Faster gongfu

If one does gungfu without any extra embellishments its like this:

1. One fills the teapot with fresh water and witches the ON button. - 15 sec. It will be ready at about 2 min. During these 2 min one takes out one's chahu, chahai and chabei and tea.
2. When hot water is ready one quickly warms the chahu and puts the tea in it - say another 30 seconds.
3. One pours away he first steep and (optionally) smells the wet tea leaves - say another 1 min.
4. One pours the second brew water, waits 1 to 2 min and pours out the tea that one can start drinking or sniffing now.

Altogether - 4 steps and 15 sec + 2 min + 30 sec + 1 min + 1(2) min between 5 and 6 min. What CAN BE easier and/or faster?

Sasha.

....buy a faster kettle ?? ;-))

BTW, if one deep freezes freshly made wulong in large containers (like filling half a glass with it, cover and put it in the freezer) hey preserve real well. If you do not cover the glass, not only the tea may aquire a smell, but also a cup can break, since it will be frozen from the top down.

Then its just a matter of taking this glass out of the freezer one day and dialing 2 min on your microwave... But then again, some people may be so-ooo tired that pushing the microwave button may pose a problem :)))))))))))))))))))))

Sasha.

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Hi Ed,

I know many will have valuable comments to make, but I am apparently the first to come across your post, so let me try: Leaving my instinctive flippancy aside, consider using a big pot that holds several cups, and keeping Gung Fu for those hours when you *do* have time to rest and ponder. Gung Fu, variously translated as care and attention, is by its nature somewhat time consuming.

On the other hand, I make Gung Fu tea -- if Gaiwans count -- every single day at work, integrating it into my other activities. It's easy as can be. In goes the leaf, on goes the water, out goes the tea. My Gaiwan is just the right size to produce one ounce of tea. So, It's just me, my gaiwan, and my little Chinese cup. Once you get comfortable with handling the Gaiwan, no more worries. YiXing pots offer more stuff to do, so would command more of your time.

So finally, in answer to your question, use a Gaiwan (Chinese lidded cup), practice until you've got a comfortable routine down, and enjoy your tea. Generally, use more leaf than you ordinarily might, and pour more quickly, adjusting length of steep time as needed. Steep several times. Use an Oolong tea, they're the best for Gung Fu, but by far not the only ones.

There are more precise definitions for "Gung Fu" tea, far more regimented and stylized, but we need not concern ourselves with them since your goal is "fast and easy."

Michael

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Sorry guys. I don't know where I got that "first to see his post" crap. Michael

Concur whole heartedly with Michael's perspective on this, Ed. Like a lot of people here I use the Gaiwan for that quick 'cuppa', especially at work. The kettle, Gaiwan, tea tray and cup sit on the desk all day and its really quick to make up a cup.

I brew Oolongs (Da Hong Pao, Shui Xian and the occasional Tie Guan Yin ) and loose leaf Pu-erh. Using slightly more leaves and shorter steeps that normal I can usually get a day's worth of tea from the one measure of leaves.

At COB I'll empty the tea tray and refill the kettle ready for the next morning.

Then at home in the evenings when I have a little more time, it's out with the Yixing pot to make a 'proper' brew (or three).

Cheers Mal Oz

Little pot, little cup, little water equals little tea and you expect more? I would forgo the formalities and learn to drink the appropriate gongfu tea leaf off the top which moves you into Gaiwan territory but dump the lid and saucer. I basically make tea a half liter at a time. The only way to appreciate tea is by gulping then your nose,mouth,throat,stomach,meridians,chi can tell you what they think as independent variables. Replace contemplation with intoxication. I don't mind gongfu so long as someone else takes the time and makes sure my cup is always filled which is the forgotten trait of gongfu. I don't know why it became self service which to me seems a little basphemous like a teabag.

Jim

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I second Michael's recco above: use a gaiwan. Sometimes when I'm lazy or in a hurry, I skipped pre-heating the gaiwan and teacups. The first rinse (which I rarely skip) preheats the cups...almost like hitting 2 birds in one step.

Phyll

Space Cowboy wrote:

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I do that too more often than not, on the sampe principle you mention. When it comes to Gung Fu, there are three ways to approach: The right way, the wrong way, and *my* way. The only approach I detest is "My Way or The Highway," if you follow the subtlety of my thinking. Michael