Why You Should Switch to Gong Fu Tea Brewing

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In this video Don explains why Gong Fu tea brewing produces the most delicious tea and tastes a raw PuErh to prove that Gong Fu brewing is the true way of making tea.
To buy the Gong Fu teaset featured in this video: chinalifeweb.co...
To buy Young Gushu 2016: chinalifeweb.co...
For a complete brewing guide showing Western and Gong Fu brewing parameters: meileaf.com/ar...

[@TheAyeAye1]

My tea enjoyment has increased dramatically since I found this channel and started brewing this way. Thanks folks.

[@HolographicLotus]

I feel ya. I think i'm about ready to transcend to the next level of tea, because i've never tried Gongfu and watching this looks so pleasing. It's almost like wine tasting but far more intimate because the user has to control the steeping dynamics.

[@MeiLeaf]

Exactly right, the beauty of Gong Fu is not just the end result but the fact that you can tweak the parameters to suit your mood making every tea experience a unique and personal one.

[@TheAyeAye1]

So True

[@ritapreston7129]

HolographicLotus mom

[@DamnTastyVegan]

Definitely! I absolutely love this channel

[@thevegancorner]

I have to admit that you have a pretty impressive and possibly unprecedented collection of informative videos on your channel. Your knowledge appears to be unique to say the least, and you do share great information that I would have issues finding elsewhere. I can't thank you enough for all your videos, so thanks a lot for now and hopefully I'll see you soon in Camden Town ;)

[@Sam-qz6gn]

I must say I am surprised to see you here lol. Love and miss your videos 😊😊 I hope you are doing well 👍

[@cameron2900x]

Boy if you don’t scam don’t talk to me

[@psychosislove]

My daughter has never done loose leaf tea ever, and fell in love with it anyway. I don't know how, but she did. Anyway, we've been watching your videos together and you have greatly inspired her. Her Father and I finally were able to get her what she needs for doing loose leaf tea and she LOVES it. She loves everything about it. She also loves Gong Fu brewing more than Western style. She feels it is more sufficient and is actually more fun. That's what she told me. We love your videos, how encouraging you are, and how enthusiastic you are. We've learned so much about loose leaf tea which only furthers her passion for it. I don't think I will ever understand how that became her passion before actually ever doing it, but I wanted to thank you for your tea education and inspiring my daughter with your videos.

[@speakrealindonesian]

Qqq111q111111

[@Newt1981]

I'm pretty ignorant to tea in general, always did a western brew, sometimes tea bags (I grew up with that) and sometimes some loose leaf tea. Never knew about temperatures of water, or that there was any other way to brew except Western style. I always just assumed tea is a bit bitter and that's how it is.... like you describe. Flat. Doesn't taste how it smells, and if you steep for longer it gets bitter. (And I still really do enjoy tea!) I stumbled on your videos because I'm looking to buy an electric kettle as I find my stove top to be tedious and want to drink more tea more easily (And switch away from coffee) Thanks for sharing this, I can't wait to learn more!! Very excited to try this type of brewing.

[@epicninjali3640]

Fresh whole bean coffee can taste amazing and often very tea like! Especially with light roast and floral or more acidic coffees! Ask me and I can help you pick up coffee that will blow your mind!

[@dannyism3221]

As a musician, I loved your analogy! One point I'd like to add: your comparison between Western and Gong Fu brewing may have been affected by water temperature. Glass doesn't have the best heat retention, so your Western brew may have lost significant heat over the course of its longer brew time. It would be interesting to make the comparison with better temperature control, perhaps using clay pots instead of glass.

[@TigrexSC2]

Never in my life have I tried Gong Fu style, but you are just TOO convincing, I'll give it a shot. Also, I have to say that your channel has become my favourite channel ever, you have quality content and my tea knowledge got better just because of you, thank you.

[@joehoffmann1610]

Everything Don says is true. For years I didn't bother brewing gong fu style because I was happy with western brewing. I was sure gong fu tasted a little better, but really, how much to be worth the hassle? Turns out I now know that not only isn't gong fu brewing a hassle, there is a world of difference in how my tea tastes when I brew it correctly. I'm a gong fu convert, and I'll never go back to western brewing.

