How to prepare chinese tea

Hei Cha preparation

Hei Cha’s preparation is relatively simple and less delicate in comparation to some other teas:

• Water: use 100^oC freshly boiled water.
• Tea leaves: about 1/2 tea spoon (5g) of the tea leaves per cup or 2 tea spoon (15-20g) per small tea pot. (The strength of the tea could be adjusted to personal preference by adjusting the amount of the tea leaves put in.)
• Tea rinsing: add hot water to the tea vessel with the tea leaves in and dispose the water after 8 seconds for a loose tea or 30 seconds for a compressed tea.
• First infusion: add hot water to the brewing vessel and serve after around 20 seconds.
• Repeat infusion: Hei Cha can be repeatedly infused for up to 15 times by simply topping up with hot water, with each infusion increasing brewing time for up to 10 seconds.
• Cooking Hei Cha: unique to Hei Cha, they are also suitable for cooking/deep steeping. 1/ Use a clay or cast iron teapot with thick wall, boil the water on a stove before adding the tea leaves in and cook for 2 minutes. Remove the teapot from the stove, put the lid on and allow to steep for 3-5 minutes. 2/ Use a designed electrical tea cooker.

Hei Cha storage

Unlike teas from other categories, Hei Cha is believed to develop/oxidize within its environment with time.

• Store teas in its original packaging, should it be bamboo basket or wrapping paper.
• Avoid the following elements during their long term storage: 1/ direct sun light 2/ lack of ventilation 3/ foreign odors.
• When Hei Cha is stored under the condition of humidity over 55%, there is a chance certain tea insects will occur and grow within the tea. It is believed these tea insects are not only harmless, but enhancing the tea quality (part of the tea's environment for development) – they like good quality teas and often discovered in good quality teas.

Note: We use foil bags similar to the right for the delivery to best protect compressed Hei Cha such as Fu Bricks and Qian Liang Cha from the potential moisture damage during the transportation. We strongly advise the customers to remove the teas from the foil bags once received and store them in a 'breathable' wrapping/container at a well ventilated location where it is lack of moisture, foreign odor and direct sun light. This is to facilitate the further fermentation (further aging) of the Hei Cha. 

Gongfu tea set

The concept of Gong-Fu in Chinese means ‘in depth’ or ‘highly skillful’. It refers to skills acquired through extensive practice, often combined with knowledge accumulated over time and/or passed down by previous generations.

Teas originated from China. There is a tea consumption history of at least 2000 years, and less so in the rest of the world. Over the 2000 plus years, every single aspect of teas, from the cultivation, production to how they are consumed by the consumers (art of making a pot of premium tea) have all been fine tuned. The brewing process is the final stage of bringing the best out of the fine teas.

Sometime during the long history of tea consumption in China, Gongfu tea - a way of making, tasting and drinking certain teas, was invented.

It is believed it started from the border areas of the Fu-Jian and Guang-Dong province, especially the Chou Zhou area. It was first used as a way of tasting Oolong teas, and extended to now almost all other tea varieties such as green tea, black tea and Pu-erh tea.

The tea consumers noticed that the tea steeping was such dynamic process that the best way to explore was to segregate the various stages by using small tea vessels and multiple infusions.

All premium loose leaf teas can be used for multiple infusions, some more than the others. For example, some Pu-erh teas (made of arbor tea tree leaves) can be infused up to 30 times while most of the premium green teas (made of tender tip eaves) would only last 3-4 infusions. The tea drinkers discovered the various infusions presented rather different characteristics, in the colour, aroma, texture, taste and after taste of the tea brew, and the best way to experience these differences was to use small teapots and tea cups:

• A small teapot allows to brew a small amount of tea at a time
• Due to the limited amount of tea produced from each teapot, it required frequent top up of hot water to produce the multiple infusions
• this freshly brewed and served tea is by far superior to the tea brewed in a large pot, sat and soaked for a long time
• The small tea cups allowed the tea brew from each infusion to be tested independently

The Gongfu tea set  was invented to facilitate this process. The essential elements of a Gong-Fu tea set include: a small teapot, several small tea cups (based on the number of the tea drinkers presented), often a tea strainer and a tea sever and a tea tray. The tea tray offers a platform to brew the tea as well as catching any ran down and residual water during the tea preparation for later dispose. There are various other tea accessories that can be added to a tea set, such as Cha Dao and tea pets. 

The Gong-Fu tea sets and Gong-Fu tea are now the most popular way to brew premium teas in China, in families and business venues such tea shops and tea houses. It is also a social media similar to the coffee or wine in the west. 

Gong-Fu tea is a unique way of tea brewing and serving. 

