HOW TO BREW OOLONG - Chaozhou Style Masterclass

Chaozhou is the birthplace of Gong Fu Brewing and this is the original style for brewing tea which began with the advent of Oolong. In this video, we dive into some of the history of Gong Fu brewing and I show you the basics of Chaozhou style. There is a lot more that we can go into regarding nuance of brewing but get started with this and we can explore further.
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VIDEOS:
Eight Immortals Tea: • Blind Tasting Tea Chal...
Crushing Leaves Chaozhou Style: • Chaozhou Gong Fu Brewi...
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[@jensajenerator]

Tried today with a LAPSANG SOUCHONG, with that way no broken leaves inside my cup, even prepared for minimal...nothing inside. Provided a 5-6 sec brew, Outstading. It totally changed smell and flavour. I started to speak to myself each lid opening. Sublime. Also this metod really immerse yourself into tea, touching...smelling...breathing... Onihagi want thank u for that .

[@rabbitazteca23]

EXACLTY and this is what tea is made for originally! Enter a state where you are connected with nature!

[@YouBrewKombucha]

Yet another fantastic video! Loved this one. Dancongs are my favorite tea type and Chaozhou style brewing is my favorite method - more often than not, it’s what I end up doing because it’s so casual and doesn’t need a gong dao bei. I learned so much from this video! It all makes total sense. While watching this video, I brewed some of your Royal Peach Orchid, making a tea gall and crushing some leaves in the gaiwan. (I was a little scared as I did it but I trusted you! 😂) And my goodness it was fantastic! Wonderful aromatics and incredible mouthfeel and minerality right from brew no. 1! I’m a believer. Thanks, Don, for sharing your knowledge with us, as always. 🙌🏼 sending hugs from Los Angeles

[@deanzaZZR]

When I worked in Taiwan in the mid 1980s it was referred to as 老人茶 (lao ren cha, old person tea). I still remember how buzzed I got after enjoying this style of delicious tea for the first time.

[@ShadesBoogie]

love this gentleman and his passion for Gongfu Cha. Great work buddy

[@ongoingmartin]

Don't be scared to crush those leaves. It's well worth it! 🍃💚🍃

[@gnomebodyknows]

right?? only recently started doing it more often and I’m loving it

[@reubenk1615]

Depends on weather or not the specific tea can handle it that isn't too bitter to begin with. I do this with old or weak rock oolongs if I find them too light in flavor. The only drawback is that you get a few intense desiered steeps only to have it taper off and finish its story sooner. Those are my observations

[@ongoingmartin]

@@reubenk1615 Yes, definitely worth experimenting. Getting to know a tea and the many ways of brewing it is part of the fun too.

[@中国紫阳绿茶]

If you want to try authentic Chinese green tea, please leave me a message. As a young man who does tea processing in an ancient tea area, I am very happy to give my tea to people who want to drink Chinese tea for free. Of course, you can also ask me to buy Chinese tea.

[@matdube3577]

You look so passionate Don, I love watching your videos, and I learned so much. Thanks. 🫖

[@heatherpeters4157]

Just learning about Gongfu/ Chaozhou style brewing. Thank you for the great info and demonstration. Ive learned so much.

[@OfficiallySarabi]

I didn't quite understand chaozhou brewing before but this video really cleared it up. Thanks!

[@Annoying_Customer]

I learned of gong fu cha from my taiji shifu, and you Don, have compounded what is now a highly valued daily ritual.

[@troyclayton]

This was a great video to watch while having my first session of the day. It's Summer Haze today, I love it so. Thanks!

[@中国紫阳绿茶]

If you want to try authentic Chinese green tea, please leave me a message. As a young man who does tea processing in an ancient tea area, I am very happy to give my tea to people who want to drink Chinese tea for free. Of course, you can also ask me to buy Chinese tea.