[@MeiLeaf]

Thanks Joe - spread the word my man!

[@joehoffmann1610]

I am, I even have my wife brewing gong fu style now, and she's mainly a coffee drinker, and only drinks tea occasionally. That's changing too now that she's tasted your anji bai cha.

[@ooSLEEPWALKERoo]

Since I started brewing gong fu style I definitely started becoming a gong fu ambassador. No better way to get out the flavour of the tea, no way that leads back to western brewing.

[@ooSLEEPWALKERoo]

Then you should simply get a coffee to go. The enjoyment is gone when you are rushing anyway.

[@lepetitchat123]

Are all teas suitable for Gong Fu brewing? Or just Chinese tea?

[@j.a.lawrence8592]

I tried it. The taste is amazing. I tried it with my favorite, Gyokuro. I normally allow the tea to brew longer to get a richer taste, but often it would become a little bitter. This way the flavor is smooth, but more. Your music analogy is spot on! Thanks again for a wonderful, informative video.

[@MeiLeaf]

Great stuff Jennifer!

[@Chemicalkinetics]

I used to thought increase brewing time can make up for increasing tea leaves, but they are so different.

[@matero4life2019]

I love gyokuro shade grown teas are phenomenal

[@noob19087]

I started my gong fu tea brewing with nothing but measuring cups for preparing the tea and small bowls for drinking. Now I've gotten a tea tray (crafted it myself) and I'm waiting for my first ever gaiwan to get delivered in the mail. I'll probably at some point be ordering proper teacups to replace the cheap ikea bowls I'm using now, but even so my setup and knowledge of tea has really gotten better over the last few months. Nearly all of that is from watching these videos, so thanks for that!

[@zockerbit1030]

Agree, analogy is helpful. But I would like to add one thing to the analogy that is forgotten. A specific string quartet playing a specific piece with exactly the same instrument in exactly the same way will sound differently in different concert halls due to the room and the acoustic. To me the acoustic in the brewing is the water itself. The tea tastes sometimes very different in London comparing to Stockholm, as an example, everything equal apart from the water and what it brings in the brewing procedure.

[@MeiLeaf]

Wonderful addition which we will steal if you don't mind zocker!

[@zockerbit1030]

Of course I don't mind! I truly appreciate all your informative videos as the tea-head I am :). Thank you for sharing with us.

[@curioustin1562]

As a musician and producer AND intermediate tea enthusiast, I really, REALLY love the musicking/tea-analogy. 😍🙏🏻🍵🎶 You just got one new sub. ^^,

[@MicheleLHarvey]

Gong Fu brewing has turned my tea drinking world upside down! Thank you! I didn't know what I was missing! I have always enjoyed tea and have been buying loose leaf from specialty purveyors for years, but up until now had made the mistake of brewing 'western style.' Your videos have added new depth and enjoyment to my tea drinking experience. Thank you very much for your in-depth explanation on the difference brewing can make!

[@Фома́фам-п8м]

I love how you compared gong fu brewing and music, so unique and I watch it again and again!

[@pritim2009]

Gong fu: 7.5 grams for 20 seconds five times = 5 cups rich taste in 100 seconds Westren: 7.5 grams in 5 cups (1.5 grams per cup) 100 seconds dull taste

[@ongakuokanjiru]

So I'm new to this, are you saying that you can add water to the already used 7.5grams of leaves 5 times over to make 5 cups (making 750mls of tea) and it will retain it's flavor and richness??

[@ricardor2797]

@@ongakuokanjiru Yes! the best advantage of gong fu is that you can reinfuse 4-5 times and each cup will taste great. When reinfusing western style, you'll get a decent first infusion and a very weak second infusion because of the longer brew times and larger water volume. On the other hand, gong fu brewing will retain the richness of the brew through the first, second, third etc... because you are using a larger leaf to water ratio. In mei leafs tasting videos, you'll see him reinfuse and reinfuse several times

[@missourimongoose7643]

@@ongakuokanjiru this guy has a video on the differences but basically eastern style is more tea leaves for less steeping time and more infusions while western style requires less leaves with more steeping time and less infusions

[@stofenn]

That was an INCREDIBLE analogy.

