# Gongdaobei (cha hai) (公道杯, gōngdàobēi)

The gongdaobei (公道杯) — "fairness pitcher," also called cha hai — is the vessel into which the liquor is poured from the teapot or gaiwan before serving. It evens out the tea's strength for everyone at the table.

The gongdaobei solves a simple physical problem: while liquor pours from the teapot straight into the cups, the first cup gets weak tea and the last gets strong. Pour the whole infusion into an intermediate vessel and mix it, and everyone receives an identical liquor. Hence the name — "fairness cup": before it, all cups are equal. Its second name, cha hai, means "sea of tea."

The gongdaobei's role goes beyond equalizing. It stops the brewing: the liquor is separated from the leaf, and the tea in the gaiwan does not oversteep while the company talks. It lets the liquor cool slightly to drinking temperature. Finally, it displays the tea: in a glass cha hai you can see color and clarity — the amber of Da Hong Pao or the dark honey of Jin Jun Mei — and an empty, warmed vessel is perfect for listening to the residual aroma. In the gongfu cha ceremony the gongdaobei has taken the very center of the table between teapot and cups — a mediator whose business is honesty.

Practical details: pour the infusion into the cha hai to the last drop — any remainder in the gaiwan keeps brewing and adds bitterness to the next steeping; choose a volume slightly larger than your brewing vessel; the spout should cut the stream cleanly, without dribbling. The material hardly matters — glass, porcelain, clay — because the liquor spends less than a minute in it.

Source: https://www.dao-cha.info/en/glossary/gong-dao-bei