Art of the Gong Fu Cha Tea Ceremony

There is a long association between the Chinese tea ceremony and the yixing teapot. Gongfu tea is a traditional Chinese tea ceremony. Gongfu cha quite literally means making tea with skill. Fu cha tea ceremonies trace their roots back to the eighteenth century and are practiced throughout Taiwan, China and Hong Kong as well as in the United States. If you don't drink tea, learning the traditional art of making tea will inspire you to learn about tea.

Although it might seem complicated, the entire ceremony takes about 10 minutes to carry out and usually tends to no more than four guests.

Instruments Needed for Fu Cha Tea Ceremony

The tools and equipment needed to perform the tea ceremony are as follows: brewing tray to contain spills; bamboo tongs, a scoop and a tea needle; a caddy contains the tea leaves for the ceremony and unused tea should be returned to the original packaging; tea cloth made of linen or terrycloth towel which are usually dark color and folded appropriately; tea kettle for hot water; small pitcher for pouring water from the tea kettle to the yixing teapot; teapot and cups can be yixing ware or made of porcelain.

Steps of the Fu Tea Ceremony

Step One - Warm the Teapot and Teacups After the water is boiled, pour the hot water into the yixing teapot and replace the lid. Use your index finger of one hand to hold the lid on the teapot while using your thumb and fingers of the other hand to hold the teapot handle. Fill the tea cups by slowing pouring water into the cups, moving from left to right and then reverse until the cups are filled with hot water. Next, take the bamboo tongs and lift up the first cup and pour the hot water from cup to cup, allowing the water to spill over the edges. Remove and dispose of the excess water.

Step Two - Prepare/Rinse the Tea For the perfect tea, water temperature for tea should be 195 degrees for light oolong tea and 212 for dark oolong tea. Allow guests to see and smell the aroma of the tea in the caddy. Using the bamboo scoop, take a heaping scoop full of tea and let the guests see them before pouring the tea into the center of the teapot. Pour boiling water into the teapot in a circular motion, taking care to hold the water no more than two inches above the teapot and replace the lid. Pour off the water, but leave the lid open slightly to prevent the tea from cooking.

Step Three - Brew the Tea Fill the teapot with hot water, replace lid and wait six seconds. Using the bamboo tongs; empty the teacups of the warming water. Serve the tea. You can repeat step three if you have additional tea to brew and serve.

Step Four - Cleaning Up This is an important step in the ceremony and should be carried out. First, remove the tea and using hot water, rinse the teapot and lid, then allow to air dry. Do the same with the tools.


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Karen Davis is an Yixing Teapot enthusiast and collected her first pot back in the 1980's. She is the founder of Brownstoneshopper, an online webstore that sells Yixing teapots. We have avariety of teapots showcased in our online gallery. If you enjoyed this article, visit us now online at http://www.brownstoneshopper.com/contact-us/ and sign up for your FREE Report!


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