[@TiffanyPoirier]

I love this music analogy so much-I watched this video year ago when I got into tea and it I re-watch it now and again as it always resonates in my tea-loving journey.

[@UnReaLgeek]

Okay, the western style has an explanation: tea was really expensive back when our tea traditions were set - so reducing the amount of leaf used was important in stretching the supply, hence the longer brewing time to get more flavor and the addition of sweetener and creams to counterbalance the tannins.

[@cmfrtblynmb02]

good tea is still expensive

[@tvlooy]

I'm very happy that chinalife products have brewing instructions on them for people that are new to gong fu style

[@MeiLeaf]

We are rolling out fresh packaging with even more specific information.

[@keepers7768]

Great analogy ! So many parameters with both music and tea. Definitely helps novices compute the finesse of it all.

[@indritasaha]

Hello Kindly accept my heartfelt gratitude for this wonderful venture. Though I have not yet tasted any Chinese tea, I am so very deeply involved with Darjeeling tea. I love every aspect of tea. And I am so very excited to have found this channel. Having switched to Gongfu style brewing a few months back I feel I have unlocked a whole new range of tastebuds. Thank you for having an wonderful channel. And your store will go to the top in my bucket list!

[@DamnTastyVegan]

You’ve definitely convinced me! I never even knew about this style of brewing before your channel. Thank you so much for sharing your wealth of knowledge.

[@Noah-jq7nx]

Thank you, this video inspired me to finally try Gong Fu brewing. The increase in flavor was staggering, and I'm already looking forward to trying it again.

[@alexandraleurck4692]

Thank you for this video! I just visited your store yesterday and was amazed by the beauty and quality. I am so excited to have come across such an amazing store that specializes in Gong Fu. Ready to explore more!

[@MeiLeaf]

@@alexandraleurck4692 many thanks for visiting us

[@droberts9852]

I just tried this with some Sencha that I acquired from a local tea shop. To my surprise, when brewing it in the gong fu style, the tea was amazing and even had a msg/umami richness that was not there when I brew it like normal. Wow. I've drank loose leaf teas for years and have been completely missing out. Thank you!

[@will_110]

haha "I don't wanna go back to this one...but I will" taking one for the team man!

[@rocheynatividad2791]

I LOOOOVE the music analogy, you talk like a sophisticated synesthete comparing music with tea tasting 😍 I have been watching your videos for almost a month now and I would say I have learned so much and have my passion for tea further “inflamed”. Thanks for another lovely, highly informative video!

[@IgorRozinov]

Green tea is very important and despite the popularity it is still underestimated. From what I can find online You seem to be the best source of thorough, quality and practical information on the topic, which makes you a big deal. Only comment I have is about that unsettling phone that is often present on the table.

[@marioa.l.2665]

I have noticed several analogies between tea and photography. The amount of tea is similar to your film speed (ISO), the brewing time is equivalent to your shutter speed, and your water temperature is like your aperture. You can also push or pull. PS: 12:01 "And we are ready to pu'er" ;)

[@MeiLeaf]

I like that analogy too!

[@marioa.l.2665]

Thanks! :D

[@becknewell-creative4376]

The sound analogy is fantastic.

[@NamlessSaint]

I love this channel, it is such a wonderful source of information. I am a UK expat and cannot wait to pop in to the shop in London when I get home.

[@yogirise2669]

EXCELLENT EXPLANATION WHEN CONNECTING TEA, TO MUSIC! 🎶 🍵 ♥ His Excitement while describing the tea and the aromas, FANTASTIC! ...OH, AND IS THERE REALLY ANY OTHER WAY TO BREW, THAN GONG FU? ♥ I AM IN!

[@talho2013]

I just wanted to let you know that your analogy between the concept of tea and music really spoke out to me. Love the channel and I am learning so much. Thank you!