[@My_Usual_Handle_Is_Taken]

That’s the sound of my heart being broken when the leaves were crushed. I tried the method before (learned from the video a while back) so I get it, but still 😱

[@balintvaray5924]

Thank you Don! These are the sort of videos why I really appreciate what you do at Meileaf. Great video, I tried it right away and it definitely is one of the best methods out there for brewing tea and getting the most out of the leafs. Many thanks! ❤️🍵

[@中国紫阳绿茶]

If you want to try authentic Chinese green tea, please leave me a message. As a young man who does tea processing in an ancient tea area, I am very happy to give my tea to people who want to drink Chinese tea for free. Of course, you can also ask me to buy Chinese tea.

[@WeAreBullets]

im very beginner still, i been doin chaozhou since maybe 2017 and all i've ever used was a gaiwan and a tiny tea/espresso cup on my coffee tray, with a giant thermos of hot water. i dont like having too much extra tools, i like it simple 👌🏻

[@UnubtaniumTheCyborg]

Thanks for keep making great videos, loved the little history lesson :D

[@harrylouw2511]

Thanks Don. Thats what I felt first why the same batch of dancong oolong, tasted different. Then when I watched ur previous video about crushing the leaves, i did it to the same batch. Then I got the same experience as I remembered I got from my songzhong tea. The first time i brewed it, it has some crushed leaves from the bad delivery, but now i know thats the cause of better experience.

[@briantoplessbar4685]

Thank you don- you have sparked a new hobby and passion!

[@cszabo8899]

Just tried this with an OK (i.e., not amazing) Dragonwell. Thickened and deepened it quite nicely while managing to hold any bitterness at bay. It works. Thanks, Don! 👍

[@TheAyeAye1]

I really need to try this. Thanks for putting up this video.

[@martinjohnson4405]

Thank you for this video. Last night I tried this practice with an old ShuiXian oolong using a small gaiwan, including the crushing; the tea was wonderful. I may, however, need to practice pouring the tea from the gaiwan into three cups and not just directly into a gong dao bei.

[@denzilflack5204]

Fascinating Don. Loved the description of the drinking in different regions. Going to give this a go.

[@nielsbosmobile]

Trying it now in my Chaozhou teapot and some Empress Oolong... really amazing amount of flavour, both the bright and deeper notes! Thank you Don, really cool video 😃

[@Izuuun]

I love a concentrated brew 💕 you can really taste the complexity without true bitterness

[@reubenk1615]

Gyokuro for three?

[@blaken6662]

Any chance your company will have a distribution in the U.S.? I'm able to get some pretty decent teas from certain companies, but y'all seem to be at a higher level of quality and appreciation.

[@JohnnyLightningYoutube]

A+ video here! Brushed me up on a few things with this style of brewing! Lovely, and thank you!

[@charlesperez9976]

EXCELLENT,I learned a lot from this.

[@20thcenturyboy85]

Thank You Honorable Sir!

[@marshallblanton3690]

Hey don! Love you and your channel it’s very informative and I love using your tasting chart it helps to really develop the palate and gain experience. I really want to order from your site but I’m in America and shipping is expensive so it will have to be really worth it

[@codysmith4513]

I'm in the states as well and their teas are well worth the shipping cost in my experience. I would recommend ordering as much as you can justify spending on tea to make it worth shipping (more than just tasters). Hope that helps!

[@benmoore7946]

beautiful mise-en-scene, as usual

[@gavinmarshall2228]

'I highly recommend you A-B it and see what you think' - nice turn of phrase!

[@Jerry_9997]

Oh this is amazing mind reading. Just two days ago I read lots of information about this method. And I wondered hmm how would Don do this? And here you are. 😂 Thanks. There were also information about other old methods. And I read that today´s Gong Fu style is like modern hybrid of all these styles that is being introduced mainly to tourist in China. What would you say about that? On the website there was 1g per 10 ml and strict only three infusions. I thought wow it is really much tea and only three infusions, such a wasting. And what is more traditional for this method, teapot or gaiwan? They said like 30 % crush. Supposedly we should side-shake the teapot four times before pouring, is this true?

