Where the glass meets the tea road
Sandry Law first encountered the challenge of mobile tea service during a procurement trip to Lincang, watching a tea master brew Yinzhen at a roadside stall with nothing but a cracked porcelain gaiwan and chipped cups. Back in Kunming, he sketched the idea of a travel kit that would survive a bumpy minivan ride yet display tea with gallery-grade transparency. The pair edition was born from a later request by Hinson Tse, Head Tea Sommelier, who needed a set compact enough for two-person tastings in hotel rooms. Working with a small glass atelier in Yunnanyi that had been crafting laboratory borosilicate since the 1990s, Sandry refined the wall thickness to 1.2mm — enough for durability without sacrificing thermal feedback for the fingers. The 200ml pitcher pours without dribbling, a detail tested over dozens of lapsang sessions in makeshift cupping labs. For the canvas roll, a local workshop near Dianchi Lake stitched a waxed cotton case with individual padded compartments, using a vintage Japanese travel-luggage pattern. Each set is assembled by hand, the glass lips fire-polished to a soft rim. The result is a kit that travels as gracefully as a tea case from a 1930s expedition, yet shows off every leaf dance like a contemporary brew bar.