New Tea Tray Magic

My husband bought me this beautiful new tea tray for Christmas. 

I loved my old tea tray, but it had one ultimately fatal flaw: a wooden base.  I didn’t realize this would be an issue until the day I found water/tea all over the table and the floor.  After years of use, the wooden base that held excess water/tea had eroded along the cracks and finally broke completely through.  I didn’t leave water in the base for too long after each tea session, so I was rather surprised this happened.

I spent months thinking I was going to fix my beloved tea tray, but that never happened.  I couldn’t find a wood glue that would sustain boiling water temperatures without giving off a horrible aroma.  Without the use of a tea tray, making tea, especially with a gaiwan, was a bit of a hassle.  Therefore, almost without realizing it, I had stopped using gaiwans and yixing pots altogether.  My tea sessions were not as fun as they used to be and I started to lose interest.

All of these realizations came to light when I set up my new tea tray, dusted off all of my tea ware, and made a delicious cup of sencha using my favorite gaiwan and tasting cups.  Not only does this tea tray have a plastic bottom base for catching the water (which won’t erode), but it is slightly bigger that my old tea tray (which means more room for my tea ware).

I can’t wait to make more tea, take more pictures, and write more about this previously neglected hobby.