Many Chinese premium tea accessories such as YiXing ZiSha teapots are only made in Gong Fu tea sizes (small sizes).

A few notes:

• Gong-Fu tea is used in tea ceremonies, but more widely used under other circumstances, such as family homes. There is almost a Gong Fu tea set in every Chinese family. 
• Gong-Fu tea does not have to be complicated, it is just a different way of brewing and serving. It is characterized by small quantities and good control of the brewing time, the tea leaf volume and water temperature. It may take some practice to prefect it, the process is however just as enjoyable as the result. 
• Gong-Fu tea brings the best quality out of a premium tea. It does not however make a lot difference to a low quality one (when a tea is of low quality, Gong-Fu tea brewing cannot make it great.)

Some ancient Chinese wisdom:

Water – natural mineral water is supreme.

Fire – open charcoal fire is ideal.

Tea accessories – small ones are the best.

Tea has been consumed in China for about 2000 years. The consumption is largely in its original form – loose leaves. The western society has adopted the beverage during the contemporary years, but in a very different and commercialised form called tea bags.

There are fundamental differences between loose leaf teas and tea bags, with the crucial one being the teas (not including herbal tea) in tea bags are heavily oxidized (note - different from fermentation). When this happens, the tea produces a bitter taste and rough texture and no longer refreshing. For this very reason, the teas used in tea bags are the teas we call tea dust, left over from sorting out whole leaf teas, but never from breaking up premium full leaves.

When it comes to tea preparation, there is really not much to be done about tea bags. A mug of hot water with a tea bag for a couple minutes is what you get.

Brewing loose leaf teas is however a very dynamic process. Loose leaf teas come in a very wide range of varieties, and require slightly different technics such as water temperature, brewing time and using different tea vessels; Combined with different personal preferences, such as the strength of the tea, you can imagine it is not as mechanic as some make it out, a fixed temperature, brewing time and tea leaf amount. My advice is to experiment, and enjoy the fun of it, until you discover your tea and the way you like it.

Here are some very fundamental basics when it comes to brewing loose leaf teas compared to tea bags:

1. Most of loose leaf tea are hand handled. Make sure you rinse the tea leaves by adding hot water to the teapot with tea leaves in it for up to 10 seconds (until the tea leaves start unfolding). Dispose the water before brewing. This water has more contamination than taste!
2. The loose leaves are in various degrees of tenderness: green teas are made of very young tip leaves (there are 300+ Chinese green teas made of different degrees of tenderness too); Oolong teas are made of mature tea leaves; Premium pu-erh teas are made of larges leaves from ancient tea trees (not bushes). The rule of thumb is, the younger the tea leaves are, the lower the water temperature should be used (not lower than 85^oC). For example, use 85^oC-90^oC water for green tea and white tea, 100^oC freshly boiled water for Oolong tea, black tea and Pu-erh tea.
3. Loose leaf teas can be repeatedly used for many times by just adding hot water to the leaves. Depending on the tenderness of the leaves, green tea and white tea could be used up to 3-6 times and some of the aged Pu-erh teas could be used up to 30 times. What is dynamic here is each infusion has a different taste. Experiment and enjoy the fun of discovering! Only dispose the leaves only when the tea taste is no longer existing.
4. I personally would NOT recommend to use overnight tea leaves.
5. Use a small tea set where it is possible, Kung Fu tea set is known for this purpose. The small tea vessels (pots and cups) ensures the tea is freshly brewed and served, but not soaked. It may sound a bit pedantic, but trying out (again experiment!) the difference between a tea made from a small teapot, frequently brewed and served vs one made in a big teapot in the traditional way and feel the difference.
6. Finally, remember the ancient Chinese say about making a perfect cup: Spring water is the premium water for a perfect brew; Open charcoal fire is ideal for boiling the water; The small tea vessels are best for tea making. It may not all be possible in our days, but you got an idea and try to be as close.

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Green Tea Preparation

All premium loose leaf green teas are made of young tender tip leaves (eg, Bi-Luo-Chun and Mao Jian). It is crucial to avoid over steeping so that the tea brew does not lose it refreshing taste and silky texture. There are three essential factors that one needs to take into consideration when making your favourite brew: 1/ amount of tea leaves to use 2/ water temperature 3/ brewing time. Everyone has a difference preference just like everyone has a different taste. The following serves as a guide for you to experiment and build on:

1. Boil water and let the water temperature drop down to around 75-80^OC before start brewing
2. Quantity of tea leaves: about 1/2-1 tea spoon of the tea leaves per cup or 2 tea spoon per small tea pot. (The strength of the tea could be adjusted to personal preference by adjusting the amount of the tea leaves put in.)
3. Add the leaves to the brewing vessel before adding the 75-80^OC water to it up til about 1/3 of the tea vessel.
4. Allow to sit for 10-20 seconds before topping up the same temperature water. Serve after 10-20 seconds of brewing time.
5. Don't put a lid on the brewing vessel to reduce the chance of stewing the tea.
6. Repeat infusions: The tea leaves can be used for repeat infusions for up to 3-4 times by just topping up with hot water, slightly increase brewing time (about 20-30 additional seconds) with each extra infusion.

