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First of all, why drink tea?
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Who shouldn't drink tea?
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Is there any tea that I don't
want to drink?
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What is the best tool for tea brewing?
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How many classes of tea are there?
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Are there lots of tea brewing
methods?
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May I have a summary of suggested brewing
methods, quantity of tea to use, brewing time, etc. for specific tea
classes?
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Want to find out more about Kam's personal
rating in the tea ordering page.
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| Why
drink tea? |
Thirst quenching! Of course there is more to it. Tea is healthy
in a lot of ways. It lowers blood pressure, protects the heart, helps to
prevent obesity, prevents tooth decay and increases immunity, etc. To
Kam, these "help"s may seem too distant. But when Kam wakes up in
the morning with a cup of tea, the world stops. Tea's impact on one's
psychological health is immediate. That's why tea has become a way of life
for millions of Chinese. 
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| Who
shouldn't drink tea? |
Those who are having ulcer, constipation, calcium deficiency, anaemia,
sleeplessness, etc.
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| Any
tea that i shouldn't drink? |
- Ultra
strong tea - you know, too much caffeine and other exciting elements
- Tea with a burnt smell - Probably
over processed. Nutritional value and taste are gone. Why make your tongue
and body work for nothing?
- Tea soaked overnight - Even if
there is no smell, some protein in the tea may have undergone chemical
reaction. You don't want your stomach to be a lab for an uncontrolled
experiment, do you?
- Over brewed tea - Kam has been
drinking that for 30 years but hey, if the experts say it is not good, why
not just get a smaller teapot and finish all the tea each time?
- Cold tea - that results in some
untranslatable Chinese medical terms. In short, it's "no good".
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| What
is the best tool for tea brewing? |
Clay teapot is the best. YiXing ZiSha is the best of the best. It has air
pores that allows gaseous exchange and it does a good job retaining water
temperature.
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| Classification
of Chinese tea |
There are green, red, Oolong, white, yellow, black, flower, compressed tea and
tea bag (Wait! This last one is not true though you might be drinking
it everyday
).
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| Are
there lots of tea brewing methods? |
Method of tea
brewing varies greatly with class & quality of tea, weather, eating habit,
etc. Although certain tea types shouldn't be brewed with certain brewing
methods, there is no "only way" to brew tea. Rule of thumb is to
find the method that brings out the best taste of the tea.
Non-expert Kam lists a few commonly used tea brewing methods here for your
reference:
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Gong Fu Cha - uses small teapots
yes, you can do casual tea with this serious method of brewing
best way to brew Oolong, no good for delicate tea types like green tea
put tea in teapot, prepare boiling water
run water into teapot. This is to quickly rinse the tea. Dump, don't drink,
this round
put water into teapot for second time, this round 1 is for drinking
empty all tea from teapot between each round
repeat putting water into teapot for round 2, 3, 4 ...
taste of tea drops off quickly after round 4 unless you use very
expensive tea
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Glass cup brewing
good for high quality, tender tea that are good for visual appreciation
green, flower tea
for tea with rolled & solid leaf, hot water in glass first, then drop
tea from above
for tea with thin & light leaf (that won't sink), put tea in glass
first, then pour 1/3 hot water, wait 2 minutes for tea to expand, fill up
and cover
watch tea dance in glass, drink after 3-5 minutes (including the 2 min)
refill when tea is down to 1/3 of glass
taste should run out after second refill
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Ceramic cup brewing - uses 3-piece
Chinese ceramic tea cup
casual way of brewing, for medium or lower quality tea which visual
appreciation is not necessary
convenient and to serve basic purpose of tea - thirsty quenching
tea first in cup, pour 1/3 hot water, wait 2 minutes for tea to expand, fill up
and cover
drink after 3-5 minutes (including the 2 min)
refill when tea is down to 1/3 of cup
taste should run out after second refill
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There are more, Kam will list them
if he comes to using them. 
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| Tea
brewing summary: |
- Personal preference
is king. It's better
to experiment first (especially on quantity of tea to use) to find out your own preference first. Here is a
table for general reference. Please don't sue Kam if it doesn't quite
produce your cup of tea :
| Tea
Type |
Suggested
Brewing
Method |
Kam's
Suggested qty.
water : dry tea
(by weight) |
Brewing
Time & Remarks |
| Oolong |
Gong
Fu Cha |
4:1 |
1st
round 60 sec. add 15, 25, 35 ... etc for rounds after, some
drinkers would use up to 2:1 tea leaves, it's up to your own
preference. |
| Iron Guan Yin |
Gong
Fu Cha |
4:1 |
1st
round 60 sec. add 15, 25, 35 ... etc for rounds after, some
drinkers would use up to 2:1 tea leaves, it's up to your own
preference. |
| Longevity
Eyebrow |
glass/ceramic |
30:1 |
This
is a dim sum restaurant tea. Can be brewed in a bigger teapot and
left standing for a longer period, like half an hour or so. |
| Jasmine |
glass/ceramic |
70:1 |
Very
casual tea. No specific procedure. Just hot water and a couple of
minutes will do.  |
| Rose |
glass/ceramic |
100:1 |
Remove
stalk, crush bud before brewing. |
| Dragon Well |
glass/ceramic |
50:1 |
No
boiling water. 180-190F is good. Do not use YiXing teapots for DW
as high water temperature will over brewed DW. Use a regular
glass. 120 seconds for 1st round, 240 for 2nd, 360 for 3rd. The
taste drops off quickly after the 3rd round. Spring tea of Dragon
is more forgiving on tea quantity and brewing time. |
| Dragon Ball |
glass/ceramic |
35:1 |
No
boiling water. 180-190F is good. 60 sec. per round. Just 10-15
balls are enough for a glass. |
| Fur Tip |
glass/ceramic |
50:1 |
Please
follow regular glass/ceramic brewing procedure. |
| Spring Snail |
glass/ceramic |
50:1 |
Please
follow regular glass/ceramic brewing procedure. |
| Lone Bush |
Gong
Fu Cha |
50:1 |
Hottest
water possible. Needs high temperature to brew. |
| Tian Red |
glass/ceramic |
50:1 |
Heard
that this red could be brewed the Gong Fu Cha way. But that could
result in a very strong tea. Well, up to your own experiment. |
| Lychee Red |
glass/ceramic |
70:1 |
Just
a glass and a small fingerful of tea will do. 1-2 min. of brewing
and it's all ready. |
| Toh |
glass/ceramic |
50:1 |
No
very demand on brewing procedure. Just a casual bit of tea leaves
and hot water will do. No stopwatch needed as you can leave it
standing in the cup. |
| Pu'er |
glass/ceramic |
70:1 |
This
is a dim sum restaurant tea. Can be brewed in a bigger teapot and
left standing for a longer period, like half an hour or so. |
| More coming
... |
More coming
... |
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More coming
... |
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| Kam's
personal rating in the tea ordering page: |
- Aroma -
what the nose says (after tea is brewed)
Excellent - Good - Light
- Taste -
what the tongue says
Staying (lasting refreshing taste) - Heavy - Medium - Light
- Pleasure
- Kam's subjective overall pleasure. Remember, it's subjective.
Sublime - V. High - High - Medium - Fair - Not Impressed
- More coming ...
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