Could some one please recommend a source for Gong Fu accessories? I'm looking for a set that includes a bamboo scoop, tweezers, pick, strainer, etc. I have found some separate items at several different online shops, but no one seems to have them all in one complete set.
I'm also considering getting a bamboo, gong fu-style tea tray, and am wondering if the contact with hot water will effect the wood over the course of time. Do they hold up fairly well in this regard? I assume they would need to be dried carefully between uses. Any comments are most welcome.
Actually, it is not so much about sealing or useage as it is proper conditioning. You should use a good cutting board oil on your bamboo trays and the problem is instantly gone. You can use olive oil or other food safe oil, but in any event that is the root of the problem.
I use bamboo cutting boards, and trays, and a few other utensils and never have one problem. I'd recommend NOT sealing them, it will be worse in the long run, bamboo is a very dense and hard wood and does not need sealing... just conditioned.
As for the gong fu equipment, it is hard to say. Technically these utensils are very expensive and are supposed to be replaced yearly... I, personally, just use more common (non-metal) utensils that are every bit as decorative and pretty that hold up better and will last a lifetime. The only exception is my Matcha whisk, and even that I found a local bookseller who was selling a green tea introduction kit for a sale price of $7.99 that includes a nice bamboo whisk on top of the tea and cups along with a book. Which I can happily replace yearly. I was amazed at the cheap Gaiwans in Chinatown NYC, $3-4 will nab you just about any of them except for the clear glass ones.
Right, and the rice-grain pattern ones are actually good-looking.
But those cheap gaiwans are stoneware, and they weigh a ton. This means it's tricky to get the brewing temperature you want, since they absorb so much of the water's heat. In my bourgeois laziness, I've abandoned them for glass and (even better) porcelain.
[Dominic]
[Michael] Who says? Half the fun is finding everyday items that complement one another, as well as the tea, on the tea table. I personally think all those slatted bamboo tea trays are tight-assed, and I don't use them. As for replacing yearly, that runs counter to the Japanese and Chinese reverence for things old and venerable -- such as, for example, ME.
[D]
[M} There ya go! Great minds think along the same channels. You are indeed very wise.
[D]
[M] And their mechanics work just as well as the higher priced ones, right? You just need to find one with a lid knob that allows your fingers to grasp it, or the lid will join the millions thatr preceeded it to shard pile.
Believe me I was just as surprised as anyone to learn this, but it has been told to me numerous times from very highly skilled individuals in Japanese tea ceremony. The Chinese have a very deep reverence, and the Japanese do too... but it certainly seems less so for them in certain areas. They have been a bit more "priveledged" and are a bit more wasteful and high-brow at times. I was shocked to find that they just tossed out the bamboo whisks after even as short as 4 months at a price of close to $100 each. The bamboo tea "spoons" and scoops are kept around for a long time though, but again others swear by tossing them too. It is not always a wholesale change of utensils, but many of the cloths and acoutremonts are tossed with a high frequency purely due to asthetics and in the name of "beauty."
This is actually the reason I stopped being very focused on the formal tea ceremony as it does not match with my personal beliefs. It is a bit too structured, scripted, and formal for me. I have had tea with other skilled folks that has been much more relaxed and "real" with actual care and attention and food that was not phony or forced at all. That is more my speed. I've enjoyed tea from a centuries old Yixing teapot handed down for generations, and that beat out any pomp and circumstance of a ceremony for me.
Really? Don't you splash water everywhere when you're making tea? I think leaving the teapot sitting in a puddle of cold water is nasty. I guess if you use a gaibei it's not necessary, though.
My teapots are as well treated as they treat me, which is *very* well. Together we find our own way. Our way does not include slatted bamboo. This a personal aesthetic choice, not a judgement. Michael
Hehe, I wish... it is not mine. When I was a freshman in college about
300 miles away from home I befriended a wonderful middle-aged Thai/Chinese woman who owned a Pan-Asian grocery. She kind of became a mom away from mom, and she was intrigued by how much I knew about her food, culture, bonsai and tea. So she taught me how to make sushi, steered me towards some great teas, and was always there for a chat or to just hang out at her store and I'd give her Bonsai tips and humor. After a month or so she offered to make some real ramen for me (I'm a huge ramen fan) and she brought this teapot along to make tea. I believe it was Formosa Oolong (I had no idea then of much beyond green tea) and she told me the whole story of the teapot and its travels. She poured plain water into it and instantly it smelled like tea, then she made the tea and we ate and drank. The thing had a patina that seemed alive and like it had just been unearthed from a dig. I was hooked at that point. I only ended up staying there for 1 semester before transferring so it has been like 7+ years, and I don't even know if she is still in business or where she might be unfortunately. We were good buddies though, and an unlikely friendship for sure... but I owe a lot to her.
