I also collect small rocks found by the seaside to use as lid holders, coasters, and surfaces during tea sessions. Good topic have pinned it for easy access.

@Victoria thanks and also thanks for pinning it! I got a few more wood pieces waiting to reveal their shape...

if one were to try to invent these shapes the sea and wood created on purpose, one would surely fail - it never ceases to amaze me.

Below a set made by a wood artisan in Taiwan, I’ve posted it before.

@DailyTX I’m hesitant to purposely seek out any local wood, illegal logging is rampant and however small, I do not want to add incentive to this practice. After decades of colonial rampage, not much is left of the grand Formosan forests...

@Bok illegal harvest is a serious issue in China and Southeast Asia. I remember you mentioned about this topic when we were talking about tea tray.

I'm curious what is this tool included in some gongfu utensil sets. Seems difficult to google/research in English and I don't recall ever seeing it in action. I can't imagine any good use at the moment, but it looks kinda cool & specialized. Do I want one? I probably want one, just because I like the shape, but what am I (not) going to use it for ?

teatray wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 28, 2021 8:10 am

I'm curious what is this tool included in some gongfu utensil sets. Seems difficult to google/research in English and I don't recall ever seeing it in action. I can't imagine any good use at the moment, but it looks kinda cool & specialized. Do I want one? I probably want one, just because I like the shape, but what am I (not) going to use it for ?

Maybe to hold cups?

Bok wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 28, 2021 8:15 am

Maybe to hold cups?

Hmm. Maybe it could be used for that, after pouring, when the tongs would be impractical? But doesn't it seem like it would assume a bit much about cup size & shape? Since the opening is often much less than 180°, it seems to really want something gaiwan-like in shape, that's wider towards the top (as are many cups). But maybe it's useful for something completely different as well?

But it seems it might be just for cups, after all. Googling "gongfu cup holder" per your suggestion produced this. I guess it just has to fit your cups (which probably have to be the standard, tapered, somewhat gaiwan-like shape).

@teatray guess it’s for wider tea tables when one can not simply reach the recipient of the cup, by simply stretching out one’s arm

When a host is filling cups & serving them to guests, his hands could get too hot. Guests need not worry about germs etc. put on or near the rim of cups that their lips will touch.

In case it assists, I saw a reference to this in an article that was referred to over here (viewtopic.php?p=16883#p16883):

"Some practices also appear to be changing. In my observation, while shopkeepers and others drinking gongfu tea on pavements often practised tang bei gun bei, among the more highly educated participants in this study, using one’s fingers was considered unhygienic (even with boiling water) and had been replaced by the use of wooden tongs."

Peter d’Abbs, Tea Art as Everyday Practice: Gongfu Tea in Chaoshan, Guangdong, Today (2019, The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology) at 10

Andrew