I wish the English was just subtitled so I could hear him speaking Cantonese. Learning the tea culture in the native language is more fun for me bc it also helps me practice my language skills.
When talking about the name, he actually said the term gong fu is the same as the words people use to refer to martial arts sometimes, but it actually has nothing to do with martial arts. What gong fu actually means is just "work and effort," something along those lines. People would often say about something, that they put alot of gong fu into making this dish, or this table, or this cup of tea.
I thought in Gongfu the first brew is poured out as it washes dirt from the tea leaves (poured onto tea "pets" or a separate bowl to be discarded later on)....please could you explain this wasn't done in this video...is this due to the type of the tea used?
A lot of people won't rinse green and oolong teas, but will rinse aged and fermented teas. It is down to personal preference, and there doesn't seem to be a set way of doing gong fu tea.
They cut it away for whatever reason. Notice how there are pieces of tea floating in the cups as he emptied them, so he emptied out the "rinse" into the cups.
Bonjour depuis la Suisse romande ( vous auriez une version en français ou soutirer en français (désolé d'écrire en français car je suis très très mauvais en anglais )
Hello, Could you please recommend some brand for premium and proper taste & fragrance for some ranges of Chinese PU’ER tea? I have tried few brands but I don’t have the opportunity to approach so many types and brands so I am now very confused about which tea brand worth my investment. I’m a tea lover and I have invested a lot of my money on gongfu cha tea sets, pots, tools. Just haven’t got to know the tea brand to be into in a long term. I’d love to have one premium for long term so as to determine my characteristics and my tea style
I don't know where you're located, but I really enjoy Mei Leaf tea from the UK. I was never able to afford nice teawares until very recently but have been drinking specialty teas for years as part of my job, so I've been exposed to several brands in the US (Rishi, Spirit, Red Blossom, Jojo's). I've branched out on my own on a similar quest to find a couple of brands I could really rely on and Mei Leaf has had the best overall quality of any company I've tasted so far. They also have a lot of educational videos on TH-cam which opens up the ability to order some teas and learn along.
I don't know where you found that guy, but he doesn't seem legit at all to me. - No gong dao bei was used, which is consider as an insult in some regions (goal is to serve your guests the exact same tea, because from the first to the last of the three cups, tea would have time to brew for a longer time ant the taste would be different) - No filter was used to get rid of tea dusts (filter is used when pouring from the teapot to the gong dao bei) - The "starting with the shoulder of the teapot" thing is really optional. It's the first time I see this and I attended many gong fu cha during my studies in China. To me it's even a nonsense since you'll make the handle very hot resulting in burnt fingers and pretty no effect to the tea leaves. - The three teacups representing the three elements is total BS. There are more than three element in Chinese culture and it's the first time I hear this weird explanation. - No smelling cups were used, which is considered a mistake in a tea ceremony. Usually no one does it at home, but with guest it is good fashion to use them. Smelling the tea over the drinking teacup is useless since you'll basically smell vapour and will miss all the tea aromas.
Thank you for your comment. As written in the description, Wing-Chi Ip, is the founder of LockCha Tea House, a famous tea institution in Hong Kong, carrying on the ancestral tradition. So it seems that there are various practices for this ancestral speciality which makes it so rich. You have here an extract of the practices specific to the Wing-Chi ip region.
This approach to Gong Fu is as I understand it more akin to the origin of Gong Fu brewing, the way they brew in Chaozhou. No Gong Dao Bei (those originate in Taiwan) and no smelling cups (also a later addition). As I'm sure you know, the way most people do gongfu brewing today isn't even that old, so being dogmatic about it, both in the way you are and the way the man in the video presents it, really doesn't make sense.
