Slatted Bamboo Tea Tray with Water Reservoir and Drain for Gongfu Tea

A slatted bamboo tea tray with a water reservoir built in underneath. Pour, rinse and spill as freely as gongfu-style brewing asks you to, and every drop runs through the slats and out of sight instead of across the table.

No towel under the pot. No puddle creeping toward the cups. No mopping up halfway through a pot. Brew on it, and drain it when you are done.

Brewing this way is wet work

Small-pot brewing uses a lot of water that never reaches a cup. You warm the pot and the cups with hot water before tipping it away, then rinse the leaves and pour that off too. You fill the pot to the brim for every infusion so the lid seats cleanly, and the overflow runs down its sides.

On a bare table all of that turns into a spreading puddle or a pile of damp cloths. Here it lands on the slats and drops straight through into the reservoir below. The surface you are working on stays clear, and the table under the tray stays dry.

A drain on the side, so you never tip it out

The tray comes in two parts. The slatted top sits inside the rim of a shallow box, and that box is the reservoir. Low on one long side there is a small threaded outlet, closed with a knurled, gold-toned screw cap.

When you have finished, carry the tray to the sink, unscrew the cap and let the water run out of the side. There is no balancing a box of cold tea while you lift the top off. When you do want to get inside it, the slatted top lifts straight out and leaves the whole box open.

Bamboo slats in a deep brown finish

The top is a run of rounded bamboo slats laid lengthwise, with narrow gaps between them, set inside a plain flat border. The finish is a deep brown with a warm, reddish undertone, and the grain of the bamboo still shows through it. The corners of the box are clipped at a slight angle, a small detail that keeps the outline neat on a desk or a low table.

It comes in two sizes. The Small is long and narrow and works nicely on a desk or a side table with a gaiwan and a few cups, while the Large gives a teapot, a pitcher and a row of cups room to share the slats. Either way, the tea goes in the cups and the rest goes underneath.

Specifications

Material: Bamboo

Color: Dark brown

Top: Removable slatted panel

Reservoir: Built into the base, under the slatted top

Drain: Threaded side outlet with a screw-on cap

Small dimensions: 11.8 x 7.1 x 1.6 in (30 x 18 x 4 cm)

Large dimensions: 15.7 x 11 x 1.6 in (40 x 28 x 4 cm)

Sizes: Small, Large

Use: Gongfu-style tea brewing and serving tea

Package Includes

1x Slatted Bamboo Tea Tray (Small or Large)