Alcohol burner
A small reservoir of denatured alcohol with a wick, used under a kettle or a serving pot. It gives more heat than a tealight and much less than an element or charcoal, which places it accurately: it will hold a pot at temperature and will not boil a kettle from cold in any reasonable time.
Identity
- Category
- Accessory
- Also called
- spirit burner, denatured alcohol stove, tealight alternative
- Material
- Glass, brass or steel reservoir with a fibre wick
- Skill level
- Intermediate
Porosity
Not porous. It contributes nothing of its own to the liquor, so it can be moved between teas freely and washed with detergent without consequence.
Where it comes from
Modern and international, used with samovar-style urns, table warmers and portable tea sets.
Named here rather than presented as generic equipment. The object belongs to a practice, and TeaHQ describes it from the outside.
If you do not own one
A tealight for holding heat, an electric plate for producing it. The burner’s advantage is that it needs no power, which matters outdoors and nowhere else.
This one is not marked essential. The tea can be made without it.
Brewing methods it is used for
- Boiling aged and dark tea (zhu cha) — Compressed or aged dark tea put into a kettle of water and brought to a simmer rather than steeped. It is a normal winter preparation for Liu Bao, aged shou pu-erh, brick tea and tea nuggets, and it is also what a gongfu session’s exhausted leaf is for.
- Western brewing (teapot or mug) — A small amount of leaf in a large volume of water, steeped once for a few minutes and then strained off. The approach most English-speaking drinkers already know, and the one most teas sold in the West are made for.
Tea types it suits
Care and maintenance
Let it cool completely before refilling — refilling a hot burner is the accident these cause. Cap it when not in use or the alcohol evaporates. The flame is nearly invisible in daylight, which is worth knowing before reaching over one.
Other accessorys
- Cha dao utensil set
- Cha he (tea presentation vessel)
- Charcoal brazier (fenglu)
- Cup stand (chatuo)
- Electric ceramic tea stove
- Futaoki (lid and ladle rest)
- Hishaku (bamboo water ladle)
- Induction plate
- Kensui (waste water vessel)
- Kusenaoshi (whisk stand)
- Mortar and pestle
- Podstakannik (glass holder)
- Ro and furo (hearth and brazier)
- Ryoro (senchado charcoal stove)
- Stone tea mill
- Tea boat
- Tea cloth
- Tea cosy
- Tea mat (chaxi cloth)
- Tea pet
- Tea pick (cha dao)
- Tea tongs
- Tea tray (cha pan)
- Teapot warmer
- Waste water bowl (jianshui)
- Water cooling bowl (sukwoo)
- Water filter jug
- Yuzamashi (water cooler)
Sources
This page is TeaHQ synthesis. No external source stands behind the description, the material or the account of how the object is cared for. Where the record names a tradition, that attribution is TeaHQ’s own reading of common practice rather than a citation.
TeaHQ names no maker, brand or shop and has nothing to sell. Nothing on this page should be read as advice to buy the object — the substitute note above exists because owning it is usually optional.