Hints:

• Most of premium Chinese teas are hand handled. We always recommend rinsing the tea leaves for up to 5 seconds before brewing: add the tea leaves to the teapot->top up with 75-80^OC water and dispose the water after 5-10 seconds (until the tea leaves are softened and start unfolding)
• Recommended brewing vessel: GLASS. Made of tender and young tea leaves, all fine green teas present a dynamic and elegant 'under water forest' phenomenon when hot water is added. For the Chinese green tea lovers, this is all part of the enjoyment while assessing the tea leaves unfolding.
• Green teas are not to be made too strong.
• Do not soak tea leaves. Use a small tea vessel wherever it is possible and top up with hot water frequently. Fresh made and freshly served teas are the best.  
• Avoid using big teapots. Big teapots take big volume of hot water and the water temperature stays hot for long period of time. This can cause tender young green tea leaves being over stewed and lose their refreshing taste. 

Advance Green Tea Preparation:

Three ways to add tea leaves: 

1. Top dropping: suitable for teas with tight shape and solid body such Dragon Well, Bi Luo Chun and Bamboo Green. Rinse the brewing vessel with 75-80^OC water to ensure the vessel is the equal temperature as the water and nicely moistened -> dispose the rinsing water -> add 75-80^OC water to the vessel -> add the tea leaves into the hot water from the top and watch the leaves soften and gradually drop to the bottom, some directly and other float and wave their way down
2. Mid-adding: suitable for teas with loose and expended shapes such as Liuan Leaf, Mao Feng and Monkey King. Due to the stretched and 'puff' shapes of these teas, the top dropping method will cause the leaves floating on top of the vessel and hard to decent. To avoid this, the Chinese have adopted: add tea leaves to the brewing vessel -> pour in 75-80^OC water to about 1/3 of the vessel -> wait for a minute or so til the tea leaves soak up the water and soft -> top up the vessel with the 75-80^OC water before serving
3. Base-adding: add the tea leaves to the vessel before adding 75-80^OC water on top. This method is mostly used for green teas that are not so fine and tender (eg, lower quality loose leaf green teas made of more mature leaves instead of the fine tip leaves.) 

 Green teas’ storage:

• store in a cool, dry place that is absent from direct light and foreign odour;
• keep the unopened satchels refrigerated to prolong the freshness.

To order our premium green tea, please go to: GREEN TEA .

Preparation of premium Chinese white teas

Chinese white teas includes: Fuding Silver Needle, Fuding White Peon, Fuding Shou Mie and Yunnan white teas

1. Warm up the tea vessel with freshly boiled water.
2. Quantity of tea leaves : about 1 tea spoon of the white tea leaves per cup or 1-2 tea spoons per small tea pot. The strength of the tea could be adjusted to personal preference by adjusting the amount of the tea leaves put in, or the tea brewing time. 
3. Add freshly boiled water of about 80^OC & dispose the liquid after about 5 seconds (tea rinsing)
4. Add hot water of about 80^OC again and allow to brew for 1-2 minutes before serving.
5. Don't use lid on the teapot or cup (to reduce the chance of over steeping the tea).
6. Repeat infusions: The tea leaves can be used for repeat infusions for up to 4-5 times by just adding hot water to the tea vessel, increase the brewing time for about 30 seconds with each extra infusion.

Hint:

• Most of premium Chinese teas are hand handled. We always recommend rinsing the tea leaves for up to 10 seconds before brewing.
• Recommended tea vessel: a glass tea infuser or a Gaiwan are ideal. Premium white teas are made of tender and young tea leaves. They present a dynamic and elegant 'under water forest' when hot water is added. As transparent glass teapot allows this to be fully appreciated. Alternatively, a Zi Sha teapot is always ideal to bring the best out of the premium Chinese teas.
• Do not soak tea leaves. Use a small tea vessel wherever it is possible and server frequently. Fresh made and freshly served teas are the best.  

White teas' storage:

• White Tea should be stored in a cool, dry place that is absent of foreign odours and direct sun light.

To order our premium Chinese white tea, please go to: WHITE TEA .

Premium yellow teas are similar to quality green teas: made of young tender tea leaf tips. Please avoid over steeping the tea leaves. 