[@iAzeem]

I have watched 1000s of youtube videos on 100s of subjects and I've loved many of them but I really never felt that I need to hit that 'Thumbs Up' button.... until I watched this video!! Tea - Music analogy is so relatable! And I just hit the 'Thumbs Up' button first time ever!! I just discovered this channel yesterday and have watched several videos already and liking them already! I switched to Green Team few months ago and have been looking for great posts and videos online and I love your channel. Love the passion I really wish these Tea varities were available in India but they are not, at least not online! I will visit Mei-Leaf one day --> Bucket List

[@jangtsedude]

The analogy is so helpful. Interestingly, I compared the taste of the first brew of a Dancong I was tasting to a very specific part of Dvorak's Requiem a few days ago (it was about like the first brew functions as an upbeat for the second brew, which presents the actual theme). To summarise: The first brew raised my expectations for the second brew. I figure that music and tea, at least when Gong Fu brewed, have a lot in common analogywise ;)

[@MeiLeaf]

Yes there are lots of comparisons which could be made and I like your idea of the infusions representing movements of a piece.

[@MrNIKITAS69]

Hi Don, my name is Nikitas and I'm writing from Kos island (Hippocrates island), in southeastern Aegean sea, Greece. First I want to thank you for your videos and posts. I have always drunk tea but not really been a “tea head” as you put it, until recently, two months ago that is. I’m 46 years old and throughout the years I drunk tea, without being an expert, I realized the junk that’s being sold in most super markets and other kind of tea shops. Reading alone about tea history I understood the importance of the leaf and the impact it has made in centuries for Chinese civilization and the rest of the world. Comparing all this information to the either tasteless or artificially made “teas” I easily came to my conclusion. The last two months I started drinking more tea. Not necessarily good stuff. Some green gunpowder and some black from Ceylon. I don’t have access to really good tea (being on a small island with no means and far away) so I would like to taste this white. There is a friend of mine from northern Greece, Thessaloniki, that he also likes a chance to drink good tea but never had or has the chance of “good stuff”. Specially white tea. So one pack goes to him. Us you elegantly say nobody deserves bad tea. Thanks again. Best regards. P.S. I would really like your opinion about Ceylon black tea and sorry for the long post.

[@MeiLeaf]

Thanks for watching. I have never been to Kos but I love the Greek islands and people. Ceylon black tea is strong Assamica tea which is great for blending (because it is strong enough to mix with other ingredients). I enjoy the taste although I find it a bit too astringent and lacking in the intricacies of flavour in Chinese black tea.

[@luciaisabelpolgarnic]

I tried it!!!!!!!! Loved it! I am not going back to boring cheat western brewing!

[@Apollo440]

The analogy between music and tea brewing was following me all the way. Now I know the video it came from. Thank you, Don! Brilliant and inspirational as always.

[@chadczternastek]

Great, great channel. I thought I was one of the few that liked tea a bunch. You have an army of subscribers. Thank you. P.S.: That analogy was very good way to get it.

[@TeaDeviant]

Finally getting a moment to play with my fellow tea-luvs! Don, I appreciate the detail that you bring and your passion for tea comes through the screen too. I love the greater intensity of this form of steeping. I mostly do this with puerh and some oolongs but now want to give some greens a go! And you were a music producer!? Too ironic. My start was singing with an opera company at 17 - there have been a lot of musical journeys between that and my post punk band. Loving it all. Music and tea - two brilliant loves to last a lifetime. Cheers! (raising a white puerh to you)

[@MeiLeaf]

Music and Tea are an unstoppable combination.

[@Ladycooks]

Great analogy! Keep sharing! I just referred an Amazon patron to your vids while answering a question they had on another subject of tea. I hope they visit!

[@MeiLeaf]

Cheers for the referral, I appreciate it Ladycooks.

[@DefMettle]

mei leaf? ..., great video mate, as a musician i found this a very interesting take on brewing.

[@MeiLeaf]

Yep we changed our name to Mei Leaf and will be rolling out a fresh website in due course.

[@uniunissa]

What an analogy! Great way to describe the differences to somebody new to depths of tea and gongfu brewing. Straight up poetry Don!

[@benagud]

Once you go Gong Fu you enter another realm of delightfulness. Excellent video and I will do my best to educate the people of Iceland! And I will definitely visit when in London!