The tea brewer is actually legit. His method of brewing is called chaozhou gongfucha, often regarded as the original gongfucha tradition. I have to say though, very much is lost through the translation. 'Gongfu' in gongfucha means practice, skill and mastery. 1. Gongdaobei is a modern addition to the tea table. Skill (hence, gongfu) is being used to brew an even cup of tea across all three cups. Indeed, if you pour each cup fully from the get go, the tea in each cup will be uneven (the first the lightest, the last the strongest). However, if you look carefully at the video, he is pouring into the cups several times each, in turns, in a circular motion (this is a technique in gongfucha, and the uniformity of the tea depends on the skill of the brewer). In fact, the use of gongdaobei suggests the lack of gongfu (since the gongdaobei substitutes the need for any skill, mastery/ gongfu altogether). It would also be a vast overstatement to say that it is an 'insult' to not use gongdaobei - rather, the host in the setting would seek to serve his best to the guests (e.g. offering his best tea, uniform brews of tea so that everyone tastes the 'same' tea). It reflects good character for a guest to gratefully accept everything the host provides - to find it an 'insult' would be over-demanding as a guest. 2. Generally, good quality tea has less tea dust. Furthermore, in chaozhou gongfucha, tea is poured consciously (with precision, control) and gently, reducing the amount of tea dusts getting into the final cup of tea of cause (of cause, this depends on the skills (gongfu) of the brewer). 3. I believe that there are several reasons why he poured water on the shoulder of the shoulder of the pot. Some seasoned tea drinkers (with heightened palates, perhaps) find that the first and last drops of water in a kettle make harsher tea; as such they pour the first and last drops of water away and do not use them to make tea. I believe this is why he pours the first drops of water away. As to why he pours it onto the shoulder of the pot, this is probably to ensure a gentle and smooth 'flow' in the entire movement, as opposed to a cluttered process of (1) pouring away the first drops elsewhere (2) stopping (3) moving to the teapot (4) pouring hot water into the teapot. 4. As he says in the video, the three cups represents '天地人‘ (heaven, earth, man), a prevalent ideology in Chinese culture (this is lost in the translation to English as 'elements')since the ancient times - i.e. not BS. These are different from the five elements in Chinese culture (金木水火土 - metal, wood, water, fire, earth). Also, note that the three cups also form a chinese character '品' which roughly translates to (1) to savour (2) ‘人品’ good character. 5. The use of smelling cups would truly be a mistake. High temperature is required to bring out the fragrance in tea. When hot tea is transferred from one medium to another, heat is inevitably lost - using additional cups (including gongdaobei and smelling cups) exacerbates heat loss. Using smelling cups, one will for sure smell the aroma of the tea (in the smelling cup), but cannot say to have tasted the tea (one would simply unable be to taste the tea at its best after using smelling cups). I feel that it would be a rather waste of good tea to use smelling cups. I, for one, will prefer tasting a tea (after all, tea is mainly meant to be enjoyed drunk)! PS: You actually can smell the aroma in the cup after drinking the tea, provided the cup is still warm. Certainly though, it will not be as aromatic as that of in smelling cups (but you get to enjoy the flavours of the tea!). Just my 20 cents worth.
![Gongfu Tea 101 [Teaism]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/oQoBsxfZOMk/mqdefault.jpg)
I wish the English was just subtitled so I could hear him speaking Cantonese. Learning the tea culture in the native language is more fun for me bc it also helps me practice my language skills.
Awesome. I love every culture for it's beauty and uniqueness.. I'm getting ready to get my gong fu set soon!
I got my travel set and it’s really good meditation for the soul, it definitely cured all my anxiety, love this cultural tradition 👍
i like the style of his green shirt. does anyone know what its called or where to get one?
Thank you Sifu
Oh man, I wanna hear more about gong1 fu1 cha4, there are so many different ways to do it.
Why did you put numbers after it?
@@faloof9388 Tone markers i think
I think this is closer to Chaozhou style brewing
Absolutely. Gongfu tea is Chaozhou style.
Chaozhou is the original form of Gongfu Cha!
