I would like to pass on some gong fu cha techniques that have helped me appreciate the aroma and flavour notes of the teas I have been drinking lately, in particular, sheng (or raw) puerh.
I am by no means a tea master. In fact, even though I have been enjoying tea for 25 years now, I still consider myself a student of tea – always learning.
These 3 little techniques I have learnt over the last 3-5 years through enjoying tea with like-minded tea enthusiasts. So I will pass on any credit to them.
I hope you will already practice these or have them in your repertoire of gongfu knowledge. If you don’t, please try them and let me know if you note any difference. It’s good to hear feedback.
The first technique I have adopted is to shorten the timings of my infusions. I now infuse between 10 to 20 seconds. It used to be 45 seconds to 1 minute each infusion. I find this has cut the bitterness out, but left the astringency (which I like), particularly with sheng puerh.
For dancongs and yancha (Rock tea), I will infuse between 5 and 10 seconds each time. This seems to give high aroma and flavour notes. I then start to lengthen each infusion time from the 4th onwards. This brings through the middle and lower (body) notes for me. I’m not so particular with my Hongcha (black or red) teas as I love them however they come!
The second technique I have adopted is when pouring from teapot/gaiwan to daogongbei (pitcher), and from daogongbei to cup, I pour as close and as low to the receiving vessel as possible. This allows for as little aroma and heat to be lost when transferring from one vessel to the next. Some people will have differing views on this, and that’s ok. However, I find this gives a better aroma and flavour profile when it comes to sipping the tea. This is especially noticeable for dancongs and yancha.
Finally, the third technique I have started using regularly, particularly with sheng puerh, is to leave the teapot or gaiwan lid off while the wet tea leaves are resting between infusions. I find this allows the wet tea leaves to ‘breathe’ (in fact, this is how it was described to me). This, I find, has removed any bitterness and ‘stewing’ note that is sometimes present. Particularly when you infuse slightly too long. It also allows for more complex flavour notes to come through, thereby giving a totally new flavour profile.
I hope you find these three techniques useful in your own gongfu tea, and please do let me know your results and comments.