1. Quantity of tea leaves: about 1/2 tea spoon of the tea leaves per cup or 1 tea spoon per small tea pot. (The strength of the tea could be adjusted to personal preference by adjusting the amount of the tea leaves put in.)
2. Boil water and pour into tea vessel, let the water temperature drop down to around 85-90^OC before adding tea leaves. 
3. Allow to brew for 1-2 minutes before serving. Don't put a lid on the teapot to reduce the chance of stewing the tea.
4. Repeat infusions: The tea leaves can be used for repeat infusions for up to 3-4 times by just adding hot water, slightly increase brewing time with each extra infusion.

Hints:

1. Most of premium Chinese teas are hand handled. We always recommend rinsing the tea leaves for up to 10 seconds before brewing.
2. Recommended tea vessel: GLASS. Made of tender and young tea leaves, yellow teas present a dynamic and elegant 'under water forest' when hot water is added. Alternatively, a Zi Sha teapot is always good for Chinese teas.
3. Do not soak tea leaves. Use a small tea vessel wherever it is possible. Fresh made and freshly served tea tastes the best.  

 Yellow teas’ storage:

1. store in a cool, dry place that is absent from foreign odour and direct sun light;
2. keep the unopened satchels refrigerated to prolong the freshness.

To order our premium yellow teas, please go to: YELLOW TEA.

Oolong/Wulong teas are semi-fermented and made of mature tea leaves (ie note the difference to green teas which have more tender and young tip leaves).

How to prepare:

1. Warm up the tea vessel with freshly boiled water.
2. Quantity of tea leaves: about 1/2 tea spoon for a cup or 1-2 per small tea pot. The strength of the tea could be adjusted to personal preference by adjusting the amount of the tea leaves put in, or tea brewing time.
3. Pour the freshly boiled water (100^oC) into the tea vessel, rinse the tea leaves for about 5 seconds and dispose the water.
4. Add freshly boiled water, allow to brew  for about 30 seconds before serving.
5. Repeat infusions: The tea leaves can be used for repeat infusions for up to 3-5 times depending on the tea varieties by just topping up with hot water. Only dispose the leaves until the flavor is not more. Increase brewing time by about 30 seconds with each additional infusion.

Hint:  

1. Most of premium Chinese teas are hand handled. We always recommend to rinse the Oolong tea leaves for up to 10 seconds before brewing.
2. Recommended tea vessel: a premium Zi Sha teapot or a Gaiwan is ideal, alternatively one of the authentic Chinese tea sets will serve all your needs.  
3. Oolong tea could be made reasonably strong without inducing any bitterness to its taste.
4. Do not soak tea leaves (eg, leaving the leaves in the liquid in a big pot for a long period). Use a small tea vessel wherever it is possible. Freshly made and freshly served teas taste best. 

Oolong/Wulong teas' storage:

1. store in a cool, dry place that is absent from foreign odour and direct sun light;
2. keep unopened satchels sealed until it is ready to be used.
3. Tie Guan Yin is more sensitive to high temperature than the other Oolong teas. Keep the unopened satchels refrigerated.

To purchase our premium Oolong/Wulong teas, please go to: OOLONG/WULONG TEA .

Black teas are fully fermented teas. As a result, they are more resilient to room temperature in their storage while the green teas would normally deteriorate rapidly under the similar conditions.

1. Warm up the tea vessel with freshly boiled water.
2. Quantity of tea leaves: about 1/2 tea spoon for a cup or 1-2 per small tea pot. The strength of the tea could be adjusted to personal preference by adjusting the amount of the tea leaves put in.
3. Pour the freshly boiled water (100^oC) into the tea vessel, rinse the tea leaves for up to 2 seconds and dispose the water.
4. Add freshly boiled water, allow to brew  for around 10-30 seconds, depending on the tea varieties and strength preferred, before serving.
5. Repeat infusions: The tea leaves can be used for repeat infusions for up to 3-6 times depending on the tea varieties by just topping up with hot - until the flavor is not more. Increase brewing time by about 10-20 seconds with each additional infusion.

Hint:  

1. Most of premium Chinese teas are hand handled. We always recommend to rinse the tea leaves for up to 5 seconds before brewing.
2. Recommended tea vessel: Zi Sha teapot or a Chinese Gaiwan.
3. Do not soak tea leaves (eg, leaving the leaves in the liquid in a big pot for a long period). Use a small tea vessel wherever it is possible. Freshly made and served teas taste best. 
4. A premium Zi Sha teapot is ideal, alternatively one of the authentic Chinese tea sets will serve all your needs.

Black teas' storage:

1. store in a cool, dry place that is absent from foreign odour and direct sun light;
2. keep unopened satchels sealed until it is ready to be used.

