[Arts] Gongfu tea?

[Chikyou]

I apologize in advance because I have no idea where to put this. Jundo please move it to the right place if necessary!

Does anyone here practice tea ceremony (either gongfu or Japanese?) I love tea, and Gongfu has piqued my interest. I have a gaiwan and some loose leaf green tea on the way. I'm interested in others experiences with it!

Gassho,
SatLah
Chikyō

[GloriaMeiseiko]

Hello!
I love tea (especially Japanese green tea) and all its world, and I have been able to attend some Japanese tea ceremony in my country.

A friend gave me years ago some Chinese cups and a teapot that looked like they were made to do a ceremony, but unfortunately they are at my parents' house 800kms away from my home at the moment.

Gassho
Sat/Lah

[Ryumon]

I don't do a tea ceremony, but I am a tea snob, and have about two dozen types of tea at any time. At least once a day, I have some excellent Japanese green tea brewed in a kyusu (that's the small pot with a handle sticking out; I have this one: https://www.tencha.co.uk/products/tokoname-ryo-kyusu).

There is a bit of ritual involved. The first steep is two minutes at 60 C, the second steep 3 minutes at 70 C, and sometimes a third steep at 80 C, depending on the tea. I do drink it in more of a ritual manner than, say, the first flush Darjeeling that I just had when I got up this morning.

I also make matcha from time to time, but, again, it's not a proper tea ceremony, but there are several steps to making it, so it is a bit of a ritual.

Gassho,

Ryūmon (Kirk)

Sat Lah

[Jundo]

Lovely theme too!

(I do the coffee ceremony each morning, bowing to the coffee pot as I hit the switch ... )

Gassho, J

stlah

[Huichan]

I've been watching the videos of a guy who moved to China as a teenager to study Chinese and ended up staying, studying tea at university and now doing a PhD in tea studies. Here's an older video he made about basics of Gong Fu Cha.

慧禅
stlah

[Ryumon]

That's very different than how you make Japanese green teas, but it could be because these teas are more fragile. You would never dump out the first steep of a good sencha; that's got the most umami. I can understand doing that, however, with an oolong or Chinese green tea.

I notice he says nothing about temperature. I assume the water temperature is different for each type of tea. With Japanese green teas, temperature is one of the key elements.

Gassho,

Ryūmon (Kirk)

Sat Lah

[Huichan]

That's very different than how you make Japanese green teas, but it could be because these teas are more fragile. You would never dump out the first steep of a good sencha; that's got the most umami. I can understand doing that, however, with an oolong or Chinese green tea.

I notice he says nothing about temperature. I assume the water temperature is different for each type of tea. With Japanese green teas, temperature is one of the key elements.

Gassho,

Ryūmon (Kirk)

Sat Lah

In that video, he's just giving a basic introduction of how it's done in China. Some of his other videos give a lot of details about various aspects of tea (tea variations, cultivating, processing, brewing etc).


慧禅
stlah

[Huichan]

Here are a couple more related videos I like, coming from different angles.

This one more from a Zen/Chan perspective

This one from a tea master in part of China where Gongfu Cha is a big part of the culture (went there a couple of years ago and seems like every shop has a tea set outside their door)

慧禅
stlah

[Ryumon]

Thanks! The second video is really interesting. I especially like the fact that, originally, this was just builders’ tea.

it is very different from the Japanese tea ceremony, and I guess the Chinese process isn’t really a ceremony in the same way (though it is in the first video). Also, it looks like the Chinese do this with any kind of tea, or a Japanese tea ceremony only uses matcha.

since many of the best Chinese teas are oolong, which the Japanese almost never make, it’s clear that the way of serving must be very different.

Gassho,
Ryūmon (Kirk)
Sat Lah

[Kotei]

Another Gongfu teahead here, who is a bit jealous that HuiChan lives where his tea comes from.
Gassho,
Kotei sat/lah today.

[Chikyou]

Oh wow, I lost track of this thread and it sprang to life while I wasn't looking! I can't wait to check out those videos Huichan!

I'm still really enjoying tea in different forms. I still practice gong fu, though not in full formal ceremony but close, I suppose. I love the mindful ritual of it, as well as the relatively low barrier for entry. (It takes a lot of time and study and practice to become a Master, but everyone can learn the basics with a little practice!) I'm interested in getting into Japanese teas as well (though I haven't, yet, outside of Ito En bagged greens).

I even realized that I was preparing bagged tea with considerable mindfulness recently. It wasn't really my intention at the start, it just sort of happened. I more deeply enjoy the tea (usually pu'er) that goes in my travel mug for work, too.

Gassho,
SatLah
Chikyō