Gongfu tea preparation

Introduction
        The term "GongFu" in Chinese means skillful, and "GongFu" Tea Preparation refers to a method of preparing tea with a Chinese Miniature Tea Set that enhances the enjoyment of the tea experience.

Initial Preparation
        Collect clean teapot, tea boat, tea pitcher, teacups, and loose tea. Boil water in a small kettle to the appropriate temperature. Optional equipage: saucers, smelling cups, tea tray, tea funnel, tea utensils, and waste water container.

Heat Equipment
        Place teapot in the tea boat. Using the kettle, carefully fill the teapot with hot water. Replace the lid on the top of the teapot and pour hot water over the teapot. Fill all the cups (and smelling cups) with hot water. After everything is heated, dispose of the water in the teapot and cups.

First Steep
        Scoop loose tea leaves into the warm teapot. As a general guideline, if the tealeaves are tightly rolled (e.g. Oolong), the leaves should fill a quarter of the teapot. If the tealeaves are not tightly rolled (e.g. Pouchong), the leaves should fill up to one half of the teapot. Experiment to discover the right amount of leaves for your teapot. Pour hot water over the leaves until the teapot is filled. Steep for around one minute. Dry the bottom of the wet teapot with a towel and transfer the brewed tea from the teapot to the tea pitcher.

Optional Step with Smelling Cups
        Line up the smelling cups. With the tea from the tea pitcher, fill each smelling cup to approximately 50% capacity. After a couple of seconds, empty the tea from each smelling cup into its matching teacup "partner." Offer the empty smelling cup to each guest for his or her enjoyment of the aroma of the tea.

First Service
        Line up the teacups (with saucers). With the tea from the tea pitcher, fill each teacup to approximately 70% capacity and offer the cup (with saucer) to each guest. Take some time to enjoy the color, fragrance, taste, and aftertaste of the tea, tea set, and the ongoing conversation with friends and family.

Second Steeping
        Before the first guest completely consumes his or her cup of tea, reheat the water in the kettle if needed. Pour hot water into the teapot with the same previously steeped leaves. Steep for around one minute and transfer the tea from the teapot into the tea pitcher.

Second Service
        Serve the tea from the tea pitcher by refilling each guest's cup to about 70% capacity.

Successive Steepings
        Reheat water if needed. Pour hot water into the teapot with steeped leaves. Lengthen the steeping time an additional 15-20 seconds for each successive steep (e.g. The third steep would be about 1 minute and 15 seconds. The fourth steep would be about 1 minute and 30 seconds.) The slightly additional steeping time should help to keep consistency in the tea taste without oversteeping. High quality tea leaves should be able to be steeped 4 to 6 times. Transfer the steeped tea into the tea pitcher and serve as before.

In the beginning you may experience some tea or water spillage or be unable to prepare the tea in time before some of the teacups run dry, but with practice and use of "GongFu" tea preparation you will soon experience the enhanced enjoyment of the tea time, tea, and teaset.

 

Bubble tea Recipes

        The following are general guidelines for preparing a variety of bubble tea/tapioca tea for home consumption. Feel free to modify the following recipes to create the desired bubble/tapioca pearl drink.

        For additional flavor, one can steep more teabags/loose tea leaves, use more fruit powder, or blend in fresh fruit. For different tea flavors, one can use different grades or types of tea (Loose teas generally are of higher quality than tea bags). For additional milk or cream flavor, one can add milk, cream, half 'n half, sweetened and condensed milk, non-dairy powder creamer and the like. For a smoothie thickness, one can blend with ice, fresh fruit, or ice cream before adding the tapioca pearls.

        Bubble Black Tea: Use one TenRen Black Tea teabag or one teaspoon of loose TenRen Lychee Black Tea Leaves (in a tea infuser) for every 5 fluid ounces (150 ml) of water. When the water reaches the boiling point, steep the teabag(s) or tea leaves for approximately 5 minutes. Remove teabag(s) or tea leaves, and add sugar to reach desired sweetness, and stir thoroughly to dissolve sugar. Add ice and cooked TenRen's Dark Tapioca Pearls as desired. Dairy products such as condensed or evaporated milk are often added for a milky or creamy flavor.

        Bubble Green Tea: Use one TenRen Jasmine teabag for every 5 fluid ounces (150 ml) of water. When the water begins to stir, steep the teabag(s) for approximately 5 minutes. Remove teabag(s), add sugar to reach desired sweetness, and stir thoroughly to dissolve sugar. Add ice and cooked TenRen's Dark Tapioca Pearls as desired. Dairy products such as condensed or evaporated milk are often added for a milky or creamy flavor.

        Bubble Fruit Drinks: Use one TenRen Jasmine teabag for every 5 fluid ounces (150 ml) of water. When the water begins to stir, steep the teabag(s) for approximately 5 minutes. Remove teabag(s), add sugar to reach desired sweetness, add approximately 1 Tablespoon of TenRen's Bubble Tea Powder and 1 Tablespoon of non-dairy creamy (for every 5 fluid ounces), and stir thoroughly. (More powder and creamer may be added to increase thickness of the drink.) Add ice (about 1 part ice for every 4 parts drink) and cooked TenRen's Dark Tapioca Pearls as desired.