[@srslywhattf]

I did this for myself and it really does make a world of difference in taste. I will definitely be brewing gong fu from now on.

[@ButTheGin]

Tomorrow gonna go to the post office and pick up my order, really excited, so much that two days ago I bought some Lapsang Souchong from my local supplier just to compare it to your Wuyi Lapsang, but I got impatient and tried to Gong Fu brew it in a little 200ml bowl, and man was it good. Right now I'm drinking some bowl Gong Fu brewed Darjeeling FTGFOP1, at least they call it as such, tho I'm not sure, but it is soooo good. Can't wait for tomorrow. Cheers.

[@ButTheGin]

Collected my order, everything arrived in one piece, beautiful teaware, tho tbh much smaller in person than I anticipated :) Now on to tasting all of these 18 kinds of teas I got. Thanks guys.

[@MeiLeaf]

Smaller makes richer tea, thanks for your order!

[@mst2203]

You don't know how close to home your music analogies hit for me!

[@jonathanh7862]

Just found your videos and channel while looking for a new electric kettle. I have been 'enjoying' tea since high school (over 20 years ago) and slowly transitioned from generic bags to 'premium' bags to loose. Once I tried loose I was amazed at the difference in quality and could no longer drink any type of tea made from bags due to how poor the taste is. Up until last week, I only brewed the western style (I live in the US) and was always happy with that flavor and texture I was able to achieve with the loose leaves....until now. I cannot believe how much more flavorful and how different the mouthfeel is. Thank you so much for sharing this!

[@MrStrats]

I've been trying to get this tea for a few months now... finally got some on the way! Cheers from the US

[@MeiLeaf]

Enjoy!

[@thismessismine]

Okay, this is EXACTLY what I needed. I'm trying to get into drinking tea daily and ordered a bunch from Harney and Sons as an affordable starter with relatively good quality--but I accidentally ordered way too much for someone who's just getting started! Now that I can use 5 times as much tea, I can make it through my tea surplus much faster. It was actually stressing me out, like "How will I possibly drink all of this before it's old?!" And I imagine that with how great this method is supposed to taste, I'll be properly addicted by the time I get through it all. :) Thank you! Subscribing and hoping to try some of your teas soon!

[@Cypeq]

if it's just the tea leaf, well as long as you keep it in a sealed bag away from moisture so mould won't attack it, it won't go bad ever. I have some premium celon black kept in a tin jar for 3-4 years, drinking more of it now cause I have big bag of oolong I wanna toss in there, and it's just a quality black tea.

[@paulreinert6255]

Your analogy is perfect. After decades of drinking tea I now know the best way 👍 to make tea!

[@Stonerolog1st]

I love the music analogy, gong fu is like having your output at 0db everything is louder and clearer vs western which is -6db you're going to have to crank the volume but introduce distortion and makes the sound muddier, I'd take 0 db anyday

[@symq]

as a music producer who is getting into tea, this was quite amusing 😄 thanks and keep up the great work!

[@tiffanyr.1344]

Don, I have never tried Gong Fu style before but have been very interested in teas, specifically their potential health benefits. My little sister has been dealing with bad abdominal cramps/pain and I read that chamomile and theanine can help relax you so I tried gong fu tonight so as to use the opened leaves w/ chamomile oil as a compress and I could drink the tea..... DANG !! I didn't think it would taste THAT good! Don't think i'll go back to the way I was brewing before!

[@droberts9852]

What a great analogy. I'm really loving the videos and learning about tea!

[@finelooseleaftea]

Though I found the right charts to understand gong fu vs western brewing, this musical analogy you use is simply brilliant. This certainly increases my understanding. I will never drink tea again without hearing a symphony. Thank you.

[@MeiLeaf]

Fabulous Karen, thank you for commenting!

[@jeffrey5602]

Loved the music analogy. Very excited to get my own gong fu set ASAP :) Great content

[@donnaquixote7538]

Thank you for this really informative and inspiring video. 😻What would you say about brewing black or green teas via the gong fu method? Some say that the gong fu method works best for puerh and oolong teas, but at least Indian and Sri Lanka black teas would be best brewing for one time only. Not my words, though. I also still drink flavoured teas, rooibos and maté, and brew them the Western way.

