How to use a tea strainer

The tea strainer is a type of tea set, also called a tea bowl. It is often used to brew oolong tea. It is placed at the mouth of the pot, and then tea leaves are put in it. The advantage of this is that the tea leaves will not mix with the tea water, and this also avoids the phenomenon of tea leaves entering the mouth when drinking tea. In this way, it is more convenient to use a tea strainer, and its usage is also relatively simple. Let us understand how to use a tea strainer.

How to use a tea strainer

1. The tea bowl, also known as the tea strainer, is one of the main tea utensils in the Han Chinese tea art. It is often used when brewing oolong tea in a small pot. It is placed at the mouth of the pot to facilitate the placement of tea leaves and prevent them from leaking.

2. It is convenient to pour tea water into the teapot to stabilize the teapot. It can effectively filter out various impurities remaining in the tea soup, preserve the substances in the tea soup that are beneficial to the human body, make the taste smooth and the color translucent, and greatly enhance the pleasure of tea tasting.

3. Source: According to the "Four Utensils" listed in Lu Yu's "The Classic of Tea", together with the appendix, there are a total of 29 items used for boiling tea, drinking tea, filtering tea bags, roasting tea and storing tea. It can be seen that the development of tea utensils in the Tang Dynasty was already considerable.

Features of tea strainers of various materials:

1. Metal material

This type of tea strainer mainly includes sterling silver, stainless steel, etc. Pure silver is easily oxidized and is rarely used in daily life. Stainless steel tea strainers should be the first popular tea strainers.

Advantages: durable and affordable.

Disadvantages: First, it is difficult to avoid rust after long-term use; second, the metal smell may have a slight impact on the tea; third, the mesh holes are not fine enough, and small particles can usually still be found at the bottom of the tea soup.

Although stainless steel tea strainers are not susceptible to breakage or damage, they are prone to accumulation of tea stains and rust spots over time, making them difficult to clean and maintain hygiene.

2. Animal and plant materials

This type of tea strainer is commonly seen in the market as a gourd tea strainer, and there are even tea strainers made of conch and shells.

Advantages: Original ecology, green and environmentally friendly, and probably not cheap.

Disadvantages: easy to have odor, not durable, easy to accumulate tea stains and difficult to clean.

3. Ceramic

It is quite common in the market now.

Advantages: The mesh is fine, durable and easy to clean.

Disadvantages: Tea scale is easily accumulated after long-term use and is difficult to clean. Pottery inevitably has a certain adsorption capacity and absorbs some tea flavors. Different teas may have a slight effect on each other.

4. Purple sand material

There are already some purple clay tea strainers on the market that are exquisitely made and use fine materials. The purple clay tea strainer has many similarities with ordinary ceramic tea strainers, but the purple clay tea strainer can be nourished. Just like the purple clay teapot and purple clay cup, it will become more moist with use. As long as it is cleaned promptly after use, the purple clay tea strainer will add a bit of fun to play with.

However, purple clay tea strainers are generally not suitable for testing the brewing of tea. After all, purple clay has the function of absorbing tea aroma and flavor, which may have a slight effect on the tea.