A tasting bench’s answer to sample storage
Gao Liuzhou began making these sets for her own bench first. Between gaiwan firings she was already testing amber tints and rim finishes on a dozen small samples at once, and mismatched jars with lids that leaked aroma made the comparison unreliable. A set that was as transparent as the tasting process itself — literally — turned out to be worth making in batches.
The 100ml format is large enough for a proper visual assessment of the dry leaf, small enough that a week’s rotation doesn’t leave any single tea going stale before it’s finished. Walls are thinner than a commercial jar, which keeps the set light and lets leaf colour read clearly under a lamp. The cork stoppers are cut slightly oversized and shaved down by hand until each seats with a soft, definite pop — chosen over silicone or metal for the way cork’s micro-porosity lets a jar breathe without picking up outside odours.
The bamboo tray is sized so six jars sit without touching, with a low lip that catches stray leaf fragments during a busy tasting session. Because the set uses offcut glass rather than a dedicated production run, it ships free with orders rather than being sold on its own — paid shipping only.