--- title: 'Brewing vessels' url: 'https://howtotea.me/teaware/brewing-vessels' markdown: 'https://howtotea.me/teaware/brewing-vessels.md' lang: en date: '2026-11-03' description: 'Brewing vessels for gongfu cha: the gaiwan, Yixing teapot, fair cup, cups and tea tray. Typical volumes, materials, and how the spout, lid and filter work.' --- # Brewing vessels Everything on the table between the dry leaf and your lips: the brewing vessel, a fair cup for the decanted liquor, small cups, and a tray with a basin underneath. ![A white gaiwan, a Yixing teapot, a glass pitcher and three cups on a bamboo tea tray](https://howtotea.me/images/c/o/v/e/r/cover-e785ad0b.webp) Illustration In [gongfu cha](https://howtotea.me/brewing/methods/gongfu-cha) every infusion takes the same route: from the brewing vessel into the fair cup, then into the cups, while the water used to warm the teaware drains into a basin. The vessel is most often a [gaiwan](https://howtotea.me/teaware/brewing-vessels/gaiwan), a porcelain bowl with a lid and saucer, usually 100–150 ml. It is traced to the Kangxi reign (1662–1722), became the standard gongfu vessel in the 1970s and 1980s, and suits any type of tea. A [Yixing teapot](https://howtotea.me/teaware/brewing-vessels/yixing) is shaped from unglazed zisha clay, as it has been since the 16th century, and each pot is kept for one type, usually [oolong](https://howtotea.me/teas/oolong), black or [dark tea](https://howtotea.me/teas/dark). How a pot pours depends on its [anatomy](https://howtotea.me/teaware/brewing-vessels/teapot-anatomy): a spout that runs straight or with up to three bends, the filter, the hole in the lid. Chaozhou gongfu calls for pots of 90–150 ml. The whole infusion goes into a [fair cup](https://howtotea.me/teaware/brewing-vessels/chahai) of 150–300 ml, which stops the leaf from steeping. This vessel joined the set in Taiwan in the 1970s and 1980s and has no place in classic Chaozhou practice. [Cups](https://howtotea.me/teaware/brewing-vessels/cups) hold 30–50 ml, two or three sips, and everything stands on a [tea tray](https://howtotea.me/teaware/brewing-vessels/tea-tray), a slatted top over a basin made of bamboo, wood or stone. In this section - [![](https://howtotea.me/images/c/o/v/e/r/cover-dabecee2.webp) Gaiwan 盖碗 A gaiwan is a lidded bowl with a saucer for loose-leaf tea. History, parts, size, grips, teas to brew in it, what to check when buying, how to avoid burns. ](https://howtotea.me/teaware/brewing-vessels/gaiwan) - [![](https://howtotea.me/images/c/o/v/e/r/cover-82a4998a.webp) Yixing teapot 宜兴紫砂壶 The Yixing teapot of zisha clay: how porous walls change the liquor, why each pot is kept for one type of tea, how to care for it and how to spot a fake. ](https://howtotea.me/teaware/brewing-vessels/yixing)[Yixing clays: zini, zhuni, duanni](https://howtotea.me/teaware/brewing-vessels/yixing/clays) · [How a Yixing teapot is made: shaping, marks, classic shapes](https://howtotea.me/teaware/brewing-vessels/yixing/making) · [History of Yixing teapots and their masters](https://howtotea.me/teaware/brewing-vessels/yixing/masters) - [![](https://howtotea.me/images/c/o/v/e/r/cover-06ccabc5.webp) Teapot anatomy 茶壶结构 What a brewing teapot is made of and what each part does: spout, filter, vented lid, handle, size. How to test the pour and cut-off before you buy. ](https://howtotea.me/teaware/brewing-vessels/teapot-anatomy) - [![](https://howtotea.me/images/c/o/v/e/r/cover-a663a20c.webp) Fair cup (chahai) 公道杯 A chahai, or fair cup, collects the whole infusion so every cup gets the same strength. Where it came from, what size and material to pick, how to use it. ](https://howtotea.me/teaware/brewing-vessels/chahai) - [![](https://howtotea.me/images/c/o/v/e/r/cover-2e964158.webp) Cups 品茗杯 Tea cups for gongfu cha: 30–50 ml volume, rim and shape, porcelain, celadon and clay, the wen xiang bei aroma cup, stands and how to pick a cup. ](https://howtotea.me/teaware/brewing-vessels/cups) - [![](https://howtotea.me/images/c/o/v/e/r/cover-374a65d3.webp) Tea tray (cha pan) 茶盘 A cha pan is a tea tray with a drip basin for gongfu cha. How it differs from a tea boat and pot stand, drawer or hose drain, materials and care. ](https://howtotea.me/teaware/brewing-vessels/tea-tray) --- ## Navigation - Parent: [Teaware](https://howtotea.me/teaware.md) - Next: [Tea utensils](https://howtotea.me/teaware/utensils.md) - Children: - [Gaiwan](https://howtotea.me/teaware/brewing-vessels/gaiwan.md) - [Yixing teapot](https://howtotea.me/teaware/brewing-vessels/yixing.md) - [Teapot anatomy: spout, lid, handle and filter](https://howtotea.me/teaware/brewing-vessels/teapot-anatomy.md) - [Fair cup (chahai)](https://howtotea.me/teaware/brewing-vessels/chahai.md) - [Tea cups](https://howtotea.me/teaware/brewing-vessels/cups.md) - [Tea tray (cha pan)](https://howtotea.me/teaware/brewing-vessels/tea-tray.md)