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