When talking about the name, he actually said the term gong fu is the same as the words people use to refer to martial arts sometimes, but it actually has nothing to do with martial arts. What gong fu actually means is just "work and effort," something along those lines. People would often say about something, that they put alot of gong fu into making this dish, or this table, or this cup of tea.
I thought in Gongfu the first brew is poured out as it washes dirt from the tea leaves (poured onto tea "pets" or a separate bowl to be discarded later on)....please could you explain this wasn't done in this video...is this due to the type of the tea used?
A lot of people won't rinse green and oolong teas, but will rinse aged and fermented teas. It is down to personal preference, and there doesn't seem to be a set way of doing gong fu tea.
They cut it away for whatever reason. Notice how there are pieces of tea floating in the cups as he emptied them, so he emptied out the "rinse" into the cups.
Another reason to rinse the tea is to allow rolled leaves to unfurl before doing your first actual steep.
thank you
Awe. Love this.
Bonjour depuis la Suisse romande ( vous auriez une version en français ou soutirer en français (désolé d'écrire en français car je suis très très mauvais en anglais )
Nous travaillons là-dessus, en attendant, vous pouvez utiliser les sous-titres générés automatiquement ;)
Merci d'avoir pris le temps de me répondre
Is there a version of this video without the English dub?
Just search for kung fu tea ceremony.
Here is one :
th-cam.com/video/YhglLFM10EE/w-d-xo.html
How do you get the leaves back out of the teapot afterwards?
You don't. You keep going until the tea loses its taste. I use strong puerh teas, and do over 10 infusions in one sitting.
Thank you ❤️
Hello, Could you please recommend some brand for premium and proper taste & fragrance for some ranges of Chinese PU’ER tea? I have tried few brands but I don’t have the opportunity to approach so many types and brands so I am now very confused about which tea brand worth my investment. I’m a tea lover and I have invested a lot of my money on gongfu cha tea sets, pots, tools. Just haven’t got to know the tea brand to be into in a long term. I’d love to have one premium for long term so as to determine my characteristics and my tea style
I don't know where you're located, but I really enjoy Mei Leaf tea from the UK. I was never able to afford nice teawares until very recently but have been drinking specialty teas for years as part of my job, so I've been exposed to several brands in the US (Rishi, Spirit, Red Blossom, Jojo's). I've branched out on my own on a similar quest to find a couple of brands I could really rely on and Mei Leaf has had the best overall quality of any company I've tasted so far. They also have a lot of educational videos on TH-cam which opens up the ability to order some teas and learn along.
I enjoy white2tea, Farmerleaf, and mei leaf if in the uk
better to use the cha utensils- wood tongs, no touching the cups.
bah bah si shih shih
If the drinker is neater, the tea would've been tastier!
Guan Gong is god of war and not god of wealth.
I don't know where you found that guy, but he doesn't seem legit at all to me.
- No gong dao bei was used, which is consider as an insult in some regions (goal is to serve your guests the exact same tea, because from the first to the last of the three cups, tea would have time to brew for a longer time ant the taste would be different)
- No filter was used to get rid of tea dusts (filter is used when pouring from the teapot to the gong dao bei)
- The "starting with the shoulder of the teapot" thing is really optional. It's the first time I see this and I attended many gong fu cha during my studies in China. To me it's even a nonsense since you'll make the handle very hot resulting in burnt fingers and pretty no effect to the tea leaves.
- The three teacups representing the three elements is total BS. There are more than three element in Chinese culture and it's the first time I hear this weird explanation.
- No smelling cups were used, which is considered a mistake in a tea ceremony. Usually no one does it at home, but with guest it is good fashion to use them. Smelling the tea over the drinking teacup is useless since you'll basically smell vapour and will miss all the tea aromas.
Thank you for your comment.
As written in the description, Wing-Chi Ip, is the founder of LockCha Tea House, a famous tea institution in Hong Kong, carrying on the ancestral tradition.
So it seems that there are various practices for this ancestral speciality which makes it so rich. You have here an extract of the practices specific to the Wing-Chi ip region.