To order our premium black teas, please go to: Buy black tea .

Pu-erh tea's preparation: 

Pu-erh tea belongs to a compressed tea category with certain unique characters that require additional attention.

Breaking the cakes and storage:

1. Use a Pu-erh tea knife or pin, or equivalent (no sharp edges to cut or crush the leaves), to break the tea leaves loose from the edge of the tea cake. Look for the space between the tea leaves to insert the knife/pin to avoid crashing or cutting the tea leaves - preserve the whole leaves as much as possible.
2. Only break a small amount each time and store the remaining cake/brick/Tuo Cha in a cardboard box at a place where it is cool, dry, no direct sun light exposure and lack of foreign odors. 
3. Store the broken off loose leaves in a tea canister under similar conditions to be used. 
4. Only break off the cake further when needed. 

Waking Pu-erh tea:

As strange as it sounds, it is an important step of making a good pot of Pu-erh tea.

'Tea waking' refers to a mechanism to bring teas, specially aged compressed teas back to live after being stored away for a long period of time.  When teas are stored away for decades, although the internal fermentation continues, the surface is often covered by dust and becomes inactively ‘sleepy’. The ‘waking’ process is to spread out the aged leave, remove the dust if possible and allow maximum contact with fresh air to facilitate the internal aroma to resurface.

There are three ways of doing so:

1. Dry waking: This is to break up a cake or brick and spread out the leaves for them to be fully aired for a few days. (Cover the leaves with some tissues if necessary.) The tea leaves are then stored in a unglazed clay canister (ZiSha or none-ZiSha where the leaves can breathe though the micro cavities in the wall) for about 1-3 moths. This is the most gentle waking process. It allows the teas to wake up in its natural pace to release its aged aroma and mellow taste.  
2. Men-Xiang (闷香 Sealed aroma waking): Warm up a Zi-Sha teapot with hot water, empty the teapot and put the leaves in the teapot for about 1 minute before brewing.
3. Wen-Run (温润 warm and wet method) Add tea leaves to a Zi Sha teapot or Gai-Wan, pour about 60^oC warm water to the leaves from the edge to the centre and drain the water immediately before brewing. This is believed to be the most abrupt, but quickest waking method to bring the tea leaves to the awake state, most suitable for well aged teas or teas made of predominately mature leaves.

Brewing Pu-erh tea:

1. Quantity: Use 2 teaspoon tea leaves per serve (for up to 5 people) into the tea vessel.
2. Use freshly boiled water (100^oC), thoroughly rinse the tea leaves without soaking for up to 5 seconds:
   1. rinse once for young teas
   2. rinse 2 times for aged teas
3. Add freshly boiled water to start brewing and serve without delay  
   1. Ripened Pu-erh (pre-fermented Pu-erh) has a relatively darker colour. Due to its pre-fermentation nature, the flavour is easy to draw and colour of the tea brew becomes dark quickly in comparison to raw Pu-erh teas. We recommend about 10 second for the first brew and increase brewing time for about 10 seconds with each additional brew.
   2. Raw Pu-erhs are more similar to certain Oolong tea. We recommend the following brewing time: up to 20 seconds for the first 1-2 brews and increase the brewing time for about 30 seconds for any additional brew.
   3. Pu-erh teas, especially pre-fermented (ripened) Pu-erh teas have a relatively darker colour. Prolong brewing could result in tea colour being deep dark (like soy source) and take on a medicinal like flavor.
4. Repeat infusions: Pu-erh leaves can be used repeatedly for up to 10-20 infusions by simply topping up with freshly boiled hot water.

Hints:

1. We recommend to only break a small amount of Pu-erh tea leaves from a cake at a time, eg. 50g. Pu-erh tea has a unique nature which is post-fermenting. (Similar to some premium wines in this aspect: quality improves with the length of time after its production.) The compressed cakes facilitate this fermenting process. It is therefore better to leave as much tea leaves in a cake form as possible.
2. Similar to all premium Chinese teas which are hand handled, we always recommend rinsing the tea leaves for up to 10 seconds before brewing. Due to Pu-erh tea's unique aged nature, we  recommend to rinse the aged Pu-erh teas a couple of times before brewing to avoid the potential dust contamination during the long period of storage.
3. When adding hot water into tea vessel, pour along the vessel wall if possible to allow the tea leaves to infuse without excessive disturbance. This will ensure tea brew being clear, bright and smooth. Excessive disturbance of the tea leaves could result in tea liquid being cloudy with a rough taste.
4. If you notice any additional odour (especially for aged cakes that have been stored for many years) after the water is added, remove the lid immediately to diffuse the additional ‘age’ odour.
5. Recommended tea vessel: a good Zi Sha teapot is the best for a good Pu-erh tea. Alternatively, a Gaiwan or one of the authentic Chinese tea sets will serve all your needs.
6. Pu-erh tea is notorious for being contaminated by foreign objects due to its rural and family based production nature, from plant products such as grain husks to the less desirable ones such as human hair or animal feathers. While work is being done to reduce these contamination, it is believed as long as the objects are removed and the teas are 'rinsed' before brewing as advised, they do not necessarily impose health risks to the tea consumers. We therefore strongly advise the tea consumers to carry out a thorough inspect of their teas and remove any visible foreign objects before brewing (a device called Cha-He as shown in the image is ideal for this purpose).  

