How to Brew Tea: Western Style vs. Gongfu Style
- Christopher Blome
- May 9, 2016
- 6 min read
How do you usually brew your tea? Take a tea bag and dip it into a big mug with boiling water for a few minutes, right?
Well, we neither want to go into the details of tea bag brewing, nor talk too much about the usually quite poor results that you get from using them. What we want to talk about today is the difference between tea brewing as it is usually done in the “West” and the traditional Chinese way of brewing: Gongfu Style. Fancy name, right? Let us explain later!
The reason why that is an important topic is because actually both methods deliver quite different results regarding the taste and the overall tea experience. We want you to be aware of that next time you brew your tea!
First of all, the way of brewing is different from tea to tea. While you use boiling water for a dark post-fermented Puer tea to extract all of its rich flavor, you would want to use a lower temperature for younger teas such as green tea, if you don’t want to get an overriding astringent flavor. Therefore, while both brewing styles are different, at least the appropriate water temperature for every tea stays the same among both methods.
Western Style
Western Style brewing is mainly characterized by the use of a comparably low amount of tea leafs to a higher amount of water. This ratio varies from 2 g / 300 ml to 3.5 g / 300 ml (size of a big coffee / tea mug) depending on the kind of tea.
As this usually means less than 1 g on 100 ml of water, the tea must be brewed for a longer time to avoid having a too thin and tasteless tea. Therefore, infusion times for Western Style brewing usually vary from 1 1/2 min. to up to 3 min. depending on the kind of tea that you prepare. Keep in mind to add 30 – 60 seconds for every subsequent infusion. We suggest to use a teapot with a strainer that is big enough to allow the tea leafs to extend freely. Alternatively, there are also special tea mugs which come with a strainer that you can easily remove to avoid overbrewing the leafs. That is probably the fastest and easiest method to brew your tea without paying too much attention and still obtaining a good result.
Result
So you might think that as we actually avoid getting a thin tea by extending the brewing time, we should get the same result as we would get with a higher amount of leafs and a shorter infusion time.
However, that is not the case as due to the extended brewing time more of the tannins and substances of the tea leafs get extracted, thus leading to a denser and at times bitterer taste. As the leafs are infused for a longer time, the total number of possible infusions becomes less as well.
Western-Style brewing is an economic and easy way to obtain reasonable consistent results for a quick cup of tea. However it doesn’t allow you to grasp the whole character of the tea.
Gongfu Style
This is the traditional Chinese way of tea preparation and still being practiced in China and Taiwan nowadays.
功夫茶 (Gōngfū chá) is the Chinese expression. Gōngfū means as much as “effort” or “careful”, Gōngfū chá thus means as much as “Carefully prepared tea”. That is actually pretty much a straight forward description of what it really is.
Gongfu Style is a more sophisticated way of tea brewing. Unlike Western Style, brewing your tea traditionally Gongfu Style will reveal much more facets and much more of the tea's character. So if you really want to enjoy and understand the tea you are drinking, we strongly suggest Gongfu Style. Now, while this introduction might make it sound a bit complicated, let us show you that it is actually not that complicated and above all it can be fun and interesting.
Tea Ware
1 Tea Table: for spilling water
1 Gaiwan: small lidded cup (around 150 ml) for infusing the tea leafs
1 Chahai: Also called fairness pitcher, it is used to decant tea from the Gaiwan
Tea cups
How to
Firstly, you need the above listed tea ware. Don’t worry if you don’t have a tea table, you will just have to take care not to spill anything over and pour the spills into another decanter.
Start with warming up the tea ware by pouring hot water into your Gaiwan. Wait for a few seconds for the pot to heat up and then continue by pouring out the water from the Gaiwan into the Chahai, after another few seconds continue to pour the hot water from the Chahai into your different tea cups. Make sure that your tea ware is preheated before starting with the actual infusion.
Now take your tea leafs and put them into your pre-heated Gaiwan.
One of the main differences to Western Style brewing is that the amount of tea leafs is much higher. Depending on the type of tea you might use 5 – 8 g for 150 ml (size of a standard Gaiwan).
After filling your Gaiwan with the leafs, continue by infusing the leafs by using the appropriate water temperature.
As you are now using a higher amount of tea leafs on a lower amount of water, remember that the infusion time is dramatically shorter than when brewing Western Style. In Gongfu Style the infusion is usually between 5 – 20 seconds for the first infusion depending on the kind of tea. Keep in mind to add 5 – 10 seconds for every subsequent infusion.
Be aware that usually the first infusion is not to be drunk. Decant the first infusion into the Chahai and pour a bit of it into all tea cups. After a few seconds pour the tea away.
This is called 醒茶 (xing cha), which means “waking up the tea”. In less poetic words: we prepare the tea for the upcoming infusions.
The first infusion is used to open up the tea leafs and clean the tea from any dust and particles that are left over from the processing.
After decanting the first infusion, you can go ahead with your second infusion. Decant the tea from the Gaiwan into the Chahai and from the Chahai into the small drinking cups. Now you can enjoy your tea. The reason for using a Chahai instead of pouring the tea from the Gaiwan directly into the
drinking cups is to keep the tea concentration consistent.
If you decant from the Gaiwan into the drinking cups directly, you will be getting a somewhat thinner tea at the beginning, and a stronger mix when pouring out the rest from the Gaiwan. By using the Chahai you allow the tea to mix and have a consistent concentration that you can than serve into the different drinking cups.
Result
Unlike western style brewing, which delivers a consistent but flatter taste, with the Gongfu approach every infusion will taste different and reveal another nuance of the tea. What’s more, as the relation of tea leafs to water is higher, you will actually be able to not just taste but really feel the tea and its effect that it has on your body. But that is to be left for another post. Brewing tea Gongfu Style brings you much closer to getting to know the tea you drink and understanding it.
Western Style vs. Gongfu Style
Finally, the question is what is better and what do we suggest?
The answer is that it all depends on your purpose. Do you want to slurp a quick cup of tea in the morning to start the day before going to work or do you have a good tea that you really want to get to know and understand?
If you don’t have time and just want a simple mug of tea, go for Western style brewing. The tea god will forgive you. There is also good tea ware for western style brewing. (Soon to be seen here!)
However, if you have a good quality Chinese tea and you really want to experience and understand tea, we always suggest brewing Gongfu Style. That has to be said especially for premium quality teas. Don’t think that Gongfu style is too complicated. (We will upload videos soon to show you how to do it the right way.) You don’t directly need to make a tea ceremony out of it. As well, there are good and cheap Gongfu tea sets, that make it very easy to brew your tea. (Also o be seen here soon.) The most important thing is the way you infuse your tea and the tea ware you use. Also don’t think that using so many tea leafs is kind of wasting your tea. Western style brewing delivers a much flatter and one-dimensional taste. As well you won’t be able to experience the effects that tea can have. If you have high-quality Chinese tea but don’t get to taste its full aroma, that would be really wasting your tea!
In the end the most important thing is: Have it your way, but stay away from the tea bags.
Cheers,
Comments