Fairness pitcher (cha hai)
A small jug that the whole infusion is poured into before being distributed to cups. Its purpose is in its Chinese name — gong dao bei, 'fairness cup': because the first liquor out of a vessel is weaker than the last, pouring into a pitcher first ensures every cup is identical.
Identity
- Category
- Serving vessel
- Native name
- 公道杯
- Romanised
- cha hai, gong dao bei, chahai
- Also called
- serving pitcher, gong dao bei, cha hai
- Material
- Glass, porcelain or clay
- Typical capacity
- 150–350 ml
- 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
Chinese, and part of gongfu practice. The glass version is popular because it lets liquor colour be judged.
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
Pouring back and forth between cups achieves the same evening-out, less elegantly. For one drinker it is unnecessary; for several it solves a real problem.
This one is not marked essential. The tea can be made without it.
Brewing methods it is used for
- Gongfu brewing (gaiwan) — A high-leaf, low-volume, many-infusions approach: a great deal of leaf in a small vessel, steeped for seconds at a time and poured off completely, repeatedly.
- Gongfu brewing (Yixing pot) — The same short-steep, high-leaf approach as gaiwan gongfu, carried out in a small unglazed clay pot that seasons over time and is dedicated to one tea.
Care and maintenance
Rinse with hot water. Glass shows tannin staining sooner than porcelain.
Other serving vessels
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.
In the chronology
- Documented from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries — Gongfu cha takes shape in Chaozhou
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.
Written comparisons
Where TeaHQ has set this piece of teaware against something it is routinely confused with, and argued the differences out in full.
- Pouring into a fairness pitcher vs pouring straight into cups — The first liquor out of a vessel is weaker than the last, so pouring a single infusion into several cups in sequence gives everyone a different drink. The pitcher exists to solve exactly that, and its Chinese name — gong dao bei, ‘fairness cup’ — says so.
- Water cooling bowl vs fairness pitcher — Two intermediate vessels that sit between the kettle and the cup and do opposite jobs. The Korean sukwoo cools water before it reaches the leaf; the Chinese cha hai equalises tea after it has left the leaf.