More blog article on Pu-erh tea preparation: Optimal tea accessories for pu-erh tea

To order our premium Pu-erh tea, please go to: PU-ERH TEA.

Note: We use foil bags similar to the right for the delivery to best protect Pu-erh cakes/bricks/Tuo Cha from the potential moisture damage during the transportation. We strongly advise the customers to remove the teas from the foil bags once received and store them in a 'breathable' wrapping/container at a well ventilated location where it is lack of moisture, foreign odor and direct sun light. This is to facilitate the further fermentation (further aging) of the Pu-erh tea. 

Jasmine Pearl, Jasmine Ball, Jasmine Daisy and Jasmine Blossom Tea

1. Warm up the tea vessel with freshly boiled water.
2. Quantity of tea leaves :  4-6 pearls for a mug or 2/3 tea spoon for a small tea pot; one daisy, one ball or one Jasmine blossom tea for a tea pot. (Use a clear glass tea pot for the blossom teas for the visual effect!)
3. Add freshly boiled water, allow to draw  for at least  2 to 3 minutes then serve
4. Repeat infusions : The tea leaves can be used again for repeat infusions . ie  for up to 3-4 times by just adding hot water. slightly increase brewing time with each extra infusion.

Hint:

• Most of premium Chinese teas are hand handled. We always recommend rinsing the tea leaves for up to 10 seconds before brewing.
• Recommended tea vessel: glass teapot.

Storage:

• store in a cool, dry place that is absent from foreign odour and direct sun light;

To order our premium jasmine tea, please go to: JASMINE TEA .

ZiSha teapots are unique Chinese tea accessory gems and require special care to reach and preserve their potentials.

New teapots' Kai-Hu (开壶):

The Chinese are quite pedantic about Kai-Hu (开壶) which is the initial preparation of a Yixing Zisha teapot before its use.

Goal:

1. clean up all the residuals from its manufacturing include the clay odour and dust.
2. make sure the teapot is in its prime condition for future use to extract the best flavour from the teas it is used for.

Method: 

There are various ways of Kai-Hu, some are more complicated than the others. Following is a simple, yet effective method:

1. Use a toothbrush to brush off any residual dust outside and inside of the Zisha teapot in a pot of the clean water. Make sure NOT to use any detergent or sanitizer.
2. Put the teapot in a source pan with flat base, add water to cover the teapot entirely and bring it to the boil with low, then medium heat. Add some tea leaves to the source pan (ideally the same tea type the teapot is going to be used for), boil it for about 10 minutes and turn the heat off. Set aside the source pan with the teapot in it for about 5 minutes to cool down.
3. Use low then medium heat to bring the source pan back to boil again and boil it for another 15 minutes. Set the source pan aside for another 10 minutes. 
4. Use low then medium heat to bring the source pan to boil again, boil for 15 minutes. Set the source pan aside for 3-5 hours. Drain the teapot, rinse it with running water. The teapot now is ready to be used.

Caution:

1. make sure the teapot is completely covered with water for the entire process.
2. use some cloth material underneath and around the teapot in the source pan to avoid the teapot knocking itself on the source pan wall during the boiling.
3. premium ZiSha has a unique capacity to 'store' tea flavors in their micro-cavities of the unglazed clay. Any unwanted flavours are a source of contamination. Avoid detergents, especially the sencted ones during the cleaning and preparation.

Routine clean of already in use teapots:

1. Use only hot water to flash, avoid detergents;
2. Tie the lid of a ZiSha teapot to its handle as shown to avoid the lid falling off and break
3. One Zisha teapot for one tea type when possible to avoid flavour contamination.

Yixing Zisha tea canister

Similar to Yixing Zisha teapots, Zisha tea canisters are the premium tea storage, especially for teas such as Pu-erh tea which requires oxygen for its post-fermentation. Careful preparation for the first time before its use is crucial to avoid the adverse effects of causing the teas to become mouldy or contaminated by foreign odours. 