[@naomiroyle9637]

Thanks for your education. I started getting interested in tea after watching Dream in Splendor, a period Chinese drama with super acting and cinematography. They had a tea challenge between two tea houses. Serious stuff. Blackmail and all. Watching that was fascinating. My friend who is Japanese, bought me a whisk set (nice to hear pronunciations) for my ceremonial matcha. Also, ebony collapsible chopsticks, but I digress. So, I have been trying to catch up by watching as many videos as possible. Whew! What an education. Those tea plantations are so cool, and all the tea shops! Wow. Started watching cdrama after getting hooked on Hua Chenyu's music, plus others. Then The Untamed with Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo. Love their music too. Working slowly on my Mandarin. Thanks for your great presentations. I can see the sound design.

[@OysterPir8]

I get it! I've had the opportunity to stand amidst the string sections of the Cincinnati pops and the long beach symphony orchestra during a series of rehearsals and concerts and it took my breath away!

[@W4RD1N8ER]

I play with this all the time because it’s a little work to set up my gongfu tea set so I get lazy and think that I can get gong fu taste from regular brewing but this never works out andI have been brewing tea for years! Gong fu is it’s own thing and the tea is amazing I get my kids to join me they love it. I love canopy flasher best tea so far I have brewed gong fu.

[@1blisseth]

I'm not a fan of tea, but you make me want to try this Gong Fu tea.

[@Silver_Sun5]

Wow, great way to brew! I did it with a nice Gyokuro and the flavor was amazing. But wow, be careful. If you are not used to the caffeine, it'll knock you over like it did with me. I had a very euphoric, not unpleasant feeling, but I will be more careful next time. Maybe I will use less tea and less water to make smaller batches and not have it smack me in the face like that.

[@naverilllang]

Caffine has very little effect on me.

[@TheDustyStar18]

The one thing I'm worried about is, how do you go about measuring out the specific grams of tea? Do I have to have a scale?

[@MeiLeaf]

It is useful to get a small and cheap digital scale when you start so that you can visualise how much 5g of a particular tea is but afterwards you can do it by eye.

[@TheDustyStar18]

Will do then. Thank you very much! :3 So excited about learning more and more about the wonderful world that is tea!

[@CheezyCEAnimation]

@@TheDustyStar18 how did it go

[@isakdahl7054]

@@TheDustyStar18 It’s been four years. Did you do it?

[@JoshTerraMusic]

I've got two friends here in a farm town in California to start to fall in love with true tea. They seem to keep asking more and more when our next session will be and I'm enjoying the process of hooking them in haha. I think I know what they're getting for Christmas! 🍃

[@MeiLeaf]

Hahahaha nice one! It is a wonderful pleasure to watch people become teaheads!

[@LSFprepper]

Not a musician but i completely understood your analogy. Going to try this as soon as i can.

[@Forge17]

Well that analogy finally explained it to me, I always thought more leaves=just stronger, more bitter, and much more expensive. I’ll have to try it this way some day. I’m a tea newbie, love the channel

[@boxing6339]

Nice! Good job Don it is finally called MEI LEAF!

[@MeiLeaf]

FINALLY but we are working on the website launch which is taking much longer but we want it to be a gamechanger.

[@kjell159]

7:50 I will introduce effects processors (phaser, chorus, pitch correction, double tracking, flanger, harmonic exciter, reverb, delay, etc.) a.k.a. added flavours in tea. Something like orange peel is an analogy for a phaser; and ginger is a harmonic exciter, it spices up the mix.

[@AbbasAD85]

Hey Don, I just wanna say I love your channel and I've started to expand my tastes beyond simple black/red tea! I have two questions and would love answers. 1)Do you use gong fu brewing for *all* your tea? 2) Do you ever use sugar?

[@romofamily1291]

Dude!!!! Awesome job! I am a newbie to “real” tea drinking and I love the knowledge your dropping.

