So the more and more I drink tea, and talk with others about drinking tea, you tend to find that the types of brewing methods/ procedures change depending on the situation. I have already written quite a bit on Gong Fu, and Grandpa Style brewing, but currently I am doing a method I can only describe as the Office gong fu.
Its actually quite simple, pick any brewing vessel you have around that you would brew gong fu style with. A gaiwan or teapot works great. Now here is the trick, pick a huge cup, something that can hold 2-4 brews from the gong fu brewing vessel. Then simply brew several infusions in a row and fill the cup. Brew them how you normally would for that tea, and this method requires a bit of familiarity with the tea you are brewing.
The result a nice big cup of tea, which while not completely as nuanced as each individual brew is a nice large cup of gong fu style tea. Even better is once the cup is finished go back and repeat the process again until the leaves are dead.
I call it the office gong fu, because it is great for being able to have a big cup of tea while working diligently on a project or assignment. I think I like it so much I might start doing this quite often.
Currently I am doing it with a 100 ml gaiwan, a Yunomi from Julie Devers, and some Ali shan from Pheonix tea shop. Just curious if any of my readers might have some notes on brewing tea this way? I did note with the gaiwan I did have to pause a bit between infusions to allow the gaiwan to cool enough to ensure I didn't get burnt fingers.
2 comments:
This is precisely what I do at work. We're given a 20 minute morning break. In that time, I can "rapid-fire gaiwan" tea, and put it in my coffee mug. I'll usually go for the more can't-screw-up brews like hongcha or a Taiwanese oolong for such occasions. Currently I'm working on the 2012 Ye Sheng hongcha from Norbu.
I do this for Silver Needle tea, but everything ends up in a cha hai after it goes through the gaiwan. It really brings out the more vegetal flavors of the tea, which I like.
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