Last Updated on 09/23/2020 by Desmond
Bamboo takes an essential situation in east culture. The straight and stiffness body emblems the right-minded personality character; that’s what the east people value most. In China, bamboo grows everywhere. They grow quickly and are the most suitable material for producing articles of daily use. Tea lovers will not miss them and make them into bamboo teaware. Ancient Chinese love the bamboo tea sets a lot, especially the poets, because the concise looks match the honest morality they want to show.
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The Pros of Bamboo Teawares
Compared with other teaware in different materials, bamboo teaware seems with fewer audiences. But the unique pros it got are the others can not rival.
Concise
The appearance of bamboo teaware seems not right to describe with the word beautiful. In most people’s opinion, the bamboo teaware has a natural and concise look. The unique texture shows a different feeling than the wooden ones. And in the Chinese mind, bamboo means a lot.
Bamboo needs about 7 years to grow up. In the first 5 years, it growing slow. But after 5 years, the growing rate quickened rapidly. In fact, it roots underground hard in the previous period, and waiting a chance to be a wow; That emblems patience. Besides, the bamboo body sections, in Chinese, it means upright and strong. That’s why many ancient Chinese poets called bamboo as gentlemen, and they like to use bamboo teawares drinking tea.
Sturdy
Just like the wooden one, bamboo teawares are light and sturdy. Even though the hardness is not as good the glass and ceramics teawares, its strength is better, and will not break by falling down. Neither hurt other tea sets by being too hard nor easily broken by improper operation. That’s why most tea tray is typically made from bamboo.
Low Cost
Bamboo harvest much faster than wood, and it has a strong vitality and low requirement for the environment. Bamboo got a rich source and easy to be processed, so makes the bamboo teaware cost low.
Due to its low price, most of them were not suitable for collection; but some quality goods got a collect value. Besides, bamboo is a natural material, it can be recycled easily and friendly to the environment.
The Cons of Bamboo Teaware
Bamboo teaware inevitably got some cons, and these cons lead to the small market share it got.
Nondurable
Even though bamboo teaware is very sturdy, it still easy to craze because of the material performances. It’s not like the glass teaware, which may break suddenly by Expansion and Contraction, bamboo one will be cracking slowly. At first, you may not notice these tiny crack, but someday you will found it become large.
What is a pity, the crazing problem is inevitable. Because there is much air in the bamboo interior structure. As time goes by, the whole body will be out of shape by the Expansion and Contraction and lead to crack. The wooden teaware also has this problem.
Hard To Clean
Some cheap bamboo tea sets may have rough selvage because it hasn’t been polished, making the tea stain easy to left on the surface and hard to clean. Even though polished, it will also accumulate tea stain after a long time because of the cracks. Some manufacturers will paint protective paint on it, make the surface smooth, and reduce the cracking. But it’s not sure whether this paint will be harmful to the human body.
Hard To Store
This problem also comes from the tiny cracks on the bamboo teaware. Except for easy to be out of shape, little bugs also like to live in it or bite the bamboo in some tropical countries. So it is immense trouble the bamboo teaware maintenance, needs to control the temperature and air humidity well, and the moth problem. Some bamboo tea containers, which stores well, can be a good antique.
Bamboo Teaware Common Styles
Bamboo has a concise look. When tea masters make it into tea sets, they only take minimal processing. Under simple cutting, engraving, weaving, and bonding, to make the most nature-close design.
Bamboo Teacup
There are natural compartments inside the bamboo, which can take as the bottom of a cup. Only a knife that you can easy to make a bamboo teacup. To be precise, compared with traditional Chinese teacups, the bamboo teacup looks more like a mug. Do more on the processing, it can even make a beautiful Japanese style teacup.
Bamboo Tea Tray
The bamboo tea tray may be the most usual bamboo tea set. It has a concise look and a natural texture. What is most important, the price is low; that is the most optimal tea tray for a beginner. But there is one thing that needs to pay attention, every time after using must dry it at all, and do not place it where the sunshine is hard.
Related Reading: Common Tea Trays’ Pros & Cons.
Tea Art Six Gentlemen
Tea art six gentlemen also called tea props, they are essential in the traditional Chinese tea ceremony. Almost all the tea art six gentlemen are made from bamboo. Some senior tea masters can make the whole set by just two sections of bamboo; it makes them got a more unitive color and texture.
Related Reading: How To Use Tea Art Six Gentlemen In A Proper Way.
Bamboo Tea Storage Can
Except for making teacup, the shape of bamboo also suitable to make tea storage can. But it is easy to be affected with damp and become moldy; long time storage will negatively affect the tea. So people typically make a tin lining, or just store such as green tea, which no need to aging.
Related Reading: How To Choose A Right Tea Storage Can For Your Tea.
Bamboo Weaving Tea Sets
There is a unique type of bamboo tea set from Chengdu, China, which is made in a weaving way. Unlike the common teawares, the real body of bamboo weaving tea set is ceramics, but took a “bamboo coat.”
It got a delicate appearance and combine the pros of both ceramic and bamboo teawares. When you were careless and knocked over the tea set, the soft bamboo coat can take a buffer effect and reduce the break rate. Besides, when you having hot tea, it can also protect you from burn hands.
How To Pick Bamboo Teaware
If you going to buy some bamboo teawares, here come 4 tips that may help you.
- Touch the teaware’s surface to feel whether there is any splinter left. That may hurt you when using it. When you touching, be gentle and careful, avoid to get the splinter in your fingers;
- Look carefully when touching to check the surface, whether it is level. Some little projection parts may increase the risk of crack. Also, check whether there are any cracks. If so, this bamboo teaware may have been in out of shape;
- Check the teaware, whether it has been moldy or moth-eaten. This not only effects the tea quality but also harmful to health. If you are going to buy a bamboo tea storage container, you also need to check whether the cover can be closed tightly;
- See if there any protect paint on the surface. Even though it helps to the teaware, but it may dissolve something bad chemical substances and harmful to health, or affects the tea quality;
How To Maintain Bamboo Teaware
Bamboo teaware cost cheap, but it may be more challenging than any other teawares in different materials on the maintenance job.
- A proper storage place. The place for storing bamboo tea sets is stringent. Too high air humidity may lead to mildew or moth-eaten; too dry may lead to craze and out of shape. So the best choice is to store it at a ventilated, not so dark but without the direct sunshine;
- Avoid to be heated and cool down suddenly. Even though it doesn’t as fragile as the glass teawares, sudden heating and cool down also may the bamboo teaware to craze;
- Sunbathing sometime. A bamboo teaware during long time storage, it is better to give it a sunbathing occasionally. It can prevent it from the moldy and moth-eaten problems. But don’t let it under the strong sunshine too long;
- Clean in time. Even time after using, clean it up in time, do not let any tea stain left, and dry it up thorough after clean;
