Gongfu Tea?

What is Gongfu tea? The name comes up across the tea-world, and we certainly have a tendency of referring to it on YishanTeashop.com. But what exactly does this term mean?

Gongfu is actually just the standard written english for what we commonly hear of as Kung Fu in Chinese. So what does Kung Fu and Tea have in common? Well first lets look at what Gongfu or Kung Fu actually means. The most common form in the West is for referring to a fighting technique, but the reality is that the word simply refers to 'Skill' or 'Technique', and it usually implies a particularly 'artful' skill as well. Since the Chinese martial arts are considered both a skill and an art, the term Kung Fu is in many ways appropriate.

But what does this mean for tea?
Tea-making is definitely an art, and once a person begins learning about tea it most certainly becomes about skill and technique as well. Gongfu tea has become a way of referring to and defining Chinese tea that is prepared in a traditional manner, with or without the label of a 'tea ceremony'. The skill and benefits behind this preparation methodology come in the form of control, measurements and predictability.

Gongfu tea can best be described as making tea in such way that the original tastes and aromas can be preserved and enjoyed by means of artistic skill and technique.

The next step is learning about using this technique and how to apply it. First lets look at some of the most common tools for steeping and serving tea. We'll ignore some of the ones more specific to a full tea ceremony, since our goal here is to learn mostly about how the Gongfu tea can be a benefit to our current tea preparation style.

(listed in order of real importance)
a) Steeping vessel: Gaiwan, cup or clay pot
b) Tasting cups (usually 0.5oz to 1.5oz)
c) GongDaoBei or Decanting pot
d) Tea board
e) ChaDao or tea accessories (especially the tea strainer)

The basic flow of this tea method is to use the steeping vessel to make the tea, then to decant with the strainer into the decanting pot or GongDaoBei and then serve; all above a tea board used for keeping things clean and presentable. The tea accessories beyond the strainer are mostly about assisting with presentation. However, the style and goal of this method is about using more tea leaves than usual, and steeping for much less time than you might be used to. This is designed to create balanced infusions of tea that can be re-infused many times over. The Gongfu tea process can then allow you to sample your teas over multiple infusions and witness the gradual changes in the life of each fine tea.