Bamboo Digital Tea Scale (Cha Ze & Cha He)

A bamboo tea scoop with a 0.1g scale built into one end. You measure the leaf and tip it into the pot with the same tool, so there's no second gadget sitting on the tea table.

In Chinese this shape is a cha ze (茶则), the long scoop used to measure dry leaf and carry it to the pot. This one does both jobs. The trough is deep enough to present the leaf properly, and the tip narrows into a curve so the leaf slides into a gaiwan or teapot without scattering.

Why weigh the leaf

For western brewing, a spoon is usually close enough. Gongfu is where it starts to matter. You're putting 5 to 8 grams into a 100ml pot and brewing it eight or ten times, and a gram either way changes the strength of every one of those steeps. In our experience that's what makes a session repeatable, so when you land on a ratio you like you can get back to it next week.

It reads to 0.1g, fine enough to tell 5.2g of oolong from 5.8g. That gap is easy to taste in a small pot.

Using it

Touch the panel to wake the display. Tip your leaf into the trough and read the weight. One touch zeroes it, so you can weigh, add a little more, and zero again as you go.

The screen sits flush in the bamboo and disappears when it's off, so between sessions it just reads as a bamboo scoop. It powers down on its own after three minutes. Charging is over USB and the port is tucked into the seam between the bamboo and the panel, out of sight.

The bamboo is cut from aged stock and carved by hand, so the grain runs differently on every one. The back panel is finished in black with a gold border and an engraved verse.

What comes with it

• The bamboo scale
• A bamboo tea needle
• A cloth
• USB charging cable
• Kraft gift box

Specifications

• Material: natural bamboo, hand-carved
• Size: 190 x 60 x 10mm
• Capacity: up to 500g
• Increments: 0.1g
• Display: backlit digital readout
• Power: rechargeable battery, USB charging
• Auto power-off: 3 minutes
• Controls: touch panel, one-touch zero
  

Care

The electronics sit inside the bamboo, so this one can't go near water. Wipe it with a dry cloth and let it air if it picks up moisture. Don't soak it or run it under the tap, and keep it off the wet part of your tea tray.

If you want to handle one before you buy, we keep it at the Tea Bar at Salamanca. 

Related

Tea Accessories  /  Gaiwan  /  Teapots