茶
Gongfu Cha
Making tea with skill
Gongfu cha (功夫茶 or 工夫茶 gōngfūchá) can be translated as "skillful tea making", because the element gōngfū itself means a skill or technique - any skill and technique that requires practice and improvement. To put it simply, gongfu cha brewing is characterized by the use of a large amount of leaves in a small amount of water, and a short brewing time. All these terms are, of course, relative: how small are the vessels? a lot of leaves, i.e. how many? little water, or how much? how short? I use these terms in contrast to the brewing style we know in Europe. In the gongfu cha style, tea is brewed in a small teapot (clay or porcelain) or in a gaiwan. After an appropriate brewing time, the infusion is poured into a jug called chahai ("sea of tea") or gongdaobei ("cup of justice"), and then into cups. In some variations of gongfu cha, chahai is not used and the tea goes directly into the cups. A teapot is rarely larger than 250 ml, and the optimal size is 100-150 ml. Gaiwan rarely exceeds 200 ml, because larger ones are simply very inconvenient to use.
Try it yourself