[@DrFranklynAnderson]

Hmmm. Not fully convinced it’ll work with my preferred black tea styles, but I was recently given a massive bag of Earl Gray so at least I can try without worrying about wasting it. Update: Well. That’s what I imagine sucking on a particularly sour slice of bergamot citrus would taste like. Had to add cream to make it halfway drinkable, something I usually don’t do. Maybe I’ll try again sometime with an unflavored black or green tea-I don’t even want to think what’d happen if I did this with my delicate jasmine pearls!

[@azraphon]

Don rarely recommends scented teas like jasmine or earl grey. The aromas are sprayed onto the leaves, so when you do gongfu, all of that comes off into the water at once. It really only works with natural pure teas or blends. Now I love an artificially scented tea, I am NOT a snob about these things, but they need to have a low leaf to water ratio, in western style, or the flavour would be overwhelming.

[@porteal8986]

Does brewing western with more leaf leave a different flavor compared to a gonfu brewing across multiple infusions?

[@russellbarndt6579]

Thank you for demostranting such an uncomplicated way to prepare good tea since I have had the chance to know about tea ,where and when the Tea comes from and how to brew along with your passion ,along with a Raleigh NC Tea at the The Tin Roof Tea show

[@snyderkr0822]

I will try this. Something I'm curious about is the Eastern use of small cups. I watched a Chinese movie about the Han Empire. In it, the hero and his friend, a general, were having a rather energetic conversation during which they took turns pouring from a small container into those little tiny cups, probably at a rate of 2x/minute. Why the small pitcher and cups? I thought it was kinda nice in a way, both taking turns serving and all. The difference really struck me though. Our Western cups are much bigger -- sometimes comically bigger.

[@JayneyGoddardCMA]

Absolutely loved this video - thank you! So well done, brilliantly explained and your enthusiasm is contagious.

[@pip5528]

In a smilar vain, the South Americans use lots and lots of yerba mate leaf when brewing and drinking out of their gourds with bombillas, which are filtered straws.

[@Tasman_Tea]

Great video again, Don! Well done. Also makes me want to get some of that gushu puerh!

[@MeiLeaf]

Do it Kim!

[@jolynnensz9000]

I completely get it... and I love your analogy... I wish so badly I could but I literally can’t afford to brew gongfu style.

[@RicCdelP]

Hey Don! Make a video about the jasmine teas you currently have in Chinalife! Maybe one about tisanes too? Thanks!

[@MeiLeaf]

OK added to our list for you.

[@altareggo]

MIND OFFICIALLY BLOWN!! can't wait to try this: sounds heavenly!!!!!

[@robbinallan3767]

I have a question about continuing to brew multiple infusions. Before the first brew, you rinse the leaves and heat the pot. Do you need to reheat the pot and cold leaves before brewing again?

[@adfaylinn]

I'm new to this method of brewing. I've always adored tea and bought loose leaf for years. Many teas I can drink without adding anything and others I enjoy with a splash of cream or sugar. Any tips on must try teas for the newbie gong fu brewer? Or any teas I should absolutely stay away from?

[@roxana5490]

I tried the Gong Fu tea brewing today before work and maaaan, I've been jittery all day! I usually have some sort of caffeine in my day (not excessive, a regular cup of tea / coffee / kombucha) but THIS is some potent stuff! I'm glad I drank it early in the day. I may try this method with my herbal loose leaf tonight and get a potent kick of chamomile for those bedtime zzzzz :) (Also, I had a small scale and was able to ration out about 7.5g green tea to 150-200 ml water, repeated 4 times)

[@Daymanoahha]

Great vids again and again. If you leave the leaves out to dry after one use will they still be good a week after? Or does it have a shelf life. I understand that it definitely won't be as good but as you say tea can be expensive and don't want to waste!

[@appa609]

Brewing for less time should release a subset of the compounds released in a long brew. If you're losing flavor or texture that is because something released later is removing the butterscotch and slipperiness. Likely something astringent.

[@dpie4859]

What do you do with the leaves afterwards? How do you store it and for how many hours or days can you use it again?

