Tea & More

About chinese tea

China is the homeland of tea. According to popular legend, tea was discovered by Chinese Emperor Shennong in 2737 BC when a leaf from a nearby shrub fell into water the emperor was boiling. He drank it and found it refreshing and tea (茶cha) came into being.

Amazing thing is, that all Chinese tea is made from one plant, known as Camellia sinensis which is native to southeast China. It is an evergreen shrub that can grow into a tree. The plant can live for up to hundreds of years and the leaves are harvested year round. Chinese manufacturers have been able to produce thousands of varieties of unique flavor tea from this single plant.
This has been achieved by controlling 4 basic elements :

•   Region where the plant is located: soil and latitude are key factors.

•   Time of harvesting the leaves: early, middle or late in the season.

•   Method of harvesting: picking only buds or buds with leaves.

•   Processing: withering, rolling, oxidizing, drying and grading.

However, the weather has a major effect on tea plants and the flavor of the teas. That is why a tea manufacturer may produce the same type and grade of tea for decades but each year the tea may have a slightly different taste.

gong fu cha

Another important element that affects the flavor of tea is how it is prepared just before drinking. Just like wine drinkers who learn about vines and vintages, enjoying Chinese tea also requires abundant knowledges. More then wine drinkers, the tea makers must make what they drink, they need the skill to select and use their tools to brew tea properly.

The advanced Chinese traditional method of tea making is called "Gong Fu Cha" (Tea with great skill). While most Chinese are aware of Gong Fu Cha as part of Chinese cultural history, few actually know how it is done; It is a procedure of practical steps where everything involved has a functional purpose to make a tea taste as good as possible. The key elements of making "Gong Fu Cha" are type and the quality of the tea pot, temperature and quality of the water and brewing times. With the "Gong Fu Cha" procedure it is possible to get the maximum flavor consistently from the maximum number of brews that a tea can make.

"Gong Fu Cha" is more than an advanced method of making tea. It is an art that has been perfected over many hundreds of years. It is about escaping the pressures of life for a few moments, being relax to enjoy every drop of tea. Probably you will be surprised how small the tea cups are. But the result is a relaxing and enjoyable environment alone or with friends and tea that tastes better then you have ever tasted before.