Friday, August 07, 2009

Introducing gongfu cha to my relatives

In my previous 2 articles, I have made tea the European way, with high quality leaves and a proper technique. This was my first step to introduce them to the pleasures of tea. The afternoon allows for just one more tea to make a demonstration of gongfu cha. What will it be?

A top Oriental Beauty, of course, I'm tempted to say. It's close to red tea. People are not overwhelmed with completely different flavors. The gongfu cha brewing technique is interesting to watch. I increased the pleasure by using my silver teapot and very small and thin cups.

The result is an amazing cup of tea, so smooth, fruity and with such a subtle lingering aftertaste. Words like incredible, amazing, hummm... kept coming. And when they saw the tiny open leaves, their insect bites, heard the stories of the many names of this tea and even saw pictures of the plantation, well, I had 2 requests to visit me in Taiwan next year!

The tea had spoken to their heart.

5 comments:

Kim said...

Well, good to hear that your relatives enjoy gong fu cha...

I often get "the look" if I talk
about tea or show my friends and
relatives the way of tea...

Do they know what they are missing ??!! :o)

TeaMasters said...

Kim,

I also had some looks before. But I have found people more open minded this time (I did this 4 times already). Maybe it's because I have also learned to talk about it (with the blog). Or because I gained confidence in my gestures.

And then, I also think it's important to choose a tea that is accessible, not too unfamiliar. Roasted Oolongs are rarely a hit with women. And fresh high Mountain Oolongs or Baozhong are often too subtle and light to really impress. I find that the top OB strikes the right notes for first tasters.

Marilyn Miller said...

As I read your blog this morning I am drinking Oriental Beauty. All varities of Taiwan oolongs are indeed my favorites.

How fun for you to be able to introduce to your family the love of tea.

sconesntea said...

The history of tea begins long ago in China and it’s quite interesting.

SconesNTea said...

The history of tea begins long ago in China and it’s quite interesting and full of fun facts