A tea draining tray, tea tray, Gongfu tea tray, or tea sea is an integral piece of equipment for the

Gongfu tea ceremony ''Gongfu'' tea ( Teochew: gang1 hu1 dê5) or ''kung fu'' tea ( zh, c= or zh, c=, p=''both'' gōngfū chá, labels=no), literally "making tea with skill", is a traditional Chinese tea preparation method sometimes called a "tea ceremony". It is ...

. It is essentially a grate, which allows excess and waste liquids to be drained away, and either collected in a pan under the grate, or drained away through a hose that carries the waste water and

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and nor ...

to a bucket or other drain. The Gongfu tea method is used to brew primarily

oolong Oolong or Wulong (, ; ; , "black dragon" tea) is a traditional semi-oxidized Chinese tea (''Camellia sinensis)'' produced through a process that includes withering the leaves under strong sun and allowing some Enzymatic oxidation, oxidation to ...

and

pu-erh ''Pu'er'' or ''pu-erh'' is a variety of fermented tea traditionally produced in Yunnan Province, China. Pu- erh tea is made from the leaves of the Yunnan tea plant ''Camellia sinensis var. assamica'', which is a specific variety of tea plant t ...

teas. A drain system is especially important with pu-erh teas since the first two pots of tea are usually used to soak the tea, and prime the vessels. The tray is also important because the Gongfu style of brewing is messy and wet. All the cups, pots and other serving items are repeatedly rinsed in hot water and tea to ensure that proper temperatures are kept and that the vessels are sanitary, without watering down the tea. When making tea this way, a pot of tea will be brewed 4–10 rounds. Because it is a wet process, the tea draining tray is necessary to keep the process tidy and elegant.

See also