This approach to Gong Fu is as I understand it more akin to the origin of Gong Fu brewing, the way they brew in Chaozhou. No Gong Dao Bei (those originate in Taiwan) and no smelling cups (also a later addition). As I'm sure you know, the way most people do gongfu brewing today isn't even that old, so being dogmatic about it, both in the way you are and the way the man in the video presents it, really doesn't make sense.
John, a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing! There’s fathoms more to gongfu tea than you have been taught. 🤣
This dude is perfectly legit.... also don’t gatekeep tea lmao
The tea brewer is actually legit. His method of brewing is called chaozhou gongfucha, often regarded as the original gongfucha tradition.
I have to say though, very much is lost through the translation.
'Gongfu' in gongfucha means practice, skill and mastery.
1. Gongdaobei is a modern addition to the tea table. Skill (hence, gongfu) is being used to brew an even cup of tea across all three cups. Indeed, if you pour each cup fully from the get go, the tea in each cup will be uneven (the first the lightest, the last the strongest). However, if you look carefully at the video, he is pouring into the cups several times each, in turns, in a circular motion (this is a technique in gongfucha, and the uniformity of the tea depends on the skill of the brewer). In fact, the use of gongdaobei suggests the lack of gongfu (since the gongdaobei substitutes the need for any skill, mastery/ gongfu altogether). It would also be a vast overstatement to say that it is an 'insult' to not use gongdaobei - rather, the host in the setting would seek to serve his best to the guests (e.g. offering his best tea, uniform brews of tea so that everyone tastes the 'same' tea). It reflects good character for a guest to gratefully accept everything the host provides - to find it an 'insult' would be over-demanding as a guest.
2. Generally, good quality tea has less tea dust. Furthermore, in chaozhou gongfucha, tea is poured consciously (with precision, control) and gently, reducing the amount of tea dusts getting into the final cup of tea of cause (of cause, this depends on the skills (gongfu) of the brewer).
3. I believe that there are several reasons why he poured water on the shoulder of the shoulder of the pot. Some seasoned tea drinkers (with heightened palates, perhaps) find that the first and last drops of water in a kettle make harsher tea; as such they pour the first and last drops of water away and do not use them to make tea. I believe this is why he pours the first drops of water away. As to why he pours it onto the shoulder of the pot, this is probably to ensure a gentle and smooth 'flow' in the entire movement, as opposed to a cluttered process of (1) pouring away the first drops elsewhere (2) stopping (3) moving to the teapot (4) pouring hot water into the teapot.
4. As he says in the video, the three cups represents '天地人‘ (heaven, earth, man), a prevalent ideology in Chinese culture (this is lost in the translation to English as 'elements')since the ancient times - i.e. not BS. These are different from the five elements in Chinese culture (金木水火土 - metal, wood, water, fire, earth). Also, note that the three cups also form a chinese character '品' which roughly translates to (1) to savour (2) ‘人品’ good character.
5. The use of smelling cups would truly be a mistake. High temperature is required to bring out the fragrance in tea. When hot tea is transferred from one medium to another, heat is inevitably lost - using additional cups (including gongdaobei and smelling cups) exacerbates heat loss. Using smelling cups, one will for sure smell the aroma of the tea (in the smelling cup), but cannot say to have tasted the tea (one would simply unable be to taste the tea at its best after using smelling cups). I feel that it would be a rather waste of good tea to use smelling cups. I, for one, will prefer tasting a tea (after all, tea is mainly meant to be enjoyed drunk)!
PS: You actually can smell the aroma in the cup after drinking the tea, provided the cup is still warm. Certainly though, it will not be as aromatic as that of in smelling cups (but you get to enjoy the flavours of the tea!).
Just my 20 cents worth.
Spilling everything like a drunkard pouring a drink.
Wouldn’t traditional Chinese tea be accompanied with opium ? I don’t see any opium smoking in this… so it can’t be that traditional.