Gongfu Cha (工夫茶) Demonstration Video!

Hi Tea Friends! It's been a whole year since I popped into this space. I still drink lots of loose leaf tea but my main gig at this point in my life has been playing and teaching Ukulele and Guitar. My other passion these day is supporting my brilliant wife Alanna's emerging career as an Author!

Today I'm bringing you a video that combines my 3 passions! 

1. It's a Gongfu Cha demonstration video!

2.  It supports my wife's new book Within Every Flame!

3.  It features my original tune Tiger Relay! 

Within Every Flame is book 3 of her AMAZING Call of the Crow Quartet. If you've been "sleeping" on her first two books, When We Vanished (#1) and Where Shadows Grow (#2)... what are you waiting for!? These books are so so good. So good, that they make my heart ache... but in a good way somehow! :) All of Alanna's books are so rich with darkness, light, emotion, plot, intrigue, and many amazing characters. I've read them a few times now and each time I make new connections and discover fascinating new details. 

You can buy Alanna Peterson's printed books or ebooks from our indie publishing company Rootcity Press (US customers only) or order them from your favorite bookstore (available in many countries)! 

阿里山 日出商店 綠觀音茶

In my recent post Alishan Photo Gallery, I talked a little bit about drinking tea at the Sun Rise Tea Shop (日出商店). Sun Rise is one of several open air tea shops specializing in Alishan High Mountain Oolong Tea (阿里山高山烏龍茶) located in Zhong Zheng Village (中正村). It has a beautiful wooden tea bar that is stained and shiny from years of tea brewing. According to Ming Chuang (a photo of whom can be seen in my Tea Basics - Oolong post) the shop sources most of its tea from Shizhuo (石桌) which it then roasts in the shop to create a handful of signature products. Because of this the tea shop always has this amazing smell of baked oolong and sweet mountain air.

Ming Chuang has a special technique that adds a bit of razzle-dazzle to his tea brewing. He brews the tea in a large lid-less gaiwan which he fills about one quarter full with dry leaf. Then he smoothly pours in boiling hot water from his big steel kettle to whip the leaves into a cyclone. The gaiwan is filled to the point where it is almost about to overflow and the "skin" of the hot water is bulging over the edge but not breaking loose. Next he takes two Asian soup spoons from a pitcher of hot water and uses the spoons to break the surface tension of the water thus making a dramatic fountain. After this he'll mix the leaves gently with both spoons like he's tossing a salad. At this point he will offer his guests the spoons to smell and pour the tea soup into a decanter before serving. I tried several times to get a good video of myself preparing tea in this style but I was unable to do it justice. However, I did just manage to spill a whole gaiwan of tea all over my pants. You'll just have to settle for this picture for now.

My favorite tea at Sun Rise is (usually) their "Green Guanyin (綠觀音)" which is a high mountain oolong using the Tie Guanyin (鐵觀音) tea cultivar. It has a slightly higher oxidization level and amount of roasting than many Alishan teas. The tea yields a clean, fruity high-mountain taste with a warming, nutty finish. I have recently broken into my last 150 grams of this tea which I purchased in May, 2008.

The 綠觀音's dry leaf and its original train canister.
(Trains are a very popular mascot for Alishan tea.)

The 綠觀音's liquor

Good quality baked oolongs such as this one are very satisfying this time of year.

Gaiwan Basics

A gaiwan (蓋碗) is a lidded bowl used to brew Chinese tea. It usually has three parts: the lid, the bowl, and the saucer. If you enjoy drinking Chinese tea, then you need to get yourself a gaiwan (or two, or three or more...)

Viva la Gaiwan!

Millions of people (many of them in China) drink their tea right out of the gaiwan. They will lift up the whole cup and use the lid as strainer to block the leaves from getting into their mouths. I don't do this very often but it is a fun way to drink tea. Just make sure the tea is not too hot, and drink it quickly so that it doesn't over-steep.

Other people will pour the tea from the gaiwan into a decanter or a teacup. This is a very convenient way to brew tea, and often my method of choice. Holding the lid and the cup just right so that you can strain the leaves can be tricky at first. I think it's kind of like using chopsticks, or riding a bike; it takes practice but once you get it it's super easy and feels natural. I recommend not filling the gaiwan too full so that the edge will not be too hot to hold.