The "Beautiful Lady" tea

        The "Beautiful Lady" tea set is manufactured by TenFu, the sister company of TenRen in China. The tea set is comprised of six cups, six saucers, tea pot, tea pitcher, and tea boat. On the teapot is a Chinese poem translated as follows, "Early spring morning you sleep very well and do not know what time to wake up. Everywhere you hear the sounds of birds chirping. In the evening when there is the sound of wind and rain, do you know how many leaves and flower petals have fallen?" The tea pitcher has a picture of a boat sailing between the shore and some distant mountains. Made from violet clay and baked at a high temperatures for high quality, this tea set is ideal for serving semi-fermented teas such as Oolong, King's, Pouchong, and Ti Kuan Yin.

        Yixing tea sets such as this one are prized by tea connoisseurs because of the clay's special characteristics. With repeated usage, this set will acquire its own unique flavor and increased luster and coloring that contributes to the enjoyment of tea. After usage, rinse with hot water and avoid using soap and other scented products that may be absorbed by the clay. The teapot can hold approximately 7.5 fluid ounces (225 mL), the tea pitcher 8 oz. (240 mL), and the tea cup 1.25 fluid oz. (40 mL). Available in a gift box with satin lining. Dimensional shipping weight is 14 lbs.

Double happiness tea pot

        Designed and manufactured by the famous Lu Yu Art Institute in Taipei, Taiwan, the "Double Happiness" tea pot is available exclusively from TenRen. Lu Yu teapots are known for their outstanding attention to the fit and finish of the piece. The teapot has an inner convex sieve which helps to prevent tea leaves from blocking the flow of the tea through the spout. Made from red clay and fired at a higher temperature for high quality, the teapot is ideal for serving semi-fermented teas such as Oolong, King's, Pouchong, and Ti Kuan Yin. Accompanied with a burgandy or blue padded traveling pouch, this teapot is also ideal for the mobile connoisseur.

        Yixing tea pots such as this one are prized by tea connoisseurs because of the clay's special characteristics. With repeated usage, this pot will acquire its own unique flavor and increased luster and coloring that contributes to the enjoyment of tea. After usage, rinse with hot water and avoid using soap and other scented products that may be absorbed by the clay. This teapot holds about 7.5 fluid ounces (220 ml). It is about 5 inches (12.5 cm) in length, 3.5 inches (9 cm) in width, and 3 inches (9 cm) in height. Shipping weight is 0.98 lbs.

The "Big Flying Bird" tea

The "Big Flying Bird" tea set is manufactured by TenFu, the sister company of TenRen in China. The tea set is comprised of six cups, six saucers, tea pot, tea pitcher, tea towel and tea boat with an embroidered cloth cushion. The handle to remove the tea pot lid and the tea pitcher lid are shaped like a bird. The cups and saucers in this set are also somewhat different in that they rest on three bottom prongs instead of the usual bottom rim. The teapot has an inner convex sieve which helps to prevent tea leaves from blocking the flow of the tea through the spout. Made from dark purple clay and baked at a higher temperature for high quality, this tea set is ideal for serving semi-fermented teas such as Oolong, King's, Pouchong, and Ti Kuan Yin.

        Yixing tea sets such as this one are prized by tea connoisseurs because of the clay's special characteristics. With repeated usage, this set will acquire its own unique flavor and increased luster and coloring that contributes to the enjoyment of tea. After usage, rinse with hot water and avoid using soap and other scented products that may be absorbed by the clay. The teapot can hold approximately 8.5 fluid ounces (250 mL), the tea pitcher 10 oz (295 mL), and the tea cup 1.5 fluid oz. (50 mL). Available in a gift box with satin lining. Dimensional shipping weight is 16 lbs.

The "Big Pigeon" tea

The "Big Pigeon" tea set is manufactured by TenFu, the sister company of TenRen in China. The tea set is comprised of six cups, six saucers, tea pot, tea pitcher, and tea boat. The teapot has an inner convex sieve which helps to prevent tea leaves from blocking the flow of the tea through the spout. Made from violet clay and baked at a high temperatures for high quality, this tea set is ideal for serving semi-fermented teas such as Oolong, King's, Pouchong, and Ti Kuan Yin.

        Yixing tea sets such as this one are prized by tea connoisseurs because of the clay's special characteristics. With repeated usage, this set will acquire its own unique flavor and increased luster and coloring that contributes to the enjoyment of tea. After usage, rinse with hot water and avoid using soap and other scented products that may be absorbed by the clay. The teapot can hold approximately 5.75 fluid ounces (165 mL), the tea pitcher 6.5 oz. (185 mL), and the tea cup 1 fluid oz. (25 mL). Available in a gift box with satin lining. Dimensional shipping weight is 14 lbs.

Yunnan black tea grade

        Yunnan is a region in China known for producing excellent black tea. Yunnan black is famous for its fat golden buds and Ten Ren's 1st Grade Yunnan Black Tea has a high concentration of these golden buds. Tea brewed from Ten Ren's 1st Grade Yunnan Black Tea has a reddish brown color. The aroma is strong sugary and floral with a slight roasted undertone. The taste is smooth and sweet and the aftertaste is refreshing and clean. Before expanding our black tea line to include Keemun, this tea was formerly known as TenRen's Black Tea 1st Grade.

        The water used to steep this tea should be at the boiling point. Use about 2 teaspoons (3 grams) of tea leaves for about every 5 ounces (150 milliliters) of water. A steeping time of about 3-5 minutes with more or less time is recommended depending on the desired concentration. Net tea weight 4 ounces and shipping weight 0.28 lb.