Tea dosing spoon
A scoop for transferring leaf from caddy to vessel. It measures volume, and tea is dosed by mass, and those two things track each other badly: a scoop of dense rolled oolong and the same scoop of airy white tea are nowhere near the same weight, which is why one spoonful of one and one spoonful of another are not comparable doses.
Identity
- Category
- Measurement
- Native name
- 茶則
- Romanised
- cha ze, chaze
- Also called
- tea measure, leaf scoop, measuring spoon
- Material
- Bamboo, wood, porcelain or steel
- Skill level
- Beginner
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
The Chinese cha ze is a shaped trough for pouring leaf into a narrow-mouthed pot; comparable measures exist everywhere tea is sold loose.
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 teaspoon, with the same caveat. A scale removes the problem entirely, and weighing a few doses is enough to calibrate the eye permanently.
This one is not marked essential. The tea can be made without it.
Brewing methods it is used 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.
- Mug infuser brewing — Loose leaf in a basket inside a mug — the most common way loose tea is actually made, and the method most often responsible for people concluding that loose leaf is not worth the trouble.
- 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.
Care and maintenance
Keep it dry and keep it out of the caddy between uses, where a damp scoop introduces moisture to leaf that must stay dry.
Other measurements
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.
Written comparisons
Where TeaHQ has set this piece of teaware against something it is routinely confused with, and argued the differences out in full.
- Weighing tea vs measuring by spoon — A spoon is a volume and tea is dosed by weight, and the gap between them is larger than almost anyone expects. A scale is a calibration tool rather than a permanent ritual, which is the part people resist.