Following are the recommended steps: 

1. Avoid any detergent or cleaning agents, especially the ones with odours
2. Use a wet cloth to wipe off any superficial dust, inside and outside
3. Fill half of the canister with warm water, use a cloth (or soft brush if necessary) to brush off any residual dust and clay/earth odour. Repeat this step multiple times until there is no more dust or factory/production odours left in the canister.
4. Turn the teapot up side down and dry in the full sun for at least three days. Zisha has natural micro cavities in the clay and is able to store moisture within these cavities. If not dried thoroughly, it will release the moisture into the tea once a tea is stored in it and cause the tea to go mouldy.

When brewing a pot of premium loose tea, every step counts including using the right tea accessory for a particular type of tea.

To choice the right tea accessory, a basic knowledge about the tea is required. It then come to personal taste and preference. An experience Chinese tea drinker will know which is the exact teapot for his/her favourite tea and it comes with many years of tea drinking and experimenting.
Some basic principles:

• We (Chinese) always use small teapots as this ensures the teas are freshly brewed and severed. A traditional big teapot has the tendency to soak the tea to produce a bitter taste and rough texture.
• A glass teapot is an excellent vessel for premium green teas as the young tender tip leaves unfold when hot water is added, ascent and decent, creating an underwater forest phenomena. It is a visual enjoyment as well as a perfect opportunity to inspect the tea leaves – a strong indicator of the quality of the tea. (See more green tea quality indicators.)
• A Zi Sha teapot (purple sand teapot) is considered by the Chinese as the premium teapot for brewing premium teas. The micro-cavities in its unique clay allows teas to breathe through the teapot wall during the brewing process. All experienced Chinese tea drinkers will agree that the premium tea brewing is a dynamic and vivid process: different teas require different water temperature, tea leaf volume, sequence of adding the water and the leaves, and each infusion of the same leaves has its own character and taste. The unique micro-cavities in Zi Sha clay facilitate this process better than any other material on earth. It is especially recommended for teas that require a ‘good brew’, teas made of mature tea leaves such as Oolong tea, black tea and pu-erh tea, although I personally still prefer Zi Sha teapot over others when brewing teas made of young leaves such as green tea and white tea.
• We also use small tea cups in glass or with white inner lining for drinking. This is for the convenience of inspect the tea brew.  A premium tea’s brew should be brightly clear, in whatever colour the tea is supposed to be in.  This is the very reason that many Zi Sha tea set have unglazed teapots, but cups lined with white ceramic. The teapot is to ensure the quality of the tea brew and the tea cup is more for tasting and inspection.
• The tea infuser all-in-one is designed to be used in the office with limited space so that people do not need a tea set to brew premium loose leaf teas.

 As you can see tea accessories serve more purposes than just functionalities. By selecting the right tea accessories, your tea consuming experience will be largely enhanced.

It then comes to collection. For example, many tea lovers have a collection of Zi Sha teapots based on the theory that the micro-cavities in the clay actually trap certain tea flavours and therefore use one teapot for one tea type only. This is the exciting part of tea consumption, the depth is unlimited. It is a love, passion, journey and life style. 

Remember, there are not many life time habits on earth that offer not only enjoyment, but health at the same time and tea dinking is one of them.

Due to its shape and size, Gaiwan can easily be mistakenly assumed to be a tea cup to drink the tea from by consumers who are not familiar Chinese tea culture.

Gaiwan is a tea brewing vessel that is commonly used in the traditional King Fu tea tasting.

Its wide open design allows easy observation of the tea leaves during the tea brewing process, which is a crucial aspect of the tea quality assessment.

The steam produced during the tea brewing which carries a high concentration of the tea aroma condenses on the lid to offer a perfect opportunity for the aroma quality and level to be tested.

Since a Gaiwan has not got a inbuilt infuser like some teapots, a separate infuser and tea sever is often used in company when using a Gaiwan for Kung Fu tea.

Gaiwan can be used for all categories of teas, but ideal for fermented teas made of mature leaves such as Oolong tea, black tea and Pu-erh tea.

Valley Green Tea will release a demonstration video shortly with the instruction on how to use a Gaiwan to brew teas.

Challenges of making a cup of premium loose leaf tea in an office environment

Office workers are increasingly indulging themselves by bringing their favourite teas to the office. We all need to reward our senses sometimes to coax effort or attention, or to recover our sense of humanity. A well made cup of tea is an excellent way to do this – especially with increasing range of choice for different tea types available these days.

The Office environment, particularly the standard office kitchens can thwart attempts at achieving a quality brew befitting the expensive boutique loose leaf tea you are wanting to savour.

