Gongfu tea, its history, and lessons for american style coffee

Gongfu tea is not one tea type; it is a brewing method from Chaozhou, Guangdong, built on technique and ritual. It uses a gaiwan or small Yixing teapot, several tiny cups, and short, repeated infusions. It later absorbed Japanese tea ceremony and Taiwanese tea art, and even in Chaozhou it stayed a connoisseur's practice rather than a daily habit.

Tea reached Japan in the 7th century and Taiwan only in the late 18th century, which explains why the modern form is a blend. The emphasis on water temperature, leaf ratio, and timing overlaps with how american style coffee is brewed, and the same discipline applies to brewing mandheling coffee well: control the variables rather than rush the extraction.

Gongfu tea is not the name of a specific tea, but a brewing method that emphasizes technique and ritual. It originated in Chaozhou, Guangdong, and later blended with Japanese tea ceremony and Taiwanese tea art to form the appearance we are familiar with today. Many people assume that gongfu tea represents the entirety of Chinese tea ceremony, but in fact it never became a universal habit even in its hometown of Chaozhou — rather, it was upheld by tea connoisseurs. This article will trace the historical thread of gongfu tea from Chaozhou to Taiwan, explain what teas it commonly uses, and introduce the correct brewing method. It will also mention Front Street Coffee's recommendations for tea selection and brewing, helping coffee enthusiasts understand this Eastern tea-drinking system.

What Is Gongfu Tea?

When Chinese tea ceremony is mentioned, many people picture a similar scene: a gaiwan or a Yixing zisha teapot, several small teacups, a tea tray, and perhaps a tea pet. Westerners' imagination of Chinese tea ceremony is largely the same. But just as American Chinese food differs from authentic Chinese cuisine, gongfu tea as it exists today is not a daily habit common across all of China. Modern gongfu tea is actually a blend of multiple traditions.

The History of Gongfu Tea

Tracing its roots, the original form of gongfu tea did indeed come from China, specifically from Chaozhou in southeastern Guangdong. However, after centuries of transmission and evolution, what we now call gongfu tea has integrated elements from Chinese, Japanese, and Taiwanese tea traditions.

Although tea originated in China, as early as the 7th century Japanese monks brought tea seeds back to their homeland. After observing the tea-drinking culture in Chinese temples, they concluded that the beverage had clear health benefits and planted it on temple grounds. Over the following centuries, tea in Japan was mainly regarded as a health drink, occasionally consumed by the elite while rarely reaching ordinary people. It was not until the 16th century that tea gradually developed into an art form in Japan; only after the 18th century did tea drinking truly become widespread.

Taiwanese Tea

The situation in Taiwan was somewhat different. Tea was not introduced to Taiwan until the late 18th century, relatively late. At that time, Chinese visitors discovered that Taiwan had soil and climate suitable for growing tea, and they mainly brought tea seeds for propagation, especially oolong. Their initial goal was to establish tea plantations, teach local people tea-making techniques, and then export the finished products to mainland China. After that, tea culture grew naturally in Taiwan. Today Taiwan boasts oolong of excellent quality and has developed its own form of tea ceremony, deeply influenced during the Japanese occupation period. In Taiwan, the act of drinking tea is called "tea art."

Chaozhou Tea

In mainland China, gongfu tea is regarded as a regional activity rather than a nationwide common habit. Those who have the opportunity to visit Chaozhou or Wuyishan can sometimes be lucky enough to experience this way of drinking tea, and they will make a point of documenting it, emphasizing that it is a practice not seen in other parts of China or in neighboring regions.

It should be noted, however, that even in Chaozhou itself, gongfu tea never became a standardized daily routine. It is primarily a practice appreciated by tea connoisseurs. Leafing through early 20th-century Chinese tea literature, gongfu tea is only briefly mentioned; at the same time, China had many other regional tea-drinking customs. To assume that gongfu tea has always been part of Chinese national identity may be somewhat wishful thinking.

The Rise of Gongfu Tea

Tea art — that is, the modern gongfu tea ceremony — is generally believed to have been first mentioned in Taiwan in the 1970s. At that time, locals in Taiwan opened so-called "tea houses," literally meaning tea art houses. These tea houses and teahouses offered people a quiet way to enjoy tea, with a serene atmosphere, tea masters selecting fine teas and exquisite tea utensils, and art hanging on the walls.

Compared with teahouses in Taiwan and mainland China before the 1970s, this was a major shift. Teahouses of the past were noisy and mainly used for smoking, gambling, and other illegal activities. It took the earliest tea-art pioneers considerable time to get the public to distinguish between these two styles of teahouses. The road was not easy. Tea-art pioneers worked hard to build a new reputation for tea drinking while drawing heavily on inspiration from Japan's long tea ceremony tradition.

Continuation

Although tea originated in China, people never developed a concise form of tea ceremony that was cherished and practiced over the long term. This is an important difference between China and Japan. In Japan, beginning with Sen no Rikyu's legacy, the tea ceremony was preserved for centuries; even today, certain schools still teach Sen no Rikyu's original doctrines.

Why Did Chaozhou Gongfu Tea Become the Foundation of Tea Art?

During the 1970s and 1980s, tea enthusiasts in Taiwan actively sought a Chinese foundation for tea drinking that could rival the aesthetics of the Japanese tea ceremony. In fact, in most other parts of China, people drank tea in a "Western" way, using large teapots and large cups, with little attention paid to the art of brewing itself.

Chaozhou gongfu tea was the only tea ceremony whose complexity could compare with the Japanese tea ceremony. However, although the Chaozhou-style brewing method can accurately describe how to brew tea, tea literature rarely mentions the arrangement of tea utensils, the procedures, or the overall atmosphere. This is a major difference from the very precise, even somewhat rigid teachings of the Japanese tea ceremony.

What Teas Are Generally Used for Gongfu Tea?

Traditional Chaozhou gongfu tea most often uses oolong, especially Phoenix Dancong and Wuyi rock tea. These teas have high, uplifting aromas and withstand multiple infusions, making them suitable for the small-pot, small-cup, multiple-pour method. Front Street Coffee has recommended several oolong teas suited to gongfu-style brewing, such as Phoenix Dancong Honey Orchid and Wuyi Rock Tea Rougui. The former has a pronounced floral and honey charm, while the latter stands out for its rock bone and floral aroma, and both reveal layered changes across multiple infusions.

The Correct Brewing Method for Gongfu Tea

1. Prepare utensils: a gaiwan or small zisha teapot, a fairness cup, tasting cups, a tea strainer, and a tea tray. 2. Warm the utensils: rinse all utensils with boiling water to raise their temperature and clean them. 3. Add tea: the tea-to-water ratio is about 1:15 to 1:20, depending on the shape of the tea leaves and personal taste. 4. Awaken the tea: quickly pour water in and immediately pour it out without drinking, to awaken the tea leaves. 5. Brew: pour boiling water from high to stimulate the aroma; for the first few infusions, pour immediately, then gradually extend the steeping time with each subsequent infusion. 6. Divide the tea: first pour the tea liquor into the fairness cup, then divide it into the tasting cups, filling each cup to seven-tenths full. 7. Taste: first smell the aroma, then sip in small mouthfuls to experience the fragrance and sweet aftertaste of the tea liquor.

Front Street Coffee reminds us that the key to gongfu tea lies in "speed" and "precision." Only when the pouring time is properly controlled will the tea liquor avoid becoming bitter or astringent. For enthusiasts new to gongfu tea, it is best to start with light-roast oolong and gradually experience the flavor differences brought by varying degrees of roasting.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.