[@s01itarygaming]

Me when Don crush the leaves (because I skipped over the beginning): "NOOOOOOOO!"

[@kreigindexzensur]

The Vessel is really cool but it was it not possible to make it 2cm wider? its really tight in space

[@reubenk1615]

True

[@MeiLeaf]

The vessel was designed carefully to be the perfect size for a small desktop footprint for small and solo sessions and use as a rinse bowl. If you want more space then the Satellite is the next size up.

[@EssenceOfChicagolandAreas]

Cool video. We are going to start making tea KZbin videos for our channel as well. Your videos are very insightful. Thanks for sharing. Good video

[@orangeblack1285]

What clay would you recommend for oolong though? In your chart, you write Dancon is, in your taste, best paired with Chaozhou clay. Green oolong best with nixing. What about other oolongs? Or is chaozhou clay a good fit for them all? I currently use my nixing pot, but I kinda dont want oolong to overshadow the other teas I brew with it. So I thought about grabbing a pot just for oolong. Or do I interpret too much into it and my nixing multi-use is fine? I'm kinda new to the game :)

[@WeAreBullets]

"lemme ASMR this here" "for the pleasure and hOrror of hearing leaves being crushed" lol oh the horror

[@bbbrunella]

Don, any new teapots soon?

[@nibukiyoroi]

I feel a bit spoiled watching a half hour video packed full of theory and reasoning behind the method.

[@TomTheAustrian]

So basically some kind of chinese equivalent of Espresso?

[@rabbitazteca23]

uhm the chinese invented these methods first.

[@karmesindryade]

Would my Royal Peach Orchid be good for this style of brewing?

[@efraingarcia1324]

How many brewing can you do? 🍵 Thanks!

[@Ang3lsMum]

Hey Don, I was wondering if you guys have any idea when Superior Iron Goddess will be back in stock

[@mindplays4969]

It probably still takes a while ... Since TGY is harvested start of May usually and needs still some time to process and get to Don. My guess would be end of July? I am glad I stocked up on Sip Spring just recently.

[@reubenk1615]

I want more sour sap. My favorite guan yin

[@MeiLeaf]

Should be a few weeks.

[@madstevens8961]

I have that very pot. It is slightly over 80ml. Mine comes in at 83ml. Just sayin...That pot is advertised as an 70ml pot, but it isn’t. It’s my favourite pot though.

[@neilhouston9189]

Anyone tried this with a sheng? The smallest pot I have is a 130ml so we’re looking at like 13g for the test ;)

[@中国紫阳绿茶]

If you want to try authentic Chinese green tea, please leave me a message. As a young man who does tea processing in an ancient tea area, I am very happy to give my tea to people who want to drink Chinese tea for free. Of course, you can also ask me to buy Chinese tea.

[@ทักษ์มากสังข์]

Depend on you.

[@中国紫阳绿茶]

@@ทักษ์มากสังข์ what？

[@agatawrze]

...but, aren't you supposed to set the cups in a triangle and pour around in circular motion? I swear that's how I've seen it done, even on this channel. Or does my mind lie to me? ;)

[@gordie997]

★★★★★

[@kongming6327]

It is busting

[@TheSHAUNCHOO]

Hello glenn quagmire

[@emmalouie1663]

cool but 20 mins in and it's too fussy, isn't their a minimal version of this, why are there always so many vessels of so many types, did frugal chinese people have a red, black, yellow, white, purple tea pot for every occasion....

[@rabbitazteca23]

possibly. You should do your research on that.

[@thedisabledmermaid]

You could easily be a pot head 😂

[@jaaleleet]

gung fu and kung fu are the same apparenty

[@aosteklov]

you talk so much

[@Ang3lsMum]

LMAO

[@rabbitazteca23]

you can always choose to leave.