People often ask me how much dry tea they should use in their gaiwan. There is no right answer... some people use a lot, some use a little. I generally cover the bottom of the gaiwan when I am brewing a rolled ball-shaped oolong, such as High Mountain Tea (高山茶) or Tie Guanyin (鐵觀音). When brewing tea with long, twisted leaves, such as Wenshan Baozhong (文山包種) or Wuyi Cliff Tea (武夷岩茶), I will often fill the gaiwan one half to three-quarters full. Ask your vendor for their advice when you buy a new tea, and feel free to experiment.

Rolled ball-shaped (covering bottom of gaiwan):

Long twisted leaves (a little over half full):

Here are three little brewing tips I picked up from several of my tea mentors:

#1: Pour the hot water down the side of the gaiwan to whip the tea leaves into a tornado.

#2: Use the lid to stir the tea and to examine the color of the tea soup.

#3: Smell the underside of the gaiwan lid between infusions.

I hope this post was helpful to anybody who is new to gaiwans. Happy brewing!

The Man from Sichuan

During my first winter as a tea seller, back in 2001, I had a curious encounter with an old man from China. It was a slow afternoon at the Teacup and I was the only person in the shop when the man came in to poke around. I greeted him casually by saying, "Hi. Let me know if you have any questions." He nodded at me while browsing our selection of teaware and then he gravitated to our small selection of Chinese tea pots and gaiwans. As he examined a pretty white gaiwan (蓋碗) with nine peaches on it he turned and asked me in heavily accented English, "Do you know how to use this?"

I picked up another gaiwan and provided a quick explanation of gaiwan tea brewing while pretending to pour tea into another cup. The man then said, "Yes... I know... but do you really know how to use this?"

That one threw me... so I replied, "I'm sorry sir, what do you mean?"

"I will come back tomorrow and show you." He answered and then said, "good bye" and headed for the door.

As I tidied the teaware on the display shelves, I was left to wonder what he was talking about and if he really would come back tomorrow.

The following day I had nearly forgotten about him until he approached me at the counter.

"I'm sorry I have to leave today," he began. "That is my wife outside," he said, and pointed to an older woman standing outside the front door under an umbrella. She smiled at us and gave a quick, casual wave. Then the man said, "I wanted to give you these," and he handed me three photographs.

I said, "Thank you, sir," and took the three mysterious photos from his hands. I looked at them briefly but I still wasn't sure what any of this meant.

Then the man said goodbye and headed to the door.

"Goodbye" I called back to him... but the door was already closing behind him.

I then examined the three photos. On their backs, they were numbered 1 through 3 in the top right corner and they each had carefully written English text describing the pictures on the front. It was also noted that they were taken in May of 2001. This morning, I went to Kinkos to scan the photos so that I could share them on my blog. After each picture, I will provide the text exactly as written.

Photo #1

Enjoying mid-morning tea and "symphony" of bird music in the Poet DuFu Museum, Chengdu, China. Sign says: Bamboo Forest Tea Garden. Well patronised by locals.

Photo #2

In the Poet DuFu Museum's Bamboo Forest Tea Garden. Teacup language between patron and server, from top left clockwise:

-Cover leaning on cup = Too hot, Wait.
-Cover sitting upside down = Needs water
-Cover sitting upside up = Don't remove, will be back.

Photo #3

More teacup language, left to right:

-Lid, saucer, cup lined up as shown = Tea is no good
-Inverted lid on cup = bring bill
Patrons enjoying mid-morning tea and "symphony" of bird music in the Bamboo Forest Tea Garden in the Poet DuFu Museum, Chengdu, China. DuFu was/is a very revered poet to the Chinese people and the Chinese scholars worldwide. Thermos replaces traditional tea pot in this instance. Note bamboo furniture and chess board on table top.

I'm not sure if the man was from Sichuan 四川 (the province in which these photos were taken), but I am sure he was Chinese (I just thought that would be a cool title for this post, plus I'm pretty sure that woman on the far right in photo 2 was the mans's wife). I often wonder if the old man went around giving these educational tea photos to everybody he met... or if I was the only one?

In my very first blog post I said I would only post photographs that I or a close friend or family member had taken, but I thought I could make an exception to share these photos, because they were given to me directly by this man, whom I presume was the photographer.

Of course I was honored to be given these three precious photos and I keep them safe with all of my other "treasured tea artifacts." I hope you liked this true story and that this information comes in handy if you ever need to communicate with your tea server in Sichuan!

Also, in the one in six billion chance that you are "The Man from Sichuan," or if you think you know this man... then please email me, I'd love to thank him again for the gift!