Asian Tea Sets
Asian Tea Sets contain all the implements used in an Asian tea ceremony. There is a wide range of styles, materials, shapes, and sizes available for each piece within the set. The primary pieces are the tea bowl, tea cloth, tea caddy, tea scoop, tea whisk, and teacups.
The tea cloth is normally a small piece of cloth made of white linen or even hemp cloth. This cloth is used to clean the tea bowl. The tea bowl itself would also be called the teapot in western society. The tea bowl would normally be shaped relative to the temperature during the ceremony. The deeper bowls would be used in winter because they can keep the tea warmer for a longer period of time. Shallow bowls for summer would allow the tea to cool quicker. These days when most ceremonies are performed in a temperature controlled environment the bowls are various depths.
Asian tea sets will also include the tea caddy or tea canister, which is the container in which the tea powder for the ceremony is kept. This container is usually airtight. The tea scoop is normally made of ivory, wood, or bamboo. If it is made of any of these materials it should be carved from a single source and not made from several pieces. The style and color of the scoop is specific to the culture and reason for the specific tea ceremony. The scoop is small and just the right size for a single scoop to handle enough tea to make the tea in the tea bowl. There are larger ceremonial tea scoops that are necessary to move the tea from however it is primarily stored into the specific tea caddy for the ceremony. These larger scoops are not part of the traditional tea ceremony and are not normally shown to guests.
The tea whisk is the tool that is used to combine the tea with the hot water that is in the tea bowl. The whisk is traditionally made from bamboo. It too is usually made from a single piece and not from combined pieces. These tea whisks are only used one time per formal ceremony. It is acceptable to use a tea whisk repeatedly in everyday life, but for a tea ceremony the tea whisk will be new each time.
These are the exact materials contained in all complete Asian tea sets. The colors, shapes, sizes, and materials for most of the tea set is dependent upon the wants, needs, and tastes of the purchaser. But any true Asian tea set should contain each of these items.
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