What tea leaves are generally used to brew Gongfu tea?
Gongfu tea is brewed with oolong tea leaves. In addition, Fujian rock tea, Tieguanyin, Shuixian and Fenghuang tea can all be used to brew Gongfu tea. However, other tea types such as black tea, green tea, brick tea, scented tea or white tea are not suitable. Let's take a look below at how to brew oolong tea!
1. Methods for brewing Gongfu tea
1. Preparing the utensils
Preparing the utensils includes six actions: lighting the fire, poking the fire, fanning the stove, cleaning the utensils, waiting for the water, and rinsing the cups. It is like the “Taiji opening move” in Taijiquan, a preparatory stage. There is no need to say much about the first four matters; this “waiting for the water” and “rinsing the cups” are both a beginner's first test of skill. About ten-plus minutes after lighting the fire, the sand kettle begins to make a soughing sound; when its sound suddenly becomes faint, that means the fish-eye water is about to form. At once lift the sand kettle, rinse the pot and rinse the cups, then place the sand kettle back on the stove. At this point the second matter begins.
2. Adding the tea
Open the tea leaves and pour them onto a clean white sheet of paper, separate them by coarseness and fineness, place the coarsest at the bottom of the pot and at the spout, then place the fine dust in the middle layer, and then place the coarse leaves on top; the work of adding the tea is then complete. The reason for doing this is that the fine dust is the strongest; too much of it makes the tea easily bitter, and it also easily clogs the spout. By separating coarse and fine and placing them well, the tea can be poured evenly and the tea flavor gradually released. For adding tea, for each infusion, roughly using the teapot as the measure, putting seven-tenths tea leaves in it is quite enough. If there is too much, not only will the brewed tea be too strong and taste bitter and astringent, but also good tea leaves are mostly tender buds tightly rolled, and once infused with boiling water they unfurl and become very large; if too much tea is added, even the water cannot be poured in. But too little is also no good; there will be no flavor. Adding the tea is the first skill in brewing Gongfu tea. Divine transformations begin from here.
3. The three boils
When the edge of the kettle surges like a string of pearls, this is the second boil. When waves leap and billows drum, this is the third boil. The first boil is too young, called infant boil; the third boil is too old, called hundred-longevity broth; if pearls float on the water's surface and the sound is like pine waves, this is the second boil, exactly the right moment. The Daguan Chalun also says: “In all uses of hot water, take fish eyes and crab eyes leaping up in succession as the standard.” When the water is at the second boil, the kettle can be lifted to brew the tea. The place where the stove and the teapot are set is about exactly seven steps apart. After lifting the kettle and walking seven steps, uncover the teapot lid, pour the boiling water around the pot's mouth, along the pot's edge, and on no account pour it straight at the center of the pot (if using a lidded bowl, pour at one corner, then at each of the other corners, likewise avoiding pouring straight at the center). The kettle should be lifted high; this is what is called “high pouring, low sprinkling.” High pouring makes the boiling water strike the tea leaves forcefully, causing the tea's fragrance to dissipate more quickly; because the tea essence volatilizes rapidly, the tannins do not have time to dissolve, and so the tea leaves will not have an astringent stagnation. As for walking seven steps before pouring, the purpose is to let the boiling water cool slightly, so as to avoid destroying vitamin C.
4. Skimming the foam
When pouring water it must be full. Whether the teapot is “three mountains level” and how the water level is, this is the moment to see the effect. With a good teapot, after the water is full the tea foam floats up and absolutely does not overflow (pouring too much water and having it overflow the pot surface is another matter). Lift the pot lid, gently skim away the tea foam from the pot mouth, then cover it firmly.
Sixth: rinsing the pot. Cover the pot lid well, then pour boiling water over the pot. This is called rinsing the pot. Rinsing the pot has three effects: first, it makes the hot air attack from both inside and outside, forcing the tea's aromatic essence to dissipate rapidly and adding heat; second, after a short pause, the moisture on the pot body is completely dry, which means the tea is ready; third, it washes away the tea foam outside the pot.
5. Warming the cups
In the Chaozhou local dialect this is called “scalding the cups and heating the pot,” and it is the key skill in brewing Gongfu tea. There was once a tea expert who traveled in all directions and everywhere summed up the experience of drinking tea. After he drank Gongfu tea, he said that the characteristic of Gongfu tea is one word: “hot.” From boiling the water to brewing and drinking tea together, it never departs from this one word; this may be called grasping its essence. Warming the cups comes after rinsing the pot; pour boiling water to rinse the cups. When rinsing the cups, note that the boiling water must be poured straight at the cup's center. After warming the cups is finished, add cold water to the sand kettle, place it back on the stove, and turn to “washing the cups.” Washing the cups is the most artistic movement; an old hand can wash two cups at the same time with both hands, moving swiftly, with a ringing tone and beautiful posture. There was a foreign friend, also a tea enthusiast, who had long heard of the fame of Gongfu tea and traveled ten thousand li, using every means, and upon reaching China insisted on drinking Gongfu tea once. When he saw the movements of washing the tea cups, he could not help praising them again and again, saying they were even more brilliant than the skills of an acrobatics troupe. Indeed, a person who does not know how to wash cups will, as soon as they touch a cup, be scalded terribly; not breaking the cup is already fortunate, let alone speaking of “beautiful posture.” When the cups are washed, pour the water from the cups and the tray into the tea washing vessel. At this time the moisture on the outside of the teapot has also just been evaporated completely, which is exactly when the tea is ready. An old hand at this makes no error at all, and can then sprinkle the tea to serve the guests.
6. Sprinkling the tea
After several rounds of skill, the final move is sprinkling the tea. Sprinkling the tea also has a four-character formula: low, fast, even, complete. “Low” is the “low” of “high pouring, low pouring,” as said earlier. When sprinkling tea, one must never do it high; if high, the fragrance disperses and foam rises on all sides, which is extremely disrespectful to the guests. “Fast” is also to keep the fragrance from dispersing and can maintain the heat of the tea. “Even” means that when sprinkling the tea it must be like a cartwheel turning, sprinkling evenly cup by cup in turn; one must not sprinkle one cup fully before sprinkling another, because the tea that comes out first is light in color and the tea that comes out later is strong in color. The word “even” is very important. “Complete” means do not let the remaining water stay in the pot. For the first infusion leave a little (the first infusion is usually poured away directly and not drunk, or used to rinse the tea cups); for the second and third infusions it must absolutely not be left. After sprinkling is finished, the teapot can also be turned upside down and placed on the mat, so that the water in the pot drips out completely; this is because as long as there is no water present, the tannins cannot dissolve and the tea will not be bitter or astringent.
Gongfu tea is prevalent in the Chaoshan region of Guangdong.