14Aug Drinking Tea in Chinese Style – The Chinese Tea Ceremony
The art of drinking tea and service plays a major cultural role in China. It inspires poetry and songs. The mutual love of tea cements friendships life.
For centuries, the ritual of preparing and serving tea has held a special place in the hearts and minds of the Chinese aristocracy, court officials, intellectuals and poets.
The Chinese tea ceremony emphasizes the tea, instead of the ceremony – what the tea tastes, smells and how a tea tastes compared to the previous tea, or in successive rounds of drinking.
Ceremony does not mean that each server perform the ritual in the same way, it is not linked to religion. Each step is a sensory exploration and appreciation.
Most teas used in the Chinese tea ceremony are grown in the mountains of Taiwan at about 4000 feet. These teas are particularly refined, such as oolong tea which are lightly fermented teas and red can be moderately or severely fermented.
This style of tea drinkers use small cups to match small, biscuit clay teapots, each cup is just large enough to fit on two small swallows of tea. These small cups are particularly popular in Fujian and Chiujao, in the south China coastal above Canton. In Shanghai and Beijing, they use large cups.
To Brew tea Chinese style Chinese Tea Ware.
After heating water to a boil, the teapot is first rinsed with hot water. Using bamboo sticks or a teaspoon, fill teapot approximately 1 / 3 full of tea leaves and then pour boiling water in the pot.
Hold the teapot on a large bowl, letting the overflow running into the bowl. Give the tea leaves a rinse by filling the pot half full with warm water, then drain the water immediately, leaving only the tea leaves soaked.
Now fill the pot at the highest with hot water, cover and additional water on the teapot resting in the tea bowl. Do not let the bubbles to form in the pot. When mixed with tea, bubbles form a foam that is not aesthetic. Be sure not to let the tea steep too long, the first infusion should be imbued with only 30 seconds. In less than a minute, pouring tea into cups moving around the teapot in a continuous movement on the cups so that they are met. Each cup should taste exactly the same.
After soaking, tea can be poured into a second teapot or tea pitcher to be served at leisure. More water can be added to the teapot, and up to five infusions can usually be done in the same tea leaves. Be sure to add 10 more seconds for second brewery and 15 seconds thereafter.
Each pot of tea is three to four rounds and up to five or six, depending on tea and the server. The goal is that each round the same taste as the first. Create coherent flavor is where the mastery of the server is seen.
Importance of water
The water used in the tea ceremony is as important as the tea itself. Chlorine and fluoride in tap water should be filtered as they affect the flavor of tea. Distilled water is flat and tea should be avoided.
High mineral content in water highlight the richness and sweetness of green tea. Black tea tastes best when made with water containing less than Volvic.
Ideal tea water should have an alkaline pH around 7.9. Green Teas are ruined by boiling water, the temperature is best around 170-185 degrees F.
Oolongs fact underboiled with water are more fragrant, which strengthens the tea drinkers.
Source: holymtn.com