Tea scale

Can someone recommend me a tea scale? I've been looking but I can't tell if any of this will be reliable or not.

My requirements:

Small
Relatively inexpensive... say under $60
Tare... I don't want to have to remember the weight of my weighing vessel
Reasonably accurate for amounts under 25g

I bought one from Upton Tea Imports.

Digital Pocket Tea Scale

Looks like it would cover all your requirements.

Depending on how you feel about waiting for shipping, DealExtreme has some really good deals, like here.

Keep in mind, thought, it will probably take 3-4 weeks for your stuff to get here. That site's full of niftyness.

There is a wide selection on amazon.com.

I'm a big fan of the scientific method (see avatar), but not having a scale has forced me to pay attention, resulting in better brews.

I recently ordered a scale from Scott at Yunnan Sourcing. I am still waiting for its arrival. Surface shipping teaches one patience definitely.

I have not been using a scale but recently I began to be focused on precise brewing of my teas. I kept doubting my brewing when teas taste different tham the previous sessions or different than my expectation.

A scale would help me to enjoy the tea sessions more. Not knowing exactly how much I put in can be a bothersome thought sometimes.

I looked at a lot of scales before choosing the palmscale 7.0 for coffee and tea, it meets your requirements and then some. Lifetime warranty, comes with calibration weights too. I have been very pleased with it and bought it from one of their distributors.

I agree with ouch in that measured quantities give measurably better results.

I like that palmscale. Unfortunately, my palmscale is attached to my forearm.

All I'm looking for is something that can teach me what 7g and 10g of tea looks like so I can get the hang of this. Sort of like a bartender. The bartender generally won't use a measure for each pour. That said, he'll check his visual measuring against a jigger pretty frequently to make sure he is still accurate.

My sessions seem to be varying wildly even using the same tea. When that happens to me, I try to find ways to be more consistent so I can reach a baseline. I've been doing the puerh thing for a few weeks now and I'm enjoying myself but I'm frustratingly inconsistent.

I see that. It's a great way to learn it. The thing that gets me are the ubercompressed cakes. What feels small actually turns out to be a monster volume of leaves - "never too proud to remove leaves from the pot", that's my motto!


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

(You can always add them back in later, when the brew's wearing out.)

I also have the one from Scott, and I enjoy it quite a bit. For a couple years I was brewing without a scale, but the addition of a scale the past few months has immediately resulted in better brews overall. It's a better test for teas. Also I've been enjoying the consistency it provides.

ouch said:

I like that palmscale. Unfortunately, my palmscale is attached to my forearm.

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I was one thinking... how about those small scales that teens use for... cough cough... herbs.

Some are quite simple and cheap. I'm not an expert, but around here a lot of store keep "smoking accessories".

cybrok said:

I was one thinking... how about those small scales that teens use for... cough cough... herbs.

Some are quite simple and cheap. I'm not an expert, but around here a lot of store keep "smoking accessories".

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They are perfect for tea measuring. In the end, tea leaves can be considered "weed". We just don't smoke them. Or has anyone tried?

joyfulwoogie said:

They are perfect for tea measuring. In the end, tea leaves can be considered "weed". We just don't smoke them. Or has anyone tried?

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I worked with someone who tried, he said it smelled just like pot. I don't think it's as healthy to smoke the tea though.

I am firmly in the "let the tea tell me how much to use" camp.

cybrok said:

I worked with someone who tried, he said it smelled just like pot. I don't think it's as healthy to smoke the tea though.

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Yeah, I figure. If it was any good, it wouldn't be drinking these tea out of these leaves. I might just burn some leaves to see what the smell is like.

I might mix up the ashes with my clay and see later how the clay fires differently. It might give an interesting colour to the tea ware. Wouldn't it be cool to have a tea cups made out of tea ash?