Brewing Oolong Tea
How to brewing Chinese Oolong Tea (Wulong Tea)
Chinese Oolong tea is usually prepared with kungfu tea ware originating in the Fujian area, where people daily practice the traditional art of “Kungfu tea”. A set of kungfu tea ware include several articles each with a classical name: “Yushu wei” is pottery kettle; “Mengchen guan” is a purple clay pot believed to have been invented by Hui Mengchen, a famous purple clay craftsman, hence the name; “Ruochen ou” indicates a set of four white porcelain teacups; and “Chaoshan lu” refered to a small stove.
The brewing process starts with the rising of the tea-cups with hot water. They are then placed on a tray. A generous amount of leaves is put into the teapot until they fill more than half of the pot. Boiling water is then poured over the leaves from a kettle that is raised high above the teapot, until the water overflows the mouth of the teapot. The foam floating on the liquid is scraped away by the lid of the teapot before the lid is replaced. After that hot water is sprinkled onto the lid so as to help the brewing, which is finished in a short while, and the tea is ready served. The host then fills the teacups in a fashion that manages to let the tea in each cups be of the same strength, and completely empties the teapot. In Hong Kong and Taiwan, kungfu tea ware even includes a “scented-smelling cups”, will which a tea taster will first smell the scent of tea before going onto take the first sip. At that point, a delicate fragrance will permeate both the nose and mouth, and saliva will naturally arise. Indeed, kungfu tea is a sensuous pleasure that should be relished very carefully.
Steps of brewing Chinese Oolong teas:
- Arranging the tea set;
- rinsing the cups;
- warming the teapot;
- infusing the leaves;
- removing the foam;
- adding more water;
- filling the cups(a process known as “Lord Guan inspecting the guards”);
- making sure that last drop is poured(called “Han Xin’s muster roll”);