No judgement on my side either, just surprise and intrigue.
I may as well ask (although this should probably be a new topic) do you do anything in particular to keep your yixings in good condition? I have a nice one but I don't think I'm taking particularly good care of it, and I don't really understand what it is that I'm supposed to be doing with it (other than brewing lots of tea).
I'm far from the final word on this, but my main contribution is to take a soft cloth and "polish" them after they've served tea. I find that helps the luster. I also rinse the inside with water, although I'm told this is not at all necessary. I always pour the rinse and extra tea over them rather than down the drain. Each one is dedicated to its own tea and drinks naught but that. Beyond that I cannot say. Michael
I don't use bamboo tray either, instead got a lacquered tray that holds water very well and looks great, I think it is Japanese and cost around $10 and several slated bamboo cup coasters. This combination provides pretty much all the functionality of tea tray, takes less space and looks great and potentially could be used for other purposes, but I use it only for tea. After several month of heavy usage bamboo coasters probably will need to be replaced in several more months. OTH I might do without coasters as well just tray as I don't pour too much water on teapot lid any more, just a little bit, so not too much water in the try and when water starts accumulate it is not difficult to empty the tray.
Question regarding pouring water on teapot - does it really affect tea taste too much as I never pour hot water on gaiwan and tea come just as fine; tea leafs probably more important, as one respectable tea vendor recently said better invest in quality tea, he has some business reasons but I tend to agree with him on this.
Just an FYI, I always use a Yixing tray and basin such as seen here:
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It catches the water and adds a wonderful extra asthetic and even the aroma of any over-spilt tea/leaves. I've only ever used these for my tea preparation in my Yixing, and was under the assumption that everyone used them... any place I've ever been served in Yixing they have been employed.
I find that it does make a subtle difference, I could 100% tell you Jasmine green tea that was brewed without pouring water over top vs. pouring from my Yixing. Since delicate greens take a low water temperature, it is the perfect way to keep it at the exact temperature through the brewing. I also tend to find it very beneficial for Pu-Erh too, to keep the high temps up. Oolong's I have not seen it make much of a difference with though, but I still do.
[Michael] I bought a big round cream colored saucer-like plate for $3.00 (due to some imperfection in it). This I place over a ceramic open wide and shallow cylinder into whose open mouth it fits perfectly. With holes drilled in the plate, water would drain right through into the cylinder. I've never quite gotten around to drilling the holes, but I will someday. Meanwhile I periodically drain the plate. (Whoever can draw a picture of this two part contraption based on my description deserves a medal.)
What scholar's rocks do I put on the table I hear you asking: Volcanic rock I got on the peaks of vulcanic mountains in Ecuador and rocks that my girlfriend brought back from the rugged islands north of Scotland. These lands are sacred to tea, so they are singularly appropriate.
P.S. You didn't specify the color of the cylinder so I chose pink/fuschia, I figured that would be anyone's choice for a plate-holding cylinder. And since you kinda lost me on where the rocks fit in, I took my own liberties. :)
P.P.S. I really should be working instead of making 4 year-old quality MS paint drawings for fictional medals.
You can! Any inaccuracies in your drawing are more than compensated by the most excellent rendition of ME! You caught the spirit and the letter. Good for you.
You intuited the color choice brilliantly. You placed the rocks with taste and skill.
Fictional!!?!!!???
No, you shouldn't. You should put in one hour of play for each hour of work. You are probably a better IT guy for your effort.
I've been drinking Dan Congs these last couple days and find that I'm partial to those of lesser cost and lesser breeding. These preferred DC's are fruitier and spicier and therefore more tastey and more amusing. I'd ask you to draw me at my Dan Cong table, but I know you have work to do, and I don't want to push this.
Lewis Perinpc764hlzhg0.fsf_- snipped-for-privacy@panix1.panix.com7/25/06 14: snipped-for-privacy@panix.com
Deep in the forest where tea flourishes and heads run small,where virgin monkeys gleefully flit from tree to tree picking and nibbling as they brachiate the canapy, the lucky adventurer might witness....
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