Scale or teaspoon?
So, what say you?
I’ve always just used the teaspoon to measure tea, but I love gadgets and am strangely drawn by the idea of weighing my tea leaves.
Then again, I’m starting to learn that finding the right temp, steeping time, and amount of leaves for each tea is a kind of personal thing and requires some trial and error. In that case (since for each tea you might use a different amount) is it silly to use a scale? Once you learn how much tea you like to use for each variety, isn’t the teaspoon just as good?
Opinions! :)
I think a teaspoon or scoop is easiest but it is fine to use a scale. Whatever you prefer I think. I often “eyeball” my measurements.
i inherited a 2 gr. silver teaspoon from my nan, along with a silver teasieve.
will never ever part with these items for all the gold (and tea) in the world lol :)
I use a spoon. I try to use the same one every time as I have a good idea of what it holds, but for me a scale is way too exact. Weighing tea sounds like more of a science experiment than a relaxing afternoon cuppa – but again, that’s just me!
I use the palm of my hand. I figured out the correct palm measurement to spoon measurement which of course gets adjusted by weight and type of tea.
I usually do similar, either my palm or just pull out by hand what “looks right” for my steeper
i saw that this is also how the tea guy in All in This Tea does it :)
Teaspoon for sure. You wont really save much if you weigh each pot.
I see a trend in these answers! LOL… Okay, looks like I can’t justify a new gadget. :)
you can still use a scale if you want to swap by the oz or split an order with a friend :) smaller leafed teas weigh more in a teaspoon than full leaf.
If you are getting a digital scale which measures in grams, either you will have to pay a lot for a very very precise scale (which will probably will put you on some police watch list, domestic users who want things measured decimal or centesimal grams precision are often selling you know what) or you will have a lot of imprecision. Error on my digital scales is half a gram of course, and there are other error factors, for example if you are putting what you are measuring in the right center of the scale or not. Using the rest button will mean the value shown is the subtraction of two values each with their own .5 gram errors, so total error can be up to 1 gram. A potential 1 gram error on a 2 (?) gram dose, just eye it. BTW scoops are not reliable either, ctc or fannings, use very little, if a large leafed tea of course you need more – if for nothing else (and there is) just to make sure you get the same volume. Just eye it.
Lol… Good point. I did notice the reviews of scales with precision of .01g sounded like they were written by people weighing something much stronger than tea. ;)
I have found my cheap $12 scale to be remarkably consistent for weighing small values on the order of 3 grams. It reads to .01 grams, and is repeatable to on the order of .02 grams, or about 1% for most tea measurements.
Frankly, though, It’s hard to be that precise in how much tea goes on the scale. I aim for about 2.7 grams +/- 0.2 grams.
I really like the scale because of the great variation of density of teas. The difference between an Assam and a Sencha can be a factor of 10; the scale helps me make repeatable pots. When I use a tablespoon to save time I sometimes wind up with a much too weak or strong brew.
The scales are really nice to have though for other things, such as doing trades, and shipping from home via paypal for example!
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