Tea cloth
An absorbent cloth kept beside the tray during a gongfu session for wiping the base of a pot before pouring and mopping spills as they happen. Minor, and the thing most likely to be missing from a first setup.
Identity
- Category
- Accessory
- Native name
- 茶巾
- Romanised
- cha jin
- Also called
- chakin
- Material
- Cotton or linen
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 Japanese practice alike, though the Japanese chakin used in chanoyu has a specific folded form and a different role.
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
Any lint-free cloth. Kitchen paper works and disintegrates.
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.
- Whisking (bowl-prepared powdered tea) — Powdered leaf suspended in water rather than steeped and strained — the only common preparation in which the leaf itself is consumed rather than discarded.
Care and maintenance
Wash without fabric softener. Softener residue transfers to vessels and is detectable in the cup.
Other accessorys
- Alcohol burner
- 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 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.