From a bamboo carver’s bench in Dali
Michael Zhan came across this brush on a sourcing trip through western Yunnan in late autumn 2025. While visiting a small family workshop outside Dali known for bamboo weaving, he noticed the carver’s personal tray brush — a bundle of locally cut bamboo twigs, bound by hand with cotton twine. It wasn’t made for sale, just for the family’s daily tea sessions. Michael sat for several rounds of sheng pu-erh and watched how the stiff but springy bristles cleaned the wood tray without scratching it, leaving the surface dry and ready for the next brew. He asked to see the binding technique up close. Over the following weeks he worked with the carver to produce a small batch using the same Tengchong bamboo — chosen for its dense fibers that resist swelling and never snag on wood grain. Each brush is trimmed by feel, then bound with eight turns of cotton twine that tightens as it dries. The result is a tool so simple it feels inevitable: silent, stable, and exactly the right amount of stiff. We now carry this brush year-round as an essential for anyone who works on a wooden tea tray. It’s the kind of object you don’t think about until you reach for it, and then you realize it’s been missing from your session all along.