Tea Exploration : Gong Fu Cha

I invite you to explore the flow of the ritual of Gong Fu Cha with me. If you do have traditional Gong Fu Cha vessels, feel free to use them. Otherwise, you can use a simple bowl to infuse your leaves, and another bowl to transfer your infusion and receive your tea. You may want to use a strainer on top of the bowl in which you will be receiving the tea, when transferring the infusion from one bowl to the other, to strain the leaves or buds.

FLOW FOR GONG FU CHA

• Start by rinsing your vessels, and discard the water into your rinse container

• Add your leaves to your primary vessel

• If you are exploring oxidized or aged tea, quickly rinse the leaves by adding water and quickly discarding the water into your rinse container

• To create your first infusion, add water into your primary vessel and steep for the appropriate amount of seconds (it varies depending on the tea that you are exploring)

• Serve either into your Cha Hai (serving pot) or directly into your cups

• Return to the same flow, to explore the dance of water and leaves, cultivating dedication for. your breath and presence

TEA COURSE PACKAGE

If you are supporting your practice with the tea course package, for this chapter, we explore Elysian Bai Cha, a beautiful aged white tea (leaves and buds) from the province of Yunnan, China. This tea was cultivated and produced by the same family producing all of our pu’er cha, in a traditional, responsible and respectful way to honor nature. 

Elysian Bai Cha carries the elemental wisdom of Water, the gentle and subtle grace of presence, to trust the current and let it guide us. This tea also carries a touch of the grounding and comforting energy of Earth (because of the aging process). It is an invitation to return home to our essential nature, with trust for the natural order. Water is the end and the beginning of the endless cycle of life.