For a start – standard office kitchen equipment, whilst featuring café style coffee machines in support of the coffee addicts habit, mostly include a only a rudimentary hot water urn as a dispensation to the tea drinker.

A hot water urn is most suited for brewing tea bags, though some workers will fill their cups with a quantity of loose tea leaves and drink from the cup as this brews. This is acceptable for some tea types - and has the advantage that the tea can brew at the desk and be consumed at the same time. However it does not allow optimal brewing, so tea can become bitter with time, forcing faster consumption. Repeat infusions are then weaker and more insipid then otherwise.

A traditional teapot could be used – but the modern office desk and kitchen only allow a certain amount of space, and a teapot, whilst cute will consume too much. Its also not a masculine look for the tea loving guys.

There is also the problem of waiting at the kitchen for the teapot to “draw” ( ie tea to brew) then pouring a cup, leaving the tea in the pot to stew for while, coming back for the second cup, which again is not convenient for the single worker. It may work well for a group of tea enthusiasts. However here again there is a problem, since enthusiasts all have their particular favourite and who decides which tea will be brewed today for morning tea?

There is also the problem of hanging around waiting for the tea to brew, the modern office worker can’t afford to be seen loitering too long in the kitchen doing nothing, as well as the need for strainer (more equipment to bring to work!) to support efficient disposal of the discarded leaves.

Solution with tea infuser all-in-one

A solution to the dilemmas of tea in the office outlined can be found in a relatively new device coming onto the market– the tea infuser all in one. This is essentially a glass cup with a built glass chamber/lid on top and a mechanism to release the tea once brewed from the chamber via the strainer into the cup.

• Loose tea leaves are placed in the upper chamber which is then filled with hot water.
• The tea is released from the chamber to the teapot below when brewing is complete. Being transparent this can be judged by the colour of the brew.
• The tea can be consumed with or without the detachable chamber.
• The brewing chamber can be used for repeat infusions by simply topping up with hot water.  

The advantages afforded include:

1. It is compact and office friendly being an all in one: cup, pot and strainer.
2. It is different from using a coffee plunger to brew teas. Once the tea is brewed, it is drained. The tea leaves are not soaked in the liquid to make the tea too strong, too dark with a rather bitter and unpleasant flavor.
3. Tea leaves are caught by the strainer and don’t float around in the cup.
4. The detachable chamber facilitates easy removal and disposal of tea leaves.
5. The whole process can be accomplished at the desk, without mess, allowing quality individualised brews of your favourite loose leaf teas.
6. This device, especially the teapot infuser all-in-one, can also be used in busy cafés. Top up with hot water is all is needed for multiple serves. 

You can now brew easily at the office by loading your infuser all-in-one with loose tea at your desk, march up to the urn in the office kitchen and fill with hot water, brew on the way back to the desk or longer as required, consume at desk or in meetings without mess or over brewing, have repeat infusions at a time that suites ( ie after the meeting),  clean out discarded leaves easily at a time of your choosing.

The all-in-1 Tea infuser is certainly compact, convenient and very easy to use. It makes a day in the office just that much easier, healthier and more enjoyable.

The all-in-1 Tea infuser also makes a great gift - for the office warrior who has almost everything!  Larger versions are available if you are generous enough to want to share you indulgence.

You can view our range of all-in-1 Tea infusers at: Tea Infusers

Does this sound familiar? You make a nice pot of tea, you try to serve and the lid just drops and breaks. Your heart sinks as it is your favourite teapot and you are now left with a pot without a lid.

There is a simple way to minimise the risk of this:

1. get a piece of strong cotton string (or similar that is not slippery)
2. double fold it 
3. tie the mid of the double folded string around the lid neck or ring (or whichever way you can secure it) and start plaiting
4. tie the end of the string (after the plaited section) to the teapot handle
5. If the teapot lid drops again after this, it is more like to hang of the teapot handle instead of dropping/breaking.

One way of getting an authentic matching tea set is of course to buy one.

Alternative it is also all practical and personal to compose your own. An example as follow:

1. An authentic YiXing ZiSha Chinese teapot from Valley Green Tea, artistically crafted and designed for brewing premium Chinse teas.
2. A bamboo tea tray to provide the platform for tea brewing and servicing. It offers both the authentic Chinese Banboo appearance and the practicality of catching any running away or unwanted liquid during tea brewing for later dispose.
3. 6 X double layer tea cups: ideal size for KungFu tea tasting; transparent so that the tea brew can be easily inspected (major part of tea quality assessment); and the double layer serves both as an insulation to preserve the tea temperature and prevention of finger burning.

This self-composed tea set will serve all you daily tea brewing needs, and yet offering a very authentic decoration to your table.