[@AustiuNoMatterWho]

Coming back after a year plus I really am happy I switched. The right switch indeed

[@svenngringo5621]

Hi im Sven/25 from germany and i started with tea like one year ago. First i just looked for a healthy alternative to red bull and other modern drinks. Nowadays i even buy myself some glass cups and stuff.... But i got a question for ya. I like black tea most and i have like 5 different loose kinds of black tea. But what would u guess, would someone pay for a " good" bag of black tea ?? Because they all jjust kind of taste bitter when i make them. Heeeeeelp please! I love tea but i think i do something wrong :/ From europe/ germany

[@leyline77]

I know this is 3 years late to the party. But could you touch on multiple infusions?

[@wheelchairboy88]

I used to be one of those people that try to use my tea sparingly because of the cost but now that I've switched to gong fu brewing I've noticed that I can get 2 or 3 times the amount of use from the leaves and I'm now saving some money because I can infuse my leaves more times before I discard them.

[@username-yn5yo]

the passion is contagious. but I agree completely my friend

[@DarrylDomani]

so wonderful........learning is fun the way you present the art of brewing. Kudos!!

[@Dancer4LifendAfter]

I think I've been practically doing Gong Fu brewing for awhile now. I always put more tea in my brews than the recommended "western" brewing instructions simply because I like a stronger tea when I brew and I brew in larger quantities than 150ml. But cool video, I learned a couple new things to try for my next tea session. Question though, can you use the same tea leaves for a second brew session and still have a decent brew?

[@Cypeq]

oh found someone like me, yes I've been tossing in more tea and brewing shorter times 30s-2minutes for a while, but my ratios are not as high as in gongfu style, around 50-70% of the gonfu measurements which on average would spoonful for a 200ml cup.

[@windelllewis5404]

Don, great video. How did you go from being a sound engineer to a Tea Guru and operating Mei Leaf

[@MeiLeaf]

Aaaah Windell that is a bit of a story but I will do a video on it one day.

[@MJLangdon175]

How many times would you recommend steeping the same Leaf’s? And will the leafs keep over a couple days once used or fresh leafs each day? Thanks for the video.

[@kuzmanmarinov2832]

Hi Don. I have one question which I still can't answer by myself? If we mix all infusions of one gongfu season in one hand and in other hand we prepare western style tea by the same amount of tea, water and infusion time (sum of all gongfu infusions). Do you think that it would have any difference between the both cups of tea? * My experiments shows that in a good quality vessel the temperature drops with about 1-1.5 Celsius degree per minute. That is the only think that can influence the results and to make difference.

[@jimdieter3254]

This is my question as well. Video presents an unfair comparison. It's actually made me question transitioning to gongfu. I've l9ved all the previous videos I've a watched from Mei leaf.

[@Tyleron1]

thats a great analogy

[@Mech3ngineer]

This is an amazing video. Being an American of European descent, I didn't have tea outside of bags until later in my teens. I actually didn't like tea. My wife's family is Taiwanese and she taught me about brewing. Through experimentation and their random tips, I developed a preferred way of brewing. Now that I watch this video, I just realized that I have been brewing Gong Fu for a while now (except for the teaware). When I asked them if they had heard of Gong Fu, they said no but I'm certain that they are brewing in that style - it makes me chuckle a bit since it's so much a part of their identity that they don't realize there may be a name to it. That leads me to a question: your videos mention "brewing" but I had always called it "steeping". Is there a difference in what's happening and I have been mis-using the word "steeping" when in fact I'm brewing? thanks!

[@lolvonlolipopp]

Brew and steep can be used interchangeably. A blog post uses this definition which makes sense for me: "Brewing is the ACT of making tea, while Steeping is the PROCESS involved".

[@invven2750]

If I'm not mistaken Gong fu is an english loan-invented word. In mandarin it simply means skilled, doing something with skill. It's like how in Italy venti just means twenty, but in the US it's a coffee cup size, but no one will understand you if you say venti in Italy.

[@lepetitchat123]

Are all teas suitable for Gong Fu brewing? Or just Chinese tea?

[@d0mkwrq]

Same for me, you guys changed my (tea-)life! Many thanks