Caring For Your Chinese Teapot

Your Chinese Teapot is an investment for life.... and even longer.

With this in mind, I've decided to put together a simple guide "Caring For Your Chinese Teapot"

Your Chinese Teapot is prized for its functional and aesthetic design which includes the composition of the special clay which over time will absorb and enhance your tea's flavour.

Before you use it for the first time you need to "cure" or "season" your Teapot.

Here's how:

1. Rinse it with hot water to remove any dust or other residues.
   
   
2. Prepare 4-5 infusions of tea, each time leaving the tea to brew for at least 30 minutes.
   
   
3. Do not drink the tea.
   
   
4. Throw out the tea and used tea leaves.

We highly recommend you use only one kind of tea for your Teapot (example: Wuyi Rock Oolong) because the essential oils and associated flavour of the tea will gradually soak into the clay of the pot. Using different kinds of teas will essentially cause a clash of oils and flavours.

You will find after a few weeks of frequent use that your pot will begin to form a shiny "patina" coating on the outside. This is highly prized and can be encouraged by pouring tea over the outside of your pot and after each tea session, polishing your pot with a non-abrasive microfibre cloth. If you continue this practice your pot will become evermore increasingly beautiful (and valuable) with time. You can see an example of this in a previous blog post here (click)

Here are some important rules to follow:

• Never use soap to clean your teapot.
  
  
• Never use a scourer, brush or other abrasive type cleaning fabric.
  
  
• Never put your pot in the microwave or on a stove.

Considering a teapot can last for life as your faithful loving tea-time companion, why not treat it with utmost respect and follow the guidelines and rules above. You can be sure that your pot will reward you, not to mention your tea friends will love to join you and your pot for tea :)

Have a favourite teapot you would like to show us? Feel free to email me your photo: george@kungfucha.net

Looking for a unique high quality teapot? Drop in to our online tea shop and have a browse: kungfucha.net

PS Both photos above are pots currently available at our shop. Like all of our pots, they are very limited in edition.

Tea leaves Found in Chinese Tomb

 From ArchaeologyDaily.com (link)

Chinese archeologists have found remnants of tea leaves in tea sets unearthed from the family graveyard of the country's first known anthropologist, a man who lived 900 years ago.

The finding challenges the traditional theory that infused tea became popular only in modern times, said Zhang Yun, a researcher with Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archeology.

Pieces of green tea were found in a dozen bronze, porcelain and stone tea sets unearthed from a cluster of 29 tombs in Lantian County, he said.

Zhang led the excavations that lasted from December 2007 to December 2009, which produced a variety of sacrificial objects.

"In one of the tea sets, which contained a bronze cup and a filler that filters tea, we found about 20 pieces of remnants of tea leaves," said Zhang. "The tea leaf remains green, a sign that it was infused instead of boiled before it was served."

The archeologists also found stone kettles next to the tea sets. "These, too, were common kitchen utensils because water boiled in stone kettles was considered tasteless and therefore ideal for preserving the fragrance of the tea.

Pre & Post Fermented Pu-Erh - A Taste Test Game!

How are you going my friends?

Many of you will have tried pre-fermented and post-fermented Pu-Erh already.

You should be able to tell the difference, and prefer one over the other.

Want to ask me the difference between them?

I suggest that we find out together with a game:

First, let’s put 10g of the pre-fermented Pu-Erh in the gai wan/tea pot and make tea as usual.

Now, let's try 8g of the same pre-fermented together with 2g of post-fermented (at least 7 years old) and make tea as usual.

Are you doing it? Or just trying to imagine it?!

Action! Try it right now....

Could you tell me the reason why the difference appears?

Please comment below or send me mail at george@kungfucha.net

Cheers,

George

Green Tea Season

Greetings Tea Friends!

Now is the beautiful spring season, this is the time of hope and vitality, the best time to enjoy fresh green tea.

Longjing - The King Of Green Tea 

Longjing (Dragon Well) is the supreme grade of green tea and the experience is rather special:

During the first round, Longjing may confuse us because it has no apparent taste, but just when we are looking for the taste in our mouth, an elegant flavour comes from the throat, wave after wave…

After several rounds, the whole mouth and throat are filled with flavour. Our mind becomes fully relaxed and our heart is filled with joy and peace.

Longjing (Dragon's Well) Tea at Kungfucha.net

Biluochun - The Queen Of Green Tea 

For every King there must be a Queen and the Queen of Green Tea is without a doubt Biluochun.

A very delicate and tender tea, Biluochun has a different taste to Longjing..... a taste that I'd describe as "mixed fruits"

You can read more about Biluochun at Kungfucha.net here

Green tea needs to be enjoyed fresh as its taste drops quickly with storage.

The first top-grade batches of both Longjing and Biluochun are now available, but in very limited quantities for a limited time.

Shall we enjoy together? If you're interested,please view the links above.

Want to know more about top grade Green Tea? Let me know in the comments below!

Cheers,

George

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Kung Fu Cha Teapots - How a teapot improves over time with use

Hello my Cha Ren (Chinese for "Tea People / Tea Friends")

Being a Chinese tea lover, I wanted to share with you in a series of photographs how a teapot changes over time with use.

As we've talked about in previous blogs, good quality Yixing teapots have a fine finish and solid texture, a four percent water absorption rate, very low thermal conductivity, and a double air hole design which enhances the pot's brewing properties. The more you use and polish it after a tea session, the more the natural shiny appearance of it will improve. This is partly due to the presence of natural oils in the tea.

Below are pictures of the same batch teapots which are +20years old. One has never been used, one has been used for about 2 months and one for more than a year.

Hmmm, let's see the results....

Teapot Never Used

Teapot has been used for two months

Teapot has been used for more than one year

Can you tell the difference by the appearance!? And we use them to make the exact same Pu-erh tea.

Cheers,

George

PS. Interested in learning more about tea? Why not visit our Tea School with 6 free lessons and more coming soon...

Kung Fu Cha Teapots - A Chinese New Year Discussion

Kung Hei Fa Choi and Happy Chinese Tiger Year!

All the best Chinese wishes to all of you and your family!

During the New Year celebrations here, my friends and I had a discussion about teapots.

In particular, the question that was asked was:

Why do people collect so many different pots for tea making?

And here's the answers that unfolded:

· The most obvious perhaps: because people appreciate the beauty in teapots, the fine craftsmanship, the aesthetic beauty which complements their home and lifestyle.

· Different materials lead to different performance. If we make the very same tea, with pots from different materials, the taste will be different.

· The shape of the teapot can also affect the taste. Different shaped pots even though made with the same material can still effect different taste.

· The very same pot (same batch product), used versus unused will produce different tastes.

· Of course the aged tea pot in general will be much better than new pots for tea making.

· China produces so many different types of tea, and different kinds of teapots. Allowing for each individual's taste, and preference, and our understanding of how taste can vary depending on the kind of teapot, we can begin to understand the nature of the tea lover, ever-exploring, trying new teas, and in the process trying and buying new pots. There is a real happiness that can be achieved if one follows the path of tea lover and explorer!

For more discussion, drop me an email at george@kungfucha.net  : )

And coming soon, I will share photographs of "How a Teapot changes over time with use". Interested!? Come back to visit us soon!

Cheers,

George