Tray Advice

[abnyc]

Looking for a drawer-style tea tray, any opinions on the following?

https://teaware.house/collections/tools ... en-teatray

https://teaware.house/collections/tools ... e-wood-cha

https://yunnansourcing.com/collections/ ... -45-x-33cm

I worry the YS one may be a bit too big, but don't know what quality to expect from the two teaware.house ones.

[William]

I personally use a setup similar to this one (photo from teaism99 blog): https://teaism99.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/image.jpeg

All you need is a dish for your teapot, and (eventually) one for your cups. That's it!

[abnyc]

I personally use a setup similar to this one (photo from teaism99 blog): https://teaism99.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/image.jpeg

All you need is a dish for your teapot, and (eventually) one for your cups. That's it!

I see the logic in that, but since I'm likely to have a cup, pitcher, gaiwan, pot, and strainer out at any given time, it would be easiest to have them all in one place.

[William]

I personally use a setup similar to this one (photo from teaism99 blog): https://teaism99.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/image.jpeg

All you need is a dish for your teapot, and (eventually) one for your cups. That's it!

I see the logic in that, but since I'm likely to have a cup, pitcher, gaiwan, pot, and strainer out at any given time, it would be easiest to have them all in one place.

Oh, I see abnyc. Then I can't be of any help, since I never used any of those trays.
Let's wait for someone with firsthand experience!

[Psyck]

I use this bamboo tea tray:
http://www.dragonteahouse.biz/solar-cir ... y-50-29cm/
Similar in size and material to the YS one I suppose.
The Teaware house ones appear to be made of better quality woods.

The tray has been functioning perfectly and I'm happy with it. My suggestion for you would be to go for the one that you find the most aesthetically pleasing.

[kuánglóng]

I bought two bamboo trays in Yunnan, one with a removable, slotted lid and a larger tray with a drainage pipe. I prefer the latter one, mainly because it's significantly flatter - YMMV.

[abnyc]

I use this bamboo tea tray:
http://www.dragonteahouse.biz/solar-cir ... y-50-29cm/
Similar in size and material to the YS one I suppose.
The Teaware house ones appear to be made of better quality woods.

The tray has been functioning perfectly and I'm happy with it. My suggestion for you would be to go for the one that you find the most aesthetically pleasing.

My concern with the teaware house trays was that they'd be made with mid-low quality wood (be more prone to cracking) and/or be poorly assembled, whereas while bamboo is supposedly a worse material for trays, the YS tray claims to be "high-density bamboo" and looks well put together.

[steanze]

I second William's suggestion. You can use a small tablecloth and keep your things there, including the plate with the pot/gaiwan currently in use. I used to use trays too, but then realized that they are not so aesthetically pleasing. A dish setup creates a better environment in my opinion, and gives you more flexibility to vary your setup.

[ethan]

If $ is a concern, I would not buy a tea tray. One can improvise to set up for looks and practicality. I use a worn silver-plated tray mainly and a plastic tray covered by a colorful hand towel for secondary items. I have more towels nearby for spills etc. All these items were in the apartment not being used until I grabbed them for tea.
The tray is not useful for dumping waste water but a bowl is not ugly and easy to empty when full.

[Psyck]

My concern with the teaware house trays was that they'd be made with mid-low quality wood (be more prone to cracking) and/or be poorly assembled, whereas while bamboo is supposedly a worse material for trays, the YS tray claims to be "high-density bamboo" and looks well put together.

I would not worry too much about the quality of wood and possibilities of cracking. Trays of this kind are usually made of well treated wood and as long as you use them regularly thereby keeping occasionally moist, they should last fine.

[stevorama]

I use something like the yunnan sourcing tray for quick brewing before going to work in the morning. The wood holds up pretty well unless the wood is submerged for a prolonged period.

When I have time I do the other set-up mentioned (plate/bowl, cloth, etc.) That's my preference. I use a ceramic waste water bowl too.

[Alucard]

I like using just a towel, but also use table often. I got this table from chawangshop.

[chrl42]

Wood wares are light but often not durable...

Stone wares are durable but to hard that can break teawares.

Good tea trays should satisfy 3 points, these are, durable, light (or soft) and absorbent.

So bakelite tea trays became the most popular (somewhat pricey) tea trays among Gongfu drinkers. But some don't like it, says it looks too simple and lacks aesthetics..

William's traditional Gongfu formation is also a good choice..

In China, there are too, too many tea trays..really good designs and materials are being updated everyday....so I just stick to a bakelite one.

[Bok]

If you like the wabi sabi style, just use a nice piece of wood, plank, drift wood, old window blind etc. the possibilities are endless and most likely more pleasing than those bamboo/wood trays which you can find in the zillions on taobao. Personally the obsolete Chinese characters/dragons whatever are also quite off-putting

Used to have one back then as well, but the change from Asia to Europe did not bode well for it, different climate made it crack.

Nice alternative are vintage or antique trays (western style) which you might find on your local thrift shop, fleamarket.