🍵A budget gongfu setup, under $100

Priority order for spending, and the one place a cheap substitute doesn't hurt the cup.

spend here first, nine dollars and it's outlasted every fancier one people warned me i'd want instead

Glass fairness pitcher (chahai)

(rinse first), cheap glass holds onto soap smell forever and you will not notice until the tea tastes like a dish sponge

Four plain porcelain tasting cups, 30-40ml

0.1g digital pocket scale

the highest value purchase in the whole list. i skipped it for months and just guessed

Variable temperature kettle

cheap substitutes hurt this one the most. bad temp control is why beginners think all oolong tastes the same

Small bamboo tea tray with drainage

A bar towel instead of a proper tea cloth

resteeps well, or so everyone with the nicer clay tells me. not part of the under $100 version of this, more of a someday

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