STEP BY STEP WALKTHROUGH TO GONG FU TEA SESSION - FOUNDATIONS OF TEA Part 4

[@ljahnatyrell]

I guess this is a perfect covid rehab. I lost my smell mid march this year and I was too afraid to do a proper Gong Fu brewing because I was too afraid I won't smell anything (it is still difficult sometimes) but it is perfect training 💚 at least for me ☺️

[@throughthewoods416]

Agreed.

[@tommygun9546]

gong fu changend my life. meileaf educated me.thx don and crew. 🙏

[@throughthewoods416]

After watching this and a lot more of Don's videos, and whilst waiting for my actual Gong Fu set to arrive with some new tea, I decided to try my first make-shift Gong Fu session. With kettle, Pyrex jug, French press, bowl and teapot in hand, I began in earnest. The more I learn about tea, the more I realise that my current tea collection is sub-par, mainly consisting of Whittards 'commodity tea'. Needless to say, I wasn't holding out much hope for my Chelsea blend. I am honestly blown away. For the first time, I smelled cranberries, old books and tobacco. As the brews continue I continue to get notes of shortbread, caramel and burnt butter. The gong Fu method also appears to be teaching me something about the limitations of high street teas - as a distinct one dimensional mustiness is also coming through on the nose. I'm now even more excited to get Gong Fu-ing with some of the teas Don recommends. First 'proper' tea stop - Mei Leafs' Oolong show stoppers!!

[@youbyoubalancedliving9700]

Once you taste the “properly brewed “ oolong, you can’t go back. Everything else’s tastes like “flavored water”…lol

[@throughthewoods416]

@@youbyoubalancedliving9700 I honestly can't wait 😬🍵😋

[@derekanjo]

I have a such a Holta crush. 😂 It's so lovely when people dive into tea in this way get excited about it and learn. Its so fun. Thanks, as always, Don!

[@aidanm.5461]

"27:44 Eyes - Dry leaf" Show the tea to your guests! Great idea. Me: "Hey, Mom. Check out this spring shincha." Mom says, "It looks like lawn clippings."🥲 Me: "Hey, best friend. Check out this aged Liu Bao Cha!" Best friend says, "It looks like compost." 🥲🥲 I'm skipping this step next time.

[@Kinochai]

It pains me that some people just don't understand

[@tonka3439]

That happens to me all of the time! My friends and family don't try to appreciate it 😒

[@angelgalindo5740]

😂 this is so relatable! Im glad my mom is open to me showing her the way and somewhat appreciate it

[@NelsonEstrada]

Please do a video on how to do gong fu socially. How to have a gong fu tea party!

[@dank5018]

Thanks!

[@chuckwavra8832]

Sipping Royal Peach Orchid along with you as I watch - cheers! 😋

[@BenjaminSchubert6789]

Don't! Forget! The Tea Pet! :-) Great Videos, thank you so much for Them.

[@NeoSimSim]

And another really educational video. Thank you so much Don.

[@youbyoubalancedliving9700]

Yup. We just want to make the best cup of tea. When I do my tea demo, I tell the guests that the Japanese Tea Ceremony is a meditation with discipline of “the process”. Chinese, we just want to make that best cup and maximize the tea leaves as much as possible. ❤️

[@Yortman11]

Loving this Series.

[@rogerstenstromk5mow715]

Loved this video

[@SONOFSATURN1]

Just got my gong fu code! Love it. Such a luxury and so beautiful and functional. Has such a good weight and balance to it. I hope you find a Mei Leaf - worthy cha tou some time soon. I am seriously craving cha tou right now, but it's hard to find the good stuff!

[@adipoli1498]

Very nice!

[@SalvationTenshi]

Wow, thx 🙏🏼 this helps a lot🍵

[@junglejack3268]

Hey Don! I just got my first package from Mei Leaf. I live in Oslo and it came really fast. Great surprise! I got Jungle Starlet and Dream Scene Smuggler among others. Delicious teas, I'm so happy and eager to taste some more of your great tea list! I've been drinking Pu Erh for so many years but Jungle Starlet was ahead of my expectations!

[@someonerandom256]

I'm expecting my Jungle Starlet any day! I live in Hawaii, just ordered it a week ago and it's already made it's way to San Francisco. I can't wait!

[@gediminaskontrimas7992]

Interesting. Thanks.

[@lotusholistichealing]

Great video. The steps list was super helpful! Thank you. Also, Loved seeing Don's baby at the end, so cute

[@joselapido8526]

OK, I'm convinced, I will buy the gaiwan then! By the way, I love Halter? How she's just a guest in the video but looks smiley at the camera while her explains. Makes it seem very professional. Nice team!

[@kathywestcott9742]

Lovely !!

[@tobiasinness9719]

Great video! I’ve been wanting a gaiwan for such a long time I’ve been stuck using a tea ball. It’s not ideal but I’ve found that if I just throw the leaf in my cup after a quick rinse and fish it back out with a spoon I can get a much better tea that way. It took me too long to figure out that you don’t need all the tea ware to start improving the quality of your brew.

[@bobbyport]

What a great video. Really enjoying this series.

[@BobK237]

Don, can you please focus on future videos on drinking tea at work all day. Simple gear, tea suggestions for morning, lunch afternoon? Thank you

[@youbyoubalancedliving9700]

The Gaiwan method is my go-to.

[@RussJS]

I’m a construction worker. I’ve got a small insulated cup with a lid (they called it a wine cup at Sams’, it’s double walled so it retain heat well), then I just poor into a cheap espresso cup I keep nearby. The hardest part is the hot water.

[@matthewwaterhouse9925]

Thanks for the video. I think I was doing pretty good, but I noticed one or two things I wasn't getting quite right. Namely, I was keeping the leaves covered between brews, and I didn't know to put the leaves immediately in after warming the gaiwan. Thanks again

[@youbyoubalancedliving9700]

“Steam” the tea while Taiwan is nice and hot!

[@someonerandom256]

I was leaving my lid on too!

[@TerryPROorchids]

Kind of an aside addition - what to do w/ the used up tea leaves. I'm in south Florida & I throw the used tea leaves under our landscape plants as a sort of mulch - it's organic & makes sense not to just throw it into the garbage. This also applies to used coffee grounds. I'll actually go to retail establishments like Starbucks - they have buckets of used grounds. In Florida, I've found that the used coffee grounds also keeps fire ants away. I don't know if there is any fertilization products from doing this but it can't hurt.

[@someonerandom256]

I think a lot of people compost them. I will once I have the ability to have a proper compost.

[@SiidaNoon]

All I'm saying is that I'm low-key disappointed the series wasn't named "steep by steep walkthrough".

[@lambree4947]

I found a dead bee in my aged white tea cake yesterday. Was quite surprised. It looked like it was petrified. 😂

[@acemanhomer1]

Steep pure honey from its dead dried stomach! Be sure to bee thankful, extra protein too..lol

[@youbyoubalancedliving9700]

Well, you know your tea cake is organic for sure……

[@lambree4947]

@@youbyoubalancedliving9700 Ya, It was wild, it still had it's wings, it's stinger, everything. The cake is like 6 years old. Like it was frozen in time.

[@GeofreySanders]

If you were surprised, imagine how the bee felt.

[@aidanm.5461]

Eww. 🤣 Did you still drink the tea?

[@dinospumoni5611]

Is gong fu style brewing still fine using a western style metal infuser? In terms of leaf water ratio and brew time.

[@SalvationTenshi]

So what tea tastes good or reacts good with clay? Because I heard inbuilt clay filter in a clay Kyusu is much better than an inbuilt metal filter AND it's a matter of fact that Kyusos with metal filter are cheaper than clay kyuso with clay filter. But then you've said clay isn't good for green tea...OMG what now...lol. A nother thing is there is more healthy iron in a clay vessel and in an iron water pot as well. So what material is good for what tea especially for green tea and what else material is good for green tea if I dislike using glass? Thanks 🙏🏼

[@Grayson.P]

So dry brewing is suposed to be a practice that takes more skill... And here I was thinking I was just cheap. waiting to hold off on buying a tray. (Though I guess I did end up tipping and spilling the Gaiwan during one of my first sessions nearly frying my laptop in the process. Thankfully not though).

[@davidw.pursley6474]

I have tasted so many wonderful teas after finding Don on KZbin. I have to admit though, I’m still a mug kind of guy. But I know gong fu is coming- resistance is futile.

[@youbyoubalancedliving9700]

No more mugs! 🤪

[@RussJS]

Mugs just start to seem cumbersome after a while. Takes too long to cool off. If you want more tea pre brewed, that’s what the fairness cup is for.

[@benreeve6094]

24:09 - if you want to skip ahead to demonstration

[@CatBat90s]

I also really want to increase my tea like Mei leaf did in the brewing video but I have western so not sure how much grams I need of tea and the water I imagine I’d be brewing 30 seconds

[@ZeroDstruct]

Dumb question: Can you brew any loose leaf tea with this method or does it specifically have to be the Oolong variety?

[@frogsarecute4317]

Not dumb. You can brew any good loose leaf. If it’s bagged tea it won’t work. I’ve tried. Lol.

[@ZeroDstruct]

@@frogsarecute4317 Thanks!

[@CatBat90s]

@meileaf where would you store all this equipment if your house didn’t have much space for more crockery and tea equipment? I live in a household of 3

[@CatBat90s]

I love the idea of doing gongfu but don’t want to damage anything by accident.

[@youbyoubalancedliving9700]

If you have a large tea tray like the one in the video, you can store most of them within the tea tray.

[@Rygat]

could I brew Gong Fu style in a western styled teapot? I have one of those pots that have the plunger on the bottom to evacuate the tea directly to a cup. Also, does this style of Brewing lend it's self well to Herbal Teas as well? thank you

[@johnhildenbrand2642]

Make your own gaiwan with a bowl or a cup and a saucer, I've had to do that a number of times

[@RussJS]

Gong fu style is simple enough you can generally strong up something similar. Also, any style of brewing will be improved by increasing the leaf ratio.

[@MsJavaWolf]

You can use western tea ware as long as you can ensure 2 things: the right leaf to water ratio and being able to separate the tea leaves from the liquor quickly. If your tea pot has like a 1 liter capacity you might need an insane amount of tea leaf to reach the right ratio, basically 10 times the amount you would in a 100ml gaiwan, but if your pot is smaller, or the leaves get fully covered when the pot is only half full or so, it would be ok. That being said, a gaiwan or something like the mei leaf flute brewer is less than 10 bucks. I would also slightly disagree with this video on what I would call absolutely essential for gongfu brewing, IMHO you really only need one pot or gaiwan and one cup for solo brewing.

[@RussJS]

@@MsJavaWolf I like your reply better. More informative.

[@ZoltanHoppar]

God sees my soul, I wanted to read the title correctly, but I have somehow, I saw "kung fu tea" LOL

[@kennethwong6206]

That's because gong fu and kung fu are actually the same word in Chinese, they are just romanized differently

[@joetexas1546]

I want to see Don do an ASMR Session!

[@youbyoubalancedliving9700]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@kimmybarnjani1266]

OH NO! Don is cheating with another woman!!!!