Best Tea Tray Materials/Features?

[JournalerMarie]

Tea boats can be part of the conversation too.

I used to think tea trays were unnecessary, but now I'm two years into my tea hobby, and I am feeling the need for one. I'm not satisfied with any solutions I've seen though, and I'm hoping the teaforum community can share its collective wisdom with me.

I drink tea almost daily. I alternate between a gaiwan and a teapot. I prefer dry-brewing, so I don't need a reservoir for most of my session. I've happily used Japanese urushi-lacquered trays with raised edges because they are lightweight, not damaged by water or heat, unlikely to damage my teaware, and require no maintenance other than an occasional wipe with a damp cloth.

However, I got a zhuni teapot and I do pour water over it at the start of my sessions to warm it up, and then boiling water at the end to help it dry faster. This process has gotten more tedious as the weather gets colder.

My problems with available options are: concerns about durability, potential harm to the zhuni teapot, concerns about contaminants, and generally cumbersome designs. I want to know whether my concerns are valid. The most attractive options are:

1) Bamboo tray with reservoir below. Pros: Lightweight, non-fussy, reservoir, unlikely to expose me to lead. Cons: it would never fully dry out because I would use it every day and I don't want to replace it every year or so.

2) Porcelain tray with porcelain surface for tea to rest on. Pros: less maintenance and worry about mold, meets all requirements. Cons: I wince at the thought of accidentally breaking my teaware on it if I burn my hand and move too fast, concerns about lead, and these usually come in elaborate or needlessly heavy designs.

3) DIY option: buy some secondhand glass or ceramic cake baking tray. Buy a thin metal baking sheet. Pierce holes in the metal sheet and place it on top of the ceramic baking sheet. Pros: cheap, meets all requirements, doesn't have any of the downsides. Cons: I'm lazy and punching holes in metal is probably a lot less fun than it sounds?

Options I'm discarding (but I'm open to feedback on these): metal (lead concerns, smell concerns, heat conductivity concerns), flat trays of any material (I have my ideal flat trays already), tea trays/boats that incorporate plastic (mostly out of concern about how the plastic will react to long-term exposure to boiling water), options that have the teaware resting in the puddle of water.

What do you (plural) think? Am I leaving out any options, or operating under any misconceptions?

[Bok]

One thing to consider is to adapt your brewing to a so called "dry" style. This requires some training, but then you are good with any flat plate or bowl that can accomodate the vessel of your choosing. I do a version of this where sometimes, when I am too lazy/careless, I simply empty the bowl out into a waste water container when it is becoming too full.

I also use requisitioned items which had other purposes and include them for making tea, like a specific item which used to be put under the feet of tables in Taiwan to prevent insects crawling onto the table where food was put.

I'll attach a few images of these things in a minute...

[Bok]

Further elaborating on the pictures: If you are worried about breakage, I use a thin loofah pad underneath the pot to prevent that.

The tall one is a waste water disposal boat, made out of clay, which I sometimes use to brew directly on.

Others are simple flat bowls and a Korean tall dish plate.

[Andrew S]

@Bok: lots of elegant ideas in those photos from which to draw inspiration, as always.

@JournalerMarie: may I ask if there are any specific concerns that you have about lead in porcelain or metal? I won't pretend to understand the level of risk involved, but I would be surprised if it were worth worrying about for a mere tray.

I use a simple porcelain plate, often with a loofah pad underneath the pot to minimise the risk of accidental harm, and a Chaozhou pewter tray, which feels quite soft compared to a porcelain surface. I had a bamboo tray that I used a while ago until it started leaking and could no longer contain water at all.

And as Bok mentions, dry-brewing would still be an option. Instead of pouring hot water on the outside of my teapots (which I'm always concerned about in terms of sudden temperature changes), I use the method that some others around here use of warming the pot up slowly (half room temperature water, topped up with boiling water, then pour some of it off, repeat, etc).

(I appreciate that those comments don't really answer your questions directly though...)

Andrew

[tjkdubya]

We're bowls-n-plates nine times out of ten. Can be "dry style" or just a different kind of "wet." Flexible.

[wave_code]

Of the items here the copper tray sees the most use- no idea what it was originally intended for, I suspect maybe its a plate/dish set like old military or camping cookware or something like that. I was tempted to punch a couple holes for draining in the center but have decided to leave it in tact for now - its not like you need to pour so much water over the pot, so ever couple rounds I just lift the pot and tilt the plate to drain it. The one downside I've found with copper for trays or chataku is it can give your fingers that copper smell - if you are handling/washing things a lot, maybe setting things up with some residual moisture on your hand you can maybe detect a bit of that copper smell while drinking your tea - but you would have to be quite sensitive. I've found as the tray built up some patina though, especially from wet brewing, that mostly stopped. As others said if you are using a ceramic tea boat or even bowl just use a loofah, or a rattan coaster. Pots are delicate but some pots aren't as delicate as we think depending on how we handle them- see for example the 'vibration' step used by some in traditional gong-fu brewing on ceramic tea boats or bowls- though maybe not a method I would use with a $300+ antique I've given it a go with my chaozhou tray and a cheap little porcelain pot. But yeah, reappropriating things can be a great way to go if you can local ceramics you like - I was just using a cheap shallow soup dish for a long time when I was dead broke.

I highly recommend against most bamboo, exception being bamboo with a plastic or ceramic base or very high quality - most of the inexpensive bamboo trays the well is still coated in a waterproofing material, probably a cheap acrylic varnish. Speaking from personal experience, the coating smells, and if its not done 100% perfectly water will still slowly seep in, then once its under the coating its harder for it to evaporate out, which causes the varnish to bubble and peel, exposing more area for water to get in... before you know it your tray will leak. If you do dry brewing so little water should be making its way down there its a non-issue, but if you want to brew wet personally I'd steer clear.

As for lead, unless you are getting something very old it seems pretty unlikely to me, and even then it is something you can test for. My understanding is even for pewter/tin ware you have to go pretty far back to find lead, and I think you would be pretty hard pressed to find someone using things like cadmium colors, which at this point are being phased out of even a lot of traditional fine arts materials like oil paints. If you want a traditional style pewter tray but are cautious about materials maybe talk to Essence of Tea - I feel like they had new run pewter trays commissioned at some point. Not everyone's style, but things like this chromed Thai style tray from TeaLifeHK could be another non-ceramic/non-pewter option: https://www.tealifehk.com/products/thai ... m-tea-tray. You can find pre-made versions of the metal tray you are describing cheaply on places like aliexpress - though they aren't so fun to look at. Doing it yourself is easy if you have tools and know how- drill or drill press, metal drill bits, *eye protection!*, but in the end you are still going to be staring at an aluminum pan every time you have tea.

[DailyTX]

I don't know I would call it the best material, but I do like my rosewood tea tray with water reservoir. Easy to clean, small enough to carry with me in the house, and big enough to fit 2 teapots, 1 cup, and 1 pitcher. I clean the tray once a month with mild soap, and about 2-3 times a year with oil to preserve the wood. Generally, I favor wood material more than others.

[Noonie]

I've skirted my TAD for a while now, purchasing more leaf. However, as I sit here looking at my $50 Bamboo tray (enjoying a 90's Shu) I'm now thinking it's time to add a more provocative tray, like pretty much any of the ones above!

[JournalerMarie]

Thank you for the inspiration and advice, everyone. Several of you recommended loofah pads, which I had forgotten I had. I also realized-silicone coasters exist! I bought a couple of textured silicone coasters (like these https://www.amazon.com/Better-Kitchen-P ... 1472&psc=1) so my teapot does not rest in the water but has something between it and the tea tray surface. I also thought of another option- cork. Easy to shape, sturdy, water and heat-resistant, and won't chip my teaware. Visually though I don't know...

@Bok

Those Taiwanese clay products look attractive. I think they are a little heavy and bulky for my tastes. The Korean tall dish plates look like they might meet my needs- thank you for giving me such a variety of options (and pretty pictures)!

@Andrew

When I was growing up in the early 2000s I would hear a lot about lead in paints, plastics, metals, ceramic glaze, etc. Though I don't worry too much about decorative things, my tea tray is something I would touch every day (and then touch my teaware, hair, face, etc). I need the peace of mind of testing it myself.
I warm my teapot up gradually too (120F-->180F-->brewing temperature) but then I have all this hot water that I can't immediately dump down my drain.

@wave-code
Yeah it's that copper smell that I find so off-putting. I don't know whether I'm particularly sensitive to it, but my skin does turn green when I wear fake jewelry. Unfortunately I've accidentally tested my pot's fragility and, fortunately, found it quite sturdy. I just don't want to subject it to any more stress than I already do. You completely talked me out of the aluminum tray option. What a dreary mental image- thank you for saving me the work!

@Noonie
Join me in the TAD spiral.

[Bok]

Can be "dry style" or just a different kind of "wet." Flexible.

Different kind of wet is a good way to put it in words!

[Bok]

Those Taiwanese clay products look attractive. I think they are a little heavy and bulky for my tastes. The Korean tall dish plates look like they might meet my needs- thank you for giving me such a variety of options (and pretty pictures)!

Mine are old and meant for furniture, but I have seen potters take up that principle and create smaller and more refined versions of the same kind of item. You might be able to find a contemporary version of it. I have seen them as small as a regular coaster.

[LeoFox]

American wood fired plate

[DailyTX]

@JournalerMarie
silicon coaster is a good idea, and the looks isn't too bad. Here's a picture of my silicon coaster in black

[Iizuki]

I find the water reservoir quite handy even though my brewing style isn't particularly wet. It's a convenient place to dump warmup fills and rinses. Also, discarding the last milliliters of the cup is an easy way to get rid of any tea dust that might be concentrating in the bottom.

Ps. Listen to @wave_code, bamboo always leaks..

[JournalerMarie]

@Bok

I have definitely been looking for and finding them since you introduced me to the concept. I even tried to create a similar setup (a big bowl with an overturned mug in the center as a potstand lol) and I liked it.

@LeoFox

Beautiful photography. It seems that there's a significant overlap in tea hobbyists and photography hobbyists.

@DailyTX

Thank you for the example! I like hearing feedback from people who have already tried it because it saves me the trial and error. Your setup looks very elegant to me: I hardly noticed the silicone coaster, which is ideal for me. I have realized during this conversation that I am way more invested in the visual aspects of tea than I thought hahaha. Your rosewood tray sounds lovely.

@Iizuki

Both of those sound like exactly the experience I want. I've been throwing my wastewater in a spare gongdaobei, but it is getting to be a bit of a hassle. And thank you for the support for wave-code's post! I suspected that bamboo trays were on the disposable side and I didn